Emphasis on soft skills promotes employee engagement

Health care leaders have come around to the idea soft skills, such as empathy, can deliver hard results, such as improved patient outcomes. Central to the debate about soft skills is the concept of joy. Jessica Perlo, MPH, director at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) in Boston said, "We define joy in work as an intellectual, behavioral, and emotional commitment to meaningful, satisfying work. Without joy and meaning in work, the workforce cannot reach its potential.” Perlo stressed improving joy and preventing burnout among health care providers requires systemic change. At Vident Health in Greenville, N.C., leaders took this idea to heart and incorporated love and empathy into the organizational culture. The effort saw measurable improvements in employee engagement over a two-year period. (HealthLeaders Media story, 11/26/19)