Healthcare’s biggest dilemma? Finding and keeping qualified staff. According to the American College of Healthcare Executives’ latest annual survey, hospital CEOs cite personnel shortages as their top issue—ranking issues with recruitment higher than financial challenges, care quality, cybersecurity or other chronic concerns. COVID-19 burnout is fueling resignations and early retirements by frontline healthcare workers and those who remain admit staff shortages have affected their ability to work safely and satisfy patient needs. Could healthcare human capital management (HCM) be the solution to this challenge?
Delivering quality patient care relies on the productivity, development and satisfaction of a health system’s most important asset—its workforce. Hiring, engaging and retaining top talent in 2022 will require employers to reimagine a holistic healthcare HCM strategy in which staff feels supported and empowered. The good news? The technology that functionally supports hiring, retention and employee satisfaction goals are standard in HCM and workforce management (WFM) solutions. Helping healthcare providers communicate more effectively can improve the overall health and well-being of employees.
Read on for tactics that have helped healthcare organizations solve critical staffing challenges successfully.
Work Smarter, Not Harder With Automated Technology
You won’t get far driving a car running on fumes. Avoid overworking employees by evenly spreading the workload with automated scheduling. Labor demand planning is no longer a guessing game with a WFM solution that uses employee data to provide predictive scheduling with volume-based workload forecasts. This approach ensures employees work an appropriate number of hours, eliminating over- and understaffing.
What are guaranteed ways to keep your finger on the pulse of your organization, as well as that of your employees? Real-time capture of employee data through surveys hosted with a WFM platform can help organizations identify symptoms of burnout or fatigue. For example, a survey can appear when employees are clocking in or out for the day that asks questions such as “Do you feel your safety or health are in jeopardy today?” or “Are you exhausted?”
Maybe an employee is offered an overtime shift on their mobile device. In addition to accepting or denying the shift, they can be prompted to answer questions that gauge if they’ve been offered too much or if their weekly workload is just right. Encouraging staff to participate in the scheduling conversation helps your workforce feel recognized. Give staff the freedom to map out their schedule, at home or on the go. A self-scheduling application, configured by the employer, allows employees to choose their own day and time preferences and the weeks they want to be on vacation. This flexibility provides staff a sense of autonomy and increased work-life balance for higher employee satisfaction.
Retain Staff With a Boost to Employee Engagement
Celebrate your staff’s achievements by showcasing their accomplishments. A modern WFM system can easily capture employee throughput and quantify the effort they are putting in, providing leadership the visibility it needs to reward its outstanding performers on specific performance metrics.
Everyone wants to know and experience the perks and benefits of organization. A lot can get lost in translation with a simple, outdated benefits brochure. Take your benefits program to the next level with a digital platform that helps employees learn about, compare and choose the right options for themselves and their families. Providing an accessible, transparent (and easily updatable) breakdown of payroll and benefits within a WFM platform encourages employees to take advantage of your offerings and feel appreciated.
Improve the Health of Your Healthcare HCM
At Quanta, we know and understand that your employees are your most valuable asset. Contact us today to find out how we can help you stand out from other employers by impressing candidates with a fluid, engaging application and hiring process. Not only is our advanced HCM software custom-tailored to your needs, but our all-in-one solution will allow you to store and track all employee data from a single location and create customizable reports that provide valuable information to executive teams for more informed decision making. Book a 5-minute fit call for a free demo of our HCM software and start retaining your employees today.
