As resident doctors embark on a fresh walkout, findings from a recent study show that staff retention issues don’t primarily lie in pay or working conditions. Instead, it’s the quality of people that counts the most, according to the findings. The UK has fewer doctors and nurses per head than many international counterparts, with 10% of positions vacant. This is causing greater demand, lower job satisfaction and staff burnout. A new research co-authored by Bayes Business School and the Department of Economics at City St George’s, University of London, found that improving NHS managers could reduce employees’ intentions to quit.
The study analysed results of five NHS staff surveys between 2018 and 2022, with a sample of nearly 400,000 NHS staff in more than 120 hospital trusts. The questionnaire looked at satisfaction of doctors, nurses, managers and others, including feedback on management, resources and wellbeing.
The findings show that people with an above-average quality of line manager are 27% less likely to think about leaving the organisation. Line manager quality was measured by looking at whether managers were encouraging, clear, consultative, interested in wellbeing, and valued employees’ work.
The strongest related reason for this is staff being recognised for their work, followed by feeling valued and consulted by managers in decision-making.
The importance of manager quality is a more significant determinant of staff retention than how employees perceive the quality of their job, even when removing pay as a factor, the study concludes.
Dr Victoria Serra-Sastre said: « Our findings suggest that NHS hospital trusts should invest more heavily in training, developing and selecting managers with practical knowledge to successfully lead both people and operations.
« To target and implement programmes, NHS performance assessments could include scores for manager quality to focus on trusts that require additional support. Developing future leaders from within could provide a long-term, cost-effective solution to NHS staff departures and shortages that threaten to derail healthcare in this country. »
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