Why eCards Beat Bulletin Boards for Hospital Staff Recognition

Have you heard? Hospitals are moving away from bulletin boards in favor of eCard platforms to maximize the impact of staff recognition efforts.

eCard platforms let healthcare professionals send quick, personal notes at any time. As hospital teams get busier, this digital approach keeps appreciation consistent and visible. Other benefits include a stronger team culture, employee insights that can influence future workplace appreciation efforts, and lower costs.

In this article, we take a deep dive into why hospitals are ditching bulletin boards, ways to use eCards for employee appreciation, and why Kudoboard is the best option for personalized eCards in the healthcare space.

The Problem With Traditional Bulletin Boards

For years, traditional bulletin boards were the choice recognition tool for hospitals. They were easy to set up and felt familiar. But these days, bulletin boards fall short for a few key reasons.

Hospital employees often work different shifts—on different floors or in other locations. As such, they might miss important bulletin board messages, which is a problem because modern workers expect real-time feedback. If they don’t get it, it’s easier to feel unappreciated.

Maintaining a bulletin board is also time-consuming. Someone has to print and pin new messages, then remove old ones on a regular basis. This task takes away from other hospital duties, which is why it’s often skipped, leading to outdated and overly cluttered boards.

Finally, bulletin board recognition feels impersonal. Generic or templated messaging becomes the norm, which lacks the individual touch that makes staff feel appreciated. And what if you want to send a private note tailored to the recipient’s personality? Bulletin boards can’t help.

Put simply, modern hospital teams need a visible, timely, and personalized recognition platform. Bulletin boards aren’t up to the task, which is why digital solutions like eCards are popular.

5 Benefits of eCards for Healthcare Employee Appreciation

eCards offer significant benefits for healthcare employee appreciation. Here are five benefits your hospital will experience when it swaps a traditional bulletin board for online cards:

Instant Delivery

eCards allow for real-time appreciation, regardless of an employee’s schedule or physical location. A night-shift nurse or a worker in a satellite clinic gets the same recognition as main hospital staff—and they get it at the same time because eCards are delivered instantly, keeping praise feeling timely and meaningful.

True Personalization

eCards can be tailored to recipients. Senders can choose from a variety of card templates to fit different scenarios, include a personal message about specific achievements, and add custom media elements, like memes, photos, or videos. These capabilities combine to create unique, highly personalized recognition experiences that healthcare employees love.

Better Team Culture

eCards make recognition quick, easy, and consistent. As such, they help hospital staff feel connected across different departments and sites. When employees feel connected, they work harder, collaborate more, and get along better with their colleagues. In other words, eCards help create a positive work environment that people want to be a part of.

Employee Insights

eCard platforms capture detailed data about who gives and receives recognition, when said recognition is given or received, and how these transactions happen. This digital record helps managers see trends, spot participation gaps, and measure the health of their hospital’s recognition program. They can then make improvements to their appreciation efforts.

Cost and Eco-Friendliness

Finally, eCards save hospitals money while improving the planet. The cost of paper and ink to print bulletin board messages adds up. Said messages aren’t the most sustainable option either. eCards remove these concerns, allowing your organization to invest more in other employee initiatives and genuinely claim a commitment to fighting climate change.

How to Use eCards to Supercharge Employee Recognition

eCards are more than digital thank-you cards. Used the right way, eCards create a consistent and personalized culture of recognition that every hospital can benefit from.

Here’s how to use eCards to make sure your healthcare staff feels appreciated:

Aim for Consistency

Recognition is often pushed to the side in high-stress hospital settings where there are so many other tasks to focus on and complete. But consistent appreciation is key to making employees feel valued.

Do your best to send eCards regularly so your staff feel seen. To help you get in the habit, most eCard platforms will let you schedule reminders to create eCards. Kudoboard will even allow you to schedule finished cards ahead of time so they automatically send when needed.

A consistent approach to eCards prevents staff from feeling overlooked, reduces burnout, and strengthens connection, especially in high-pressure settings like hospitals.

Recognize Quality Work

You’re probably thinking, “Sure, I can get into the habit of sending eCards to my healthcare employees. But when should I send them?” Excellent question.

You can use eCards to recognize outstanding work—preferably right after it happens. When you do, offer detailed feedback on what the employee did right so they can repeat the action in the future. This tip will help you personalize your eCards, making them more meaningful.

When employees know their efforts are seen and valued, they tend to take more pride in their work, have more confidence, and achieve greater performance.

Celebrate Professional Milestones

You can also send eCards to celebrate professional milestones, like when a staff member is promoted, completes a training, or earns a certification. These moments deserve recognition.

Whenever possible, celebrate professional milestones as a team. That way, everyone can join in and congratulate colleagues on their achievements. Most eCards simplify this process by allowing multiple people to contribute to each card. (More on this in a few minutes.)

Whether you send group cards or not, make sure to acknowledge professional milestones. These moments matter to employees, so sending them an eCard will show them that you care. And when employees know you care, they’ll work harder and create better patient experiences.

Don’t Forget About Personal Milestones

Don’t stop at professional milestones—recognize the personal ones too.

Everything from staff birthdays to wedding ceremonies and new babies should be acknowledged in some way. After all, your employees are more than their job titles.

eCards make it easy to celebrate these kinds of occasions, fostering stronger relationships between healthcare workers and hospital leadership. When the workplace feels like a supportive community, employees will enjoy their time at work more and stick around for longer.

Welcome New Healthcare Workers

Starting a new job is stressful—especially at a hospital. There are so many people to meet and protocols to follow. And the stakes are high because you’re dealing with patients’ health.

You can make things easier on new hires by sending them a quick eCard on their first day. Doing so will help them feel seen, included, and comfortable from the very beginning of their time at your hospital. When they feel this way, they’ll perform better in their roles.

One more thing: welcome group cards can be used to introduce recruits to their colleagues. Ask other employees to sign the digital card and share a quick bit about themselves. This simple act will break the ice, reduce anxiety, and fast-track relationship building.

Encourage Peer-to-Peer Recognition

Recognition shouldn’t only come from the top. When staff members can send eCards to each other, appreciation will spread further and feel more authentic.

Imagine: Meg is dealing with a difficult patient, so Jay steps in to help. A few minutes later, the patient’s problem is resolved because Meg and Jay were able to tag-team the solution. Meg is so grateful that she sends Jay an eCard to thank him, and Jay really appreciates the gesture. Now Meg and Jay have a better relationship and are more likely to help others in the future.

See how that works? Peer recognition ensures that all good deeds are acknowledged, while fostering a more supportive workplace culture that genuinely engages employees.

Create a Custom Slideshow for Employees

A tool like Kudoboard will also let you create custom slideshows to be displayed on TV screens throughout your hospital. (Staff break rooms are a perfect spot!) 

All you have to do is create a group card and ask employees to contribute notes, images, and/or videos. Kudoboard will then cycle through and display each contribution individually, rather than showcasing all contributions at once. This alternative approach to recognition is a fun way to celebrate team achievements, employee retirements, and other milestones.

Just remember, these kinds of slideshows are highly visible, so only public-appropriate messages should be featured. Failure to recognize this fact could lead to awkward scenarios.

Integrate eCards With Hospital Systems

Last but not least, connect your eCard platform to your other hospital admin systems. Doing so will help ensure your employees receive the eCards you send and grow accustomed to the process.

The best eCard platforms integrate with Slack, Microsoft Teams, company intranets, and a variety of HRIS tools. Integration allows for easy access and will ensure your staff receive the eCards you send them. It will also help them become familiar with the entire eCard process.

In addition, eCard platforms that integrate with HR tools will give you valuable data. For example, you can track appreciation history, participation rates, and trends from one central place. You can then use this information to improve your staff recognition efforts.

The Best eCard Platform for Healthcare Settings

You can’t send eCards until you invest in an eCard platform.

But if you type “best eCard platform” into Google or ChatGPT, you’ll see a ton of tools pop up. Which one should you choose? For most healthcare organizations, the answer is Kudoboard.

Why? Our platform is easy to use, prioritizes security, and has industry-leading features. Let’s dig deeper into the benefits of Kudoboard so you can determine if it’s right for you.

An Intuitive Interface

Maybe we’re biased, but Kudoboard is extremely easy to use.

Once you sign up for an account, just choose an eCard template, customize it for the recipient and special occasion, add a personalized note, ask teammates to contribute, and hit send.

You don’t need a degree in rocket science to operate Kudoboard. You just need the desire to recognize your healthcare workers for the amazing work they do. Then you need to spend a few minutes with our platform and create eCards your team will love. That’s all there is to it.

A Strong Focus on Privacy

Kudoboard includes multiple security features, such as single sign-on (SSO) capabilities, encryption, SOC 2 Type II certification, and a full intrusion-detection system.

In other words, Kudoboard excels in healthcare because it was built with privacy in mind.

Also of note, our platform includes extensive access controls. Control whether eCards and group cards are private, public, and/or shareable on social media. Send eCards to all employees or just one. Basically, Kudoboard puts you in the driver’s seat so that your eCards (and any personal information they contain) are only visible to select people, building trust.

Custom Templates and Branding

With Kudoboard, hospitals have access to an extensive library of professionally designed eCard templates. That way, users don’t have to start from scratch during the card design process.

Just as important, Kudoboard allows users to personalize eCards to reflect their unique culture. Add logos, change color schemes, and alter fonts to create the exact vibe you want.

Group Cards for Team Celebrations

Kudoboard makes it easy for hospitals to celebrate team and individual milestones together with group cards.

Every person can contribute personal notes, images, and videos to the same group card, which is great for retirements, work anniversaries, and/or team awards. You can even ask friends, family, or other loved ones to sign the card and participate if the occasion calls for it.

Plus, the collaborative nature of group cards boosts engagement and allows staff to share in celebrations, regardless of where or when they work. This feature helps teams strengthen bonds and individuals feel more included, turning recognition into a shared experience.

Easy Automation for Recognition Milestones

Kudoboard also includes impressive automation features, so you never miss an employee’s birthday, work anniversary, or other important date.

Schedule reminders to create eCards for your employees. Then, once the perfect card is made, schedule it to send on the special day, at the right time. (Like 9am on an employee’s birthday.)

Automation features are especially important for large hospitals with many employees and busy schedules. If you try to remember every milestone on your own, you’ll fail. Kudoboard’s automation tools ensure this doesn’t happen, keeping employees happy and engaged.

Peer Recognition Made Simple

Kudoboard helps give hospital staff a voice. How so? Any employee can create and send eCards—assuming management assigns them this permission, which they should.

When employees can participate in this way, they’ll feel empowered and become more engaged with their duties. They’ll also be recognized for more of the good work they do. After all, management isn’t always present. When colleagues can shout each other out, they’ll ensure teammates get the recognition they deserve, exactly when they deserve to get it.

Finally, peer-to-peer recognition builds teamwork and makes staff feel valued in all directions. And Kudoboard makes it possible through a simple interface and permissions features.

Analytics Dashboard for Insights

Is your employee recognition strategy working? The analytics dashboard inside Kudoboard will help you answer that question with confidence. (And adjust your approach when necessary.)

Kudoboard analytics highlight participation rates, types of recognition sent, and engagement across departments, making it easy to spot gaps and successes. These insights will then help you improve your efforts so that all employees are recognized fairly and consistently.

Downloadable and Printable Boards

What if an electronic card isn’t enough? Kudoboard allows users to transform eCards into beautiful hardbound books and/or wall posters, so they have physical items to cherish. You can also attach a digital gift card to every eCard for extra delight.

These features are perfect for recognizing major milestones, like a job promotion or the birth of a baby. It just depends on how you want to acknowledge your hospital staff and the kind of appreciation they wish to receive.

Whatever you decide, just know that a physical keepsake can add weight to appreciation efforts.

Integration With Hospital Tools

Finally, Kudoboard connects with popular workplace tools like Slack, Microsoft Teams, social media platforms, digital signage tools, and company intranet systems. It also integrates with over 200 HRIS systems, including Workday, Gusto, ADP, and BambooHR.

This capability reduces the need to switch between apps or duplicate efforts. Staff can send, receive, and view eCards in the tools they already use, driving higher participation.

Improve Hospital Staff Recognition With Kudoboard

eCards have moved hospital staff recognition into a new era.

They bring instant, personal appreciation to everyone, regardless of shift or location. Bulletin boards, or even traditional paper cards, can’t say the same.

eCards also make it easy for employees to recognize each other, which creates an inclusive and engaging work atmosphere that drives engagement, motivation, and team culture.

When it comes to eCard platforms, Kudoboard is the top choice. Our platform prioritizes ease of use without limiting features, and has the security tools you need in the healthcare industry. We’re dedicated to helping create real-time, personalized recognition with eCards that improves culture and patient experience.