Healthcare organizations experience significant challenges in retaining their employees (Healthcare Talent Retention), which remains a critical issue in the current society, but it can be solved through retention management. It is often a challenge to retain talented employees in hospitals and medical centres, and turnover can be costly in various way’s.
By practicing retention (Healthcare Talent Retention) management, healthcare providers can ensure that their staff is motivated, happy, and committed. When implemented correctly, cost savings and better patient care can be achieved alongside a healthy organizational climate.
What is Employee Retention in Healthcare?
The approach used to prevent turnover in an organization is very important. Turnover is defined as the number of employees that have left a particular company in a given period and is an important factor that influences the ability of the company to retain its employees.
In most organizations, managers strive to make sure that turnover is low by using certain tactics in order to keep their employees.
These strategies involve creating a positive work environment, paying employees fairly and offering them good remunerations, offering training programs and career counselling, as well as giving employees the chance for promotion and advancement.
Training & Career Development Initiatives
Focusing on these strategic practices will enhance an organization’s employee turnover rate and result in a more stable and productive employee population. Another crucial retention (Healthcare Talent Retention) approach is providing training sessions and individual career counselling.
It means that the human resource management should ensure that employees are equipped with what they require to perform their duties effectively and also how they can be trained or developed to the next level within the organization.
The Role of Training and Career Development in Employee Retention
Training and career planning show an organization’s dedication to the employees’ development and provide them with the essential information and skills to perform their tasks effectively within the organization and progress in their careers.
In addition to developing a collaborative and supportive work climate, providing training and individual career guidance may also improve the level of engagement and job satisfaction of the employees.
Why Is Retention an Issue in Healthcare?
The healthcare industry is only now recovering from the impacts of the 2020 pandemic and is now experiencing the phenomenon of “The Great Resignation,” with turnover rates elevated to record levels.
A 2022 NSI report on Nursing Solutions, Inc indicates that the hospital employee turnover rate is 25%. 9%, and the average cost of turnover stands at $46,100. Consequently, an average hospital is likely to lose between $5. 2m and $9m in a year.
Healthcare Labour Shortage
The fundamental issue behind the healthcare employee retention (Healthcare Talent Retention) problem is that there are simply not enough of them to go around. The numbers of medical practitioners and supporting staff are insufficient to respond to current and future provider and patient demand.
This shortage of labour, which existed before COVID-19, can be attributed to factors such as population growth, shift in demographics, inadequate enrolment to quality medical education programs and inadequate training facilities, and the fact that practitioners are retiring at a faster pace than new hires are being recruited by HR departments.
The Effects of COVID-19 on the Healthcare Workforce
According to the World Health Organization (PDF), the global deficiency of frontline healthcare workers, including doctors, nurses, and other staff, is expected to reach 18 million by 2030.
And that projection was made before the pandemic, which has made the shortage even worse as practitioners are forced out of practice due to exhaustion.
About 340,000 healthcare workers resigned in the US in 2021, as reported by Definitive Healthcare, a healthcare commercial intelligence platform, and based on its analysis, around 20% of healthcare workers have changed jobs since 2020.
Projected Shortages and Implications
By 2032, this shortage will be even more significant. The industry will be short of nearly 122,000 physicians. It would not be enough to meet the demand for healthcare in the future and thus the need to embrace innovation.
These shortages are felt at a time when the number of elderly people is increasing, and there is increased demand for health services. As a result of this health crisis, it is crucial for practices to focus on recruitment and retention (Healthcare Talent Retention) of employees.
Why Employees of Healthcare Facilities Most Often Quit
For any organization to succeed in minimizing employee turnover, it is important to understand why employees quit.
Inadequate compensation
The 2022 survey also showed that the most valued criteria for the clinicians was ‘pay’, we saw that 62% of the clinician we surveyed had ranked it in their top three.
Issues with management
Lack of efficient management can lead to employees’ disconnection and feeling of being left out. One of the reasons that can make employees start searching for another job is when they have a negative attitude towards management.
Stress
Stress is a force that affects the mental health, job satisfaction, and performance of healthcare employees. Stress is also a complex phenomenon since it depends on several factors.
In a nutshell, occupational stress is a mental and physical discomfort arising from stress causing a work environment.
Toxic workplace culture
A toxic workplace culture may make employees feel that their coworkers do not respect them, become irritated with them, or even harass them.
They may have a perception that they are being underappreciated, being punished for something they did not do, or cannot rely on their colleagues.
Such an environment can be as a result of some things such as employees’ misconduct, poor management practices, and unfavourable workplace policies.
10 Strategies for Employee Retention in Healthcare
Engaging healthcare employees means offering benefits on par with those offered by other industries, opportunities for promotion, and a healthy workplace environment. They assist in keeping employees loyal and satisfied with their jobs.
1. Listen to Your Employees
Engaging the employees involves listening to them as they express themselves on some issues facing them in the workplace. Listening tours, stay interviews, and open communication allow leadership to capture essential data to enhance workplace conditions.
2. Reset Realistic Workload Expectations
Employees working in the healthcare sector are exposed to increased working pressures which cause burnout, and high turnover. Another crucial element of managing staff is to ensure that the workload is reasonable and can be achieved in a sustainable manner.
3. Build HR Retention Capacity
When it comes to the implementation of retention (Healthcare Talent Retention) initiatives, it is important to embed them into the framework of the HR policies and practices. One of the ways is to hire a retention (Healthcare Talent Retention) initiatives specialist or create a retention (Healthcare Talent Retention) task force to minimize turnover.
4. Engaging Your People with Purpose
Effective orientation programs are formal and systematic; they assist new employees to assimilate into the organization and thus increase employee retention (Healthcare Talent Retention). Individualized orientation programs such as having a buddy, orientation, and team-building sessions help to create healthy bond and productivity.
5. Effective Training
Offering comprehensive training to employees will ensure that they have appropriate knowledge and skills to enable them carry out their duties efficiently. Lack of training can result in increased turnover rates, employee frustration, and production of low-quality work.
6. Follow Safety Standards
Ensuring the safety of the healthcare workers in the workplace through offering training and security is a step towards decreasing turnover. There is high likelihood that employees will remain in organizations that show concern in their safety and welfare.
7. Creating a More Engaged Professional Workforce
Promoting employee engagement and loyalty by offering career planning, performance feedback, and mental health check-ups is likely to improve retention (Healthcare Talent Retention). Implementing a culture that encourages the employees to contribute to the company and that cares for them fosters a feeling of ownership and value.
8. Reduce Administrative Tasks for Carers
Implementing strategies to minimize paperwork and enhance integration of healthcare information systems can decrease paperwork for caregivers. The use of technology like AI-based tools can help in minimizing documentation requirements while also enhancing job satisfaction.
9. Provide Lucrative Packages
Information concerning compensation and benefits should be transparent to ensure the organization is able to attract and retain the best employees. Disclosing the salary and emphasizing the best offers for employees, including flexible schedules and bonuses when signing a contract, can attract and improve the retention (Healthcare Talent Retention) of employees.
10. Give Recognition Where Recognition Is Due
It is crucial to appreciate and encourage HC professionals through annual celebrations, awards, tokens, and other acknowledgments to increase their morale and retention (Healthcare Talent Retention) in the facilities. Rewarding excellent performance and giving genuine appreciation motivate the workforce and make them feel valued.
Conclusion
Retention (Healthcare Talent Retention) of skilled workers is always a priority to any institution especially in the healthcare sector. With these 10 effective strategies, you can enhance levels of job satisfaction, limit the turnover, and foster a favourable working climate.
It is recommended to focus on the competitive benefits, personal and career development, and a positive organizational climate. These efforts will assist you in keeping your valuable employees and creating a stable, highly effective team for your patients.
