Empowering Your Midwifery Staff

Being the owner and midwifery for your practice can be very tough! We are supporting our patients, staff, and business finances. There are times when your colleagues are stressed, don’t get along, and need a vacation to rejuvenate their midwifery soul. How can you as the employer notice signs of burnout or frustration with work environment and support your staff? Regular communication with team (monthly staff meeting, quarterly 1:1 meetings, and staff “fun retreats” will help with work place cohesiveness. Put your staff first and then they can better take care of patients.

There is so much evidence out there about happy workers are productive and long term invested staff. Giving recognition and rewards to midwives can motivate them and production increases. Support their work needs, try to keep personal concerns as much as possible out of work life, and be flexible when life events arise to cover each other. We are a team and the more we can support each other professionally through the slow and slamming times, the better off each midwife’s care and work ethics will be.

One way for businesses to keep employees satisfied and committed is through employee growth and professional development initiatives. I have in the birth center a patient education resource library and a professional resource library that includes clinical and professional development books. Midwives can work on communication skills, time management, and goal setting during down time between patients. Having team attend Crucial Conversations, JUST training, or CREATE workshops.

By taking a proactive approach to your employee growth and professional development strategies, you can mitigate employee turnover and drive more productivity. Here are six ways to support employee growth and professional development in the workplace. If you want to support midwifery growth, you must first keep them happy and motivated. That starts by creating a company culture that rewards and recognizes exceptional work.

Organizations that do not provide continuous feedback cannot expect employees to grow or develop in the areas within which they struggle. Knowing your weaknesses is an important step in personal and professional development. This ongoing evaluation and communication process provides a feedback loop that helps your midwifery team understand the areas they need more training in.

Soft skills are personal traits that contribute to being successful as a worker. These skills can include areas like time management, delegation, active listening, and communication, among others. Organizations that offer training and educational resources for soft-skill development can increase the productivity of their entire team – not just the team member. Each midwife on your team will have strengths and weaknesses. Honor the strengths and positively improve on the weaknesses. We all want to be better midwives to our patients and respectful to our colleagues. Empower your midwifery team so they know you are professionally there for them and want to fulfill the mission of serving women in the community and on the payroll alike.