The message was clear. Every one of the nurses and technicians I interviewed at the Critical Access Hospital said that the staff was “like a family” or something very close to that. They meant it. This wasn’t some pablum spilling from the lips of a wishful HR director or a sales pitch from a clinical recruiter at a job fair. This was a real sentiment.

How did this family connection manifest itself? In my brief conversations, it came through as “having each others backs,” particularly when it came to covering shifts. One radiological technician related how a family crisis made it difficult to get to work one day, so her already overworked supervisor willingly stepped in and took the shift. Not like a parent taking care of a child, but more like a big sister or brother helping a sibling in a functional family. (Let’s not even get started on dysfunctional work families.)

How do you think that rad tech feels about her supervisor? Assuming the supervisor is always this nice, and this was not a one-off, the tech would feel a warmth and connection. And those feelings could lead to a sense of loyalty and commitment.

The third level of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs (I know, here we go again with Maslow, yada, yada) is Love and Belonging. I believe this is an underdeveloped benefit of employment, particularly for employers that have limited resources. For example, the CAH of which I speak cannot match the salaries of large hospitals in cities an hour away. It’s tempting for nurses and doctors to drive the hour for the larger paycheck.

But what do they give up if they doe this? While they may be addressing Maslow’s base of his hierarchy – Physiological needs – by gaining an increase salary, they will not be as Safe (the second level) and they will sacrifice the Belonging that comes with working in a smaller, community hospital.

So, how can your organization build on the Family Feeling to build loyalty and increase retention? Here are just a few ideas:

1. Make sure the Family Feeling flows from every level of the organization, including the top. At this CAH, the CEO knew everyone’s name and greeted them if he saw them in the hallway. You can do that with such a small staff, but even with larger staff the executives can be friendly and engaging.
2. Build family and belonging through small groups and activities. This can be as simple as managers having a small allocation to host deparment lunches every quarter or getting groups of employees to attend a local sporting event.
3. Capture these stories of belonging on simple, short videos and then post them to social media or make a rotating slide deck with PowerPoint to present show at career fairs.

A sense of belonging can help mitigate the lack of resources to pay staff top dollar. And isn’t belonging one of the best things about a family?