By Rose O. Sherman, EdD, RN, NEA-BC, FAAN
Even the best nurse managers need nudges. I was reminded of this several weeks ago in a conversation I had with a leader about recognition. She told me the following:
I know I don’t recognize my staff enough. I have the best intentions, but I get so caught up in my work that I forget to do it. The other day, one of my seasoned nurses came to me, and she was pretty upset. She told me that I rarely said thank you to her and other nurses who were doing the heavy lifting on the unit (charge nurse, preceptor, and unit practice council). It is just like you expect us to do these things, but don’t recognize those who go above and beyond. She is right, of course- I sometimes think about these things in the moment but don’t act on them. Reminders and prompts to help me do this would be greatly appreciated – we need to make this process easier for managers.
This leader is experiencing what leadership development specialists refer to as “The Knowing-Doing Gap.” She understands that recognition drives staff engagement. She knows what she needs to do, but does not always act. She is a good example of a manager who needs a nudge to act. She needs that subtle reminder to take action. Leadership is about behaviors, and even highly motivated managers can revert to old habits, becoming task-focused in the face of excessive stress and a heavy workload. Even simple, fundamental leadership practices—such as giving effective feedback or showing appreciation to staff —can be overlooked in the hustle and bustle of the nurse manager’s world.
Much of the research around the importance of nudges has been done by professors Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein from the University of Chicago. Their research suggests that “just-in-time” nudges and micro-nudges can support leaders in implementing behaviors such as employee recognition. Well-designed just-in-time reminders can help leaders overcome challenges such as procrastination and information overload, ultimately enhancing their leadership practice. Nudges are most effective when they are delivered at the right time and place, considering the specific context in which leaders make decisions. The core principle is to make the desired behavior the easiest and most attractive option, often by simplifying processes or providing helpful information.
We know that big data and AI can be used to help create sophisticated and personalized nudging interventions for leaders. The future is already here to help managers. Platforms like Laudio which use AI, help leaders to filter through the noise and take high impact, purposeful leader actions such as recognition that are personalized to the individual staff member.
Nurse managers benefit from both prompts and a way to seamlessly recognize the staff member at the same time. In my conversations with leaders, they will readily tell me that they know they need a nudge to be more effective. Fortunately, there are now ways that we can help them with technology to do this.
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