Retention As The New Recruitment: Filling Critical Roles In The Healthcare Industry

Talent retention + attraction strategies to end staffing shortages and boost patient care quality

The healthcare industry is facing a widespread shortage of qualified workers across all levels of the field. This challenge threatens to undermine patient care and organizational stability. Recent data paints a stark picture, with 85% of healthcare organizations reporting staffing shortages and a staggering 47% of healthcare workers planning to leave their jobs by 2025. This crisis spans the entire spectrum of healthcare professionals, from physicians and nurse practitioners, to surgical technologists and radiologic technologists.

As the industry grapples with this widening labor gap, it's becoming increasingly clear that traditional recruitment strategies alone are insufficient to address the problem. Healthcare organizations cannot simply hire their way out of this predicament. Instead, a paradigm shift is needed. One that combines talent recruitment and retention as cornerstones of a sustainable workforce strategy.

 

The Case for "Retention as the New Recruitment"

In today's healthcare landscape, the "retention as the new recruitment" approach offers numerous advantages for healthcare organizations dealing with staffing challenges.

At its core, this strategy recognizes the inherent value of retaining existing staff, which often proves more cost-effective than the constant cycle of recruiting and training new employees. The expenses associated with turnover, onboarding and lost productivity are detrimental to an organization's bottom line.

Furthermore, long-term employees are repositories of invaluable institutional knowledge and experience. By highlighting retention, healthcare organizations ensure continuity of care and maintain operational efficiency, as seasoned staff members navigate complex systems and protocols more easily. This stability extends beyond individual performance, fostering stronger team dynamics and a more cohesive organizational culture. The resulting synergy often translates into improved patient outcomes and higher levels of employee satisfaction.

Rethinking Talent Pipeline Strategies

Forward-thinking healthcare organizations are already embracing innovative approaches to retention-focused talent management. These strategies address immediate staffing needs as well as cultivate a robust pipeline of skilled professionals for the future.

Invest in the Power of Workforce Education

The transformative impact of workforce education becomes clear when we look at real-world examples. Several national non-profit health systems offer workforce education programs that provide pre-paid tuition options tailored to meet the unique learning needs of their employees. These programs make education more accessible, relevant, and effective. The results often include higher employee engagement and retention, as well as increased opportunities for career advancement compared to non-participants.

While workforce education programs offer tremendous potential for addressing the healthcare labor shortage, their success is not guaranteed. To get the most out of these initiatives, healthcare organizations should consider the following tips:
 

• Create clear pathways to advancement: Establish transparent connections between educational achievements and career progression within the organization to motivate participation and retention.

 

• Align education programs with organizational needs: Highlight the skills and knowledge that can be acquired through workforce education that directly contribute to filling critical roles and addressing key organizational challenges.

 

• Provide comprehensive support: Offer resources beyond just financial assistance, such as live coaches, academic counseling and multi-lingual support to help all adult learners succeed in their educational pursuits.

 

• Measure and communicate impact: Regularly assess the outcomes of workforce education programs, including promotion rates, retention statistics and patient care improvements. Share these successes to build support and enthusiasm for the initiatives.

 

• Foster a supportive peer network: Design cohorts of employees to progress through educational programs together, creating a built-in support system and strengthening workplace relationships.

 

• Integrate education into organizational culture: Make learning and professional development central to the organization's values and daily operations, rather than treating it as an isolated program.

Lean on Both Career Lattices + Ladders

Progressive healthcare organizations continue to offer career paths or ladders, while also embracing the concept of career lattices. This dual approach allows employees to move both vertically and horizontally within the organization, exploring different roles and departments while continuing to grow professionally.

An example of a ladder may be bringing individuals as new recruits to a medical assistant (MA) or patient care technician role, and then helping them attain their pre-licensure requirements for Nursing. Once they become a registered nurse (RN), upward mobility can be supported to become a nurse leader, nurse practitioner or nurse educator. In contrast, a lattice may be reskilling an environmental services (EVS) technician as a sterile processing technician or helping an MA — who no longer wants to stay in a patient-facing role — transition into a role in IT, health information management, or medical billing and coding.

Benefits of offering opportunities for advancement include increased employee engagement and retention through career development opportunities. At the same time, this approach addresses the talent shortages by helping to uncover hidden talents and aptitudes within your existing workforce, while filling key in-demand roles.

Take a Customized Approach to Retention Strategies

In the healthcare industry, where burnout rates are high and job satisfaction can vary widely, a one-size-fits-all approach to employee retention often falls short. Innovative healthcare organizations are increasingly turning to personalized retention strategies to address the unique needs, motivations and career aspirations of their diverse workforce.

These tailored approaches recognize that each employee has distinct priorities, challenges and goals. By crafting individualized retention plans, healthcare providers can demonstrate a genuine commitment to their staff's well-being and professional growth, fostering a sense of loyalty and engagement that generic programs often fail to achieve.

For example, a healthcare company was struggling with high turnover rates among their frontline workforce, including phlebotomists and accessioners. Exit interviews revealed that while some left due to burnout, others cited limited career growth opportunities.

In response, the organization developed a comprehensive specialized retention initiative. 

This included having employees fill out a detailed questionnaire covering career aspirations, preferred learning styles and personal motivators. Then based on that assessment the employees received support to create a career path, as well as access to learning opportunities that aligned with their interests and career objectives.

Over three years after implementing its personalized retention strategy, the healthcare organization saw a reduction in turnover among participants by 39 percentage points. For career advancement, the promotion rate among participants is about 13% (compared to 7% for non-participants) and increased to 36% for program graduates.

The success of the program helped the organization address its immediate staffing challenges and also positioned the company as an employer of choice in a competitive healthcare market.

The bottom line — by investing in personalized approaches, healthcare organizations can create a more engaged, satisfied and stable workforce, ultimately leading to better patient outcomes and organizational success.

A Bright Future Ahead

As the healthcare industry continues to work through staffing shortages, the mantra of "retention as the new recruitment" offers a promising path forward. 

By investing in workforce education, embracing flexible career paths, and combining the strengths of personalized retention and talent attraction strategies, healthcare organizations can address the immediate labor gap, while also creating a sustainable pipeline of talent for the future. Furthermore, they contribute to improved patient care by ensuring continuity, preserving institutional knowledge and cultivating a workforce that is constantly evolving to meet the challenges of modern healthcare.

Stephen Chu is Chief Legal and Administrative Officer at InStride.