The healthcare industry experiences a high level of challenge when it comes to staff retention. With long hours, high stress levels, and a shortage of qualified workers, keeping employees happy and engaged can get extremely difficult. Gina Temple therefore mentions that all healthcare facilities need to have robust employee retention strategies in place.
Gina Temple discusses ways to retain healthcare employees
Employee retention in the domain of healthcare comes with a range of challenges, like healthcare staff can get disengaged or face burnout over time. The management team of healthcare facilities must address diverse challenges and follow impactful strategies to improve employee retention. The first step towards improving employee retention in healthcare is to focus on strategic recruitment. Healthcare facilities need to prioritize hiring employees that best align with their distinctive organizational culture. Employees who are a good fit for a healthcare facility would invariably be more engaged, and have higher odds of finding satisfaction in the work they do.
Hospitals of today may leverage discerning artificial intelligence (AI) and cultural assessment tools in order to select job candidates who would be an ideal fit for their organization. AI can be used for analysing the culture of a healthcare facility and finding candidates who would be well-suited to the culture, while also removing unconscious biases from the hiring process. AI tools can bring about a good level of standardization and objectivity in the hiring process, enabling hospitals to be well-equipped to recruit the right associates for their organization.
As per Gina Temple, investing in training and development can also help healthcare facilities to improve employee retention. Training and development programs are typically focused on improving the technical and people skills of the employees, thereby providing them with the tools and capabilities they need to succeed in their roles. Ongoing training and development can result in excellent patient experiences while also boosting productivity and increasing employee engagement.
The on-boarding process marks the start of the journey of an employee. The on-boarding process that puts emphasis on the organizational, technical, and social aspects of the job ultimately steps up the employees to capably perform in their new roles. Moreover, by creating a good relationship with the employees early on, healthcare facilities would have greater chances of retaining them in the longer term.
Improved engagement results in higher employee retention in the healthcare industry. Low engagement often stems from issues like excessive overtime, unpredictable scheduling, and heavy workloads. While some of these challenges are unavoidable, hospital leaders can take specific steps to measure and enhance engagement. To improve employee retention, healthcare facilities need to prioritize proactive communication, recognition programs, volunteer programs, diversity and inclusion, as well as training and development.
There are certain employers in the domain of healthcare that tend to be reluctant to offer their staff competitive pay raises as they fear their pay structure will be undermined and any increases will be unaffordable. However, it is vital to remember that providing competitive compensation to reward the team for their hard work can be more cost-effective in the long run as it will lead to lower staff turnover costs, such as advertising, recruitment, and on-boarding. Offering better salaries and benefits is among the most effective ways of improving healthcare employee retention.