Build and Nurture an Engaged Team
“Question:
What do the Socceroos at the 2006 FIFA World Cup,
a bottle of ice-cold Corona beer, and a pile of sand have in common?
Answer:
Team Engagement!
In 2006, the Australian Men's National soccer team qualified to compete in the 18th FIFA World Cup, for the first time since 1974.
It was a big deal.
Back in Hobart, Tasmania, we were going about business as usual in our hospitality venues. In one of the establishments - a large and busy nightclub - this included creating, planning and carrying out some epic (and fantastically fun) promotional events.
Enter the pile of sand.
One such event we had decided to hold was a Beach Party. Not having a beach on our doorstep was no deterrent. We would simply bring the beach to the club - volleyball nets, zinc cream, the works! So, a load of sand was ordered and delivered. Somehow, we needed to transfer it from the street to the first floor of the venue where the nightclub was located. A challenge, but not complicated. However, when the gigantic pile of sand was dumped on the public street outside the club door, the enormity of the task became obvious. It didn’t help that a calculation error resulted in four times the volume of sand being delivered than required to create the right atmosphere. A BIG technical problem right there!
Enter the team.
We were blessed to have at that time an amazingly cohesive, dynamic and innovative team of staff. The kind of people who worked hard, gave more than they needed to, got along well and had fun doing their jobs. When we reached out to them about our dilemma, it wasn’t too long before they turned up and proceeded to get on with the task at hand. Shovels, wheelie bins, laughter and a coordinated system of rotating roles made the overwhelming size of the task subside and snap! The job became a game.
Enter the Corona.
The stage was finally set for the Beach Party, and the venue looked fantastic. Pre-sale tickets were a huge success. In the days before social media dominated advertising, we used word of mouth and customer loyalty programs to share our message. The hype was so much that our local liquor representatives approached us to collaborate on a promotion. The subsequent CORONA Beach Party was a huge success!
Enter the World Cup.
The promotion was so successful and resulted in such a significant volume of sales for the product that it earned us an all-expenses-paid trip to watch the Socceroos compete in the FIFA World Cup in Germany!
(The after-party cleanup is a story for another time!)
Team engagement is the MAGNET in your business.
As Sir Richard Branson stated, ‘engaged employees are the backbone of thriving businesses.’ In healthcare and dental services especially, an engaged team becomes a magnet. It attracts not only better outcomes today, but future opportunities tomorrow.
Team engagement is the collective commitment and extra effort a team brings to its work, each other, and the organisation's goals. In an engaged team, people understand what success looks like, feel equipped and trusted to do their jobs well, and regularly receive meaningful feedback and recognition. Instead of doing the minimum, they raise issues early, look for better ways of working, and actively support colleagues and patients or customers. And being recognised for having an engaged team creates that magnetic influence which draws more high-performing employee candidates to your business, creating a perfect cycle of growth, development and sustainable business outcomes.
Gallup reports that highly engaged teams deliver roughly 10 to 20% higher productivity, around 20-25% higher profitability, markedly fewer safety incidents and quality problems, and significantly lower absenteeism and turnover, alongside better customer or patient satisfaction and loyalty. Plus, when team engagement meets psychological safety initiatives, workplaces have a 27% lower turnover risk and a huge 230% return on their investment.¹
Furthermore, higher rates of staff engagement experiences - such as growth and development opportunities – positively influence healthcare staff intentions to remain with their employer by up to 35%.²
At the same time, disengaged healthcare employees are 1.7 times more likely to leave their employment.³
These findings and statistics position team engagement strategies as core levers for clinical outcomes and profitability, not just the ‘staff-wellbeing’ projects it may be perceived as. Add to this, team engagement programs must be considered as revenue and retention strategies due to the direct positive outcomes on minimising staff turnover while bettering the patient experience, leading to business growth through word-of-mouth referrals.
Build and nurture an engaged team
Most business owners know when their team is disengaged. Productivity drops. Energy fades. Small issues take up too much airtime. Turnover becomes expensive, both financially and emotionally. Your team won’t show up to help you shift that proverbial ‘pile of sand’ in an emergency.
What an engaged team creates
Team engagement is a force that drives multiple outcomes for your business:
Stronger role ownership and accountability
Improved wellbeing and psychological safety
Higher productivity without burnout
Better service consistency and brand loyalty
Greater cohesion and trust across the team
Natural innovation through shared ideas and collaboration
When these elements are present, performance issues reduce on their own. When they’re absent, leaders end up compensating with micromanagement, policies and constant course correction.
When your business is recognised for having a workplace culture that champions your people as one of your strongest assets, then, just like a magnet, your practice attracts:
Loyal patients
High-quality staff
Better performance
Sustainable growth
A starting point to move your team engagement strategy from concept towards execution
Consider several practical levers that can contribute to team engagement in your practice environment:
Knowing your team’s drivers and personality styles
Clarifying roles, responsibilities and standard of contribution
Encouraging input and shared problem-solving
Involving teams in shaping how work is done
Creating individual learning and growth plans that align with business goals
Over time, these actions become repeatable, scalable SYSTEMS. What starts as an intentional effort to foster engagement becomes part of how the business operates.
Engagement isn’t soft. It’s structural. Strengthen the magnet, and the results follow.
And as always, I’d love to hear your thoughts.
Yours in healthcare excellence,
