From recognition to retention: Building social capital at work
While employee recognition has long been linked to workforce well-being, traditional models often overlook how day-to-day interactions among nurses can shape culture and influence retention. In high-pressure clinical environments, where burnout and turnover loom large, finding new ways to build trust, connection, and belonging is critical to retaining and engaging care teams.
In a new article for the Journal of Nursing Administration (JONA), Press Ganey’s Chief Medical Officer Dr. Tom Lee teams up with the entrepreneur and social scientist Senem Guney and Charge Health Founder and CEO Kyle Robertson to explore how the mobile social game helps workplaces cultivate social capital by connecting caregivers to the “why” behind their work. Social capital—i.e., trust, reciprocity, and mutual respect—is essential for team cohesion and a key driver of retention. They introduce the concept of contribution-specific social capital and offer a blueprint for using peer recognition to strengthen engagement, boost nurse retention, and improve clinical outcomes.