Authenticity's role in building physician alignment

A pizza lunch and a stack of gift cards might boost turnout, but they do not always build the kind of loyalty that keeps physicians from eyeing the exit.

In an interview with Physicians Practice, Scott Polenz, principal consultant advisory services at CHG Healthcare, explains how many “engagement” perks fall flat because they feel transactional, not personal.

Physicians Practice: A lot of practices try lunches, shout-outs, surveys, wellness perks and gift cards. Why do these efforts fail sometimes, even when participation is high?

SP: Early in my career, it was all about: What’s the sign-on bonus? What’s my salary? What are my benefits? Over time, those things are important, but the world’s evolved.

You can do a lunch, but it doesn’t always land the way you think. Or you buy a cake. I was reading a book on leadership, and someone talked about recognition: “Don’t buy a cake. Bake a cake.” Meaning: Put effort into it. When you break it down: “Oh, you bought me a cake. Great, thank you.” Or you sent me a card your secretary signed, it’s not real to me.

So go bake a cake. Or bring me the card and say, “Hey, I wanted to give you this card and say thank you for everything you’ve done.” Those things matter, and you should do them, but they don’t really get at sincerity, and what physicians are looking for in relationships with executive leadership, ops managers and everybody.

Physicians Practice: So it’s about authenticity, more than a checkbox?

SP: Yes, being authentic. I’ve been in executive leadership positions where you’d get holiday cards. Someone in marketing put time into the message inside, but nobody signed it. And I’d think: Why don’t you put that into something meaningful?

In recruitment, something I was big on with our team was: Every time you’re recruiting a physician you really want, find out something unique and important to them.

For example, Leinenkugel’s beer is a big beer where I’m from. We had a board member connected to that brand. One physician we were recruiting came in and said, “I like Leinenkugel’s.” And we didn’t just give them a generic gift, we got something signed that said, “We would love for you to join our organization. Call me anytime.”

We had one female surgeon come in and she had three kids in the hotel room. We knew the ages of the kids and what games they liked, and we gave them those gifts. The kids said, “Let’s go to the place that gave us all those toys.”

Obviously it’s more than just that, but from a recruitment standpoint, being genuine, being unique, and doing something meaningful matters. Because if they feel that in recruitment and you continue it in onboarding, they’ll feel somebody cares about me as a human being. Yes, I’m this doctor, and yes, I’m bringing in revenue, and yes, I’m working hard, but I’m like everybody else. I want somebody to care about me as a human being.