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The healthcare industry faces unique challenges in retaining skilled employees amidst a competitive and demanding work environment. High employee turnover not only disrupts continuity of care but also places a heavy burden on healthcare organisations due to a constant need for recruitment and training.
Therefore, an effective retention strategy is a critical component of a healthcare organisation's operational success. Every organisation needs to develop comprehensive employee retention strategies especially in healthcare to enhance employee satisfaction and loyalty.
We will discuss how to create a thriving workplace where healthcare professionals can excel and remain committed over the long term. Keep reading to learn about improving recruitment and onboarding processes, fostering a supportive work culture, and offering competitive benefits to retain employees.
Recruitment and Onboarding
Improve Recruiting Process
To enhance retention, start with a precise healthcare recruitment strategy that aligns new hires with your organisation's core values and mission. This could involve partnering with specialised healthcare recruitment agencies to pinpoint candidates who are not just qualified but also genuinely interested in growing with your company. Clarity in communicating job roles and expectations is crucial for attracting candidates ready to commit and excel.
Enhance Onboarding Experience
The way an employee is welcomed and settled into a company will have a direct effect on their long-term retention. When joining a new workforce, it's essential they feel well-informed and supported, for both personal development and patient care. Onboarding should begin before an employee's first day, and continue through their first year, from regular check-ins to open lines of communication, and allowing them to provide feedback.
Effective Training Programs
Another staffing retention strategy is offering quality training. Informative and developmental training will see your employees gain valuable skills and experience, motivating them to progress further in their careers within your organisation. This training can be anything from refreshers on daily operations, to leadership and management courses, or soft skills focussing on team building and personal development.
Scheduling and Work Environment
Adopt Scheduling Best Practices
In healthcare, staff schedules can be more complex depending on the facility and level of patient care required. Schedules may have to take into account a large volume of employees, covering day and night shifts as well as weekends.
However, promoting a work life balance as best as possible will not go unnoticed by workers. This could be steps as small as allowing staff to request which days they work on the rota or making it a similar rotation released far in advance so workers can plan around it.
Prevent Employee Burnout
Avoiding employee burnout will have a huge impact on staffing retention rates. Healthcare workers who are burnt out will become switched-off and distant from their work, impacting both employee retention and potentially patient care.
To prevent this, consider being clear about the demands of every role right from the recruitment process, and set expectations. Promote mental wellbeing in your workplace and offer a supportive line of communication for all employees who may need assistance in managing their workload.
Transition Staff Strategically
If you are transitioning staff within your team, this should be done strategically to ensure your workers feel supported and encouraged. One of the most effective ways of doing this is to structure your onboarding for employees who are moving throughout the organisation. Offering strategic support during what can be a crucial period during an individual's career is likely to mean they settle in better and feel comfortable and motivated in their role long-term.
Caring for employees well during this time also signals to others in the company that they will be supported if they choose to grow internally, allowing for great levels of future employee retention.
Address Social Barriers to Work
There could be social barriers within your workplace that require addressing to healthcare staff retention. This could be anything from poorly managed schedules and rotas, language barriers, or even a lack of role models in senior positions. It is important to regularly review these issues, to understand if they could be impacting on your retention levels.
Communication and Engagement
Improve Internal Communication
If you hope to retain your employees long-term, it is a good idea to ensure they have a voice within the organisation, and a place to share it. This is where the power of good internal communications comes into play.
Especially in healthcare, good communication between staff members and different teams all has an impact on both an employee's engagement and patient care. Team building should be encouraged, and a sense of community and collaboration is likely to create a welcoming environment for all.
Boost Employee Engagement
Engaged employees are far more likely to stay with your organisation for longer and want to go above and beyong for their team. Allowing staff to become disengaged can mean they only complete what is required of them, with no desire to progress or develop, which will have a direct impact on the service you provide and how long they will stay with the company.
To improve staff retention, you should make staff feel like they matter, regularly ask for their feedback, recognise their achievements, and promote your company values consistently and effectively.
Regularly Ask for (and Act On) Employee Feedback
It is one thing to ask employees for feedback, but it is another to act on it. A great retention tool is to encourage management to really listen to their team and implement some of their feedback in daily operations or other areas. Feeling as if their voice has had an impact , and that they have been heard, is likely to see staff engage more with their working environment.
Professional Development
Encourage Continuing Education and Certification
If employees feel as if they can grow and develop in an organisation, they are likely to remain there for longer. Staff who continue their education, especially in healthcare, will provide better levels of care, as well as being able to advance their certifications and job roles over time.
This can be both internal and external training or educational programs, which in turn will see staff become more qualified and remain a part of your team.
Employee-Led Initiatives and Autonomy
Again, visiting the topic of feedback and making staff feel heard, employee-led initiatives again allow staff to have an input in how the organisation functions.
This can be done in many forms, from mentoring and coaching programmes to wellness events for both mental and physical health.
Leadership Development Programs
Giving employees a clear path for progression will provide a definite improvement in retention levels. Most staff members will want to see their career develop over time and will value the opportunity for a leadership role or training.
Learning new skills and tasks also keeps staff engaged, and likely to become skilled and experienced members of your team in future.
Leadership and Management
Role of Strong Healthcare Leaders
The atmosphere and engagement levels in a workplace are most likely affected by those who are in management roles. Strong leaders in healthcare are responsible for motivating their team, encouraging development and managing any issues that could impact worker retention.
Managerial Support and Guidance
Part of being a good leader is offering support and advice, and this is key for reducing employee retention. Your team must feel as if they have somewhere to turn if they have a question or concern, and that they will be heard and understood.
Fostering a Positive Work Culture
Healthcare organisations can be high pressure environments, so a good leader should be supportive and engaged with the previous methods mentioned, from recognising their team's successes to pushing for and promoting professional development and education.
Compensation, Benefits and Recognition
Competitive Compensation
Compensation is a huge recruitment strategy for both attracting and retaining qualified professionals, especially in the healthcare industry. With a high demand for staffing worldwide, creating a competitive package will avoid your employees moving to a competitor with a better deal.
A competitive salary is one of the most basic needs of any employee and will allow them to feel appreciated by their employer. This is also one of the most important methods of employee retention.
Pay reviews and possible bonuses will keep staff motivated and engaged to perform well and grow with the company. This may also benefit the employer not only with employee retention, but also seeing their staff take on more complex workloads, expand their experience and hit targets successfully.
Comprehensive Benefits and Perks
In addition to salary, other benefits can include health insurance, life insurance, and even tuition or education reimbursements. These perks can also improve employee retention, giving the organisation a unique edge against competitors depending on the package offered. Especially for a healthcare employer, offering quality healthcare plans for staff should also be an essential part of any employee package.
Outside of salary and insurance, there are also non-monetary perks that can be offered as a more creative way to retain healthcare workers. This could be anything from allowing flexible scheduling or the option to work from home, to wellness programs, mental health initiatives and other solutions that focus on the all-round wellbeing of the employee.
Employee Recognition and Rewards
Creating schemes and recognition programs is an ideal way to engage your team and assist in them striving for success. Rewarding their efforts will not go unnoticed and valuing your staff is a clear retention method.
Even if it is not in the formal setting of an awards ceremony or competition, the informal acknowledgement of hard work and appreciation of your healthcare staff will also have an impact on their mood and attitude towards their workplace.
Conclusion
A successful retention strategy is multifaceted, centered on valuing and listening to staff. By applying a combination of the strategies outlined, healthcare organisations can ensure a stable, committed workforce dedicated to high-quality patient care.
In addition to retaining and professionally developing quality healthcare staff, these ideas can allow the level of patient care to improve as well as the company.
At ACOUP Employment Services, our healthcare recruitment strategies allow us to find staff who are the perfect fit for your organisation and offer full quality onboarding to ensure successful worker retention. Find more on our services here.
