When it comes to fully staffing your healthcare facility, the challenges presented by Covid 19, economic and environmental factors, burnout, and industry dissatisfaction are big hurdles that require resilience, innovation, and adaptability. Here are 5 elements to consider when it comes to making the decisions that will impact your staffing solutions.
1-Protect and Support Existing Workforce
Before we focus on recruiting initiatives, organizations should address retaining existing staff. Especially when it comes to positions of leadership, protecting staff from burnout and preventing early retirement due to unmanageable stressors in the workplace is key.
An MMWR report from July 2021 found that 53% of the public health workers surveyed reported symptoms of at least one mental health condition occurring over a period of the previous two weeks. These adverse stress conditions have been linked to an increase in absenteeism and turnover, lower morale, and decreased productivity.
Healthcare organizations can offset these statistics when they invest in Employee Assistance Programs (EAP) and spread awareness and de-stigmatization of basic strategies used to monitor and address wellness. Encourage healthy daily behaviors such as implementing stretch breaks, focused meditations, reminders to hydrate, keeping snacks available, and making a buddy or point person available for staff to check in with when it comes to mental and physical well-being.
Incorporate initiatives to offer grief and loss support, celebrate success stories, and/or provide ease of referral for counseling and therapy to build resilience against burnout. Consider including faith leaders, trained support on staff, and crisis counselors to support your healthcare staff.
2-Invest in the Culture of your Healthcare Facility
Many existing programs that promote a healthy workplace culture are underutilized. However, they’re a necessary component to help promote good PR for prospective executive hires assessing whether your facility is the right fit for them, as well as keep existing staff satisfied and dedicated to an environment of teamwork, and collaboration in the best interest of ever-increasing patient care requirements.
Healthcare organizations need to get really clear on their mission and vision and revitalize efforts to encourage staff buy-in through a positive employee culture.
3-Including Staff in Decisions and Transparency about Data and Analytics
Communication is key to keeping your workforce connected. It promotes a culture of teamwork, collaboration, and flexibility when it comes to restructuring care protocols. An environment of transparency about emergent data, as well as clearly outlined responsibilities and guidelines for expected roles and tasks, will decrease miscommunication and redundancy while empowering your staff to work together to find short and long-term solutions.
Opportunities to provide clarity and optimize feedback can be integrated in a variety of ways to create time-effective communication and incorporate innovative solutions and strategies. This lightens the individual burdens on executive staff while motivating the rest of the unit to work toward common goals.
4- Initiatives to Increase Efficacy of Staffing Protocols
Investing in technology and innovative healthcare solutions enables your staff to consolidate services, and your facility to operate with more flexibility and efficiency. Make the most of your existing workforce while you look to fill vacant positions, but take care not to put an emphasis on performance and productivity metrics versus optimal patient care.
Significantly reduce the time it takes to get new staff on board. Refer to this previous post with 4 ways to Decrease Hiring Time.
- Keep Your Hiring Process Data-Driven
- Improve Your Job Listings, Career Page & Branding
- Leverage Employee Networks with a Referral Program
- Partner with a Healthcare Staffing Firm Like Polaris Placement
5 – Invest in Recruitment Support
Polaris Placement has networking capabilities and innovative solutions that are streamlined and tailored to your specific executive staffing needs. Trust our expert recruitment services to bring your key players on staff quickly and effectively, with the support needed to help your organization thrive. For more information, contact us today.