What are the best HR practices for the healthcare industry?
From action-oriented feedback channels to a focus on employee well-being, here are six answers to the question, “What are the best HR practices for the healthcare industry?”
- Create Action-Oriented Feedback Channels
- Differentiate Your Culture and Career Opportunities
- Make the Onboarding Clear and Comprehensive
- Solve the Staff Turnover Crisis With Automation
- Create a Cohesive Candidate Hiring/Retention Strategy
- Prioritize Employee Well-Being for an Engaged Staff
Create Action-Oriented Feedback Channels
Anyone reading anything about anything in the healthcare industry right now knows we’re in a crisis, and a major contributing factor to the rampant job dissatisfaction is feeling disconnected and unheard.
Wage and staffing issues abound, but while organizations figure those market factors out, they should create environments where people can engage in transparent and honest communication in all directions: leadership to staff, peer-to-peer, and staff to leadership.
Repeatedly, I hear, “This is the first time I’ve felt like anyone actually took the time to listen.” How can you create feedback opportunities where you can collect, act on, and (crucial step) report results when your people care enough to provide invaluable insight?
Get creative! And please, for the love of all that’s good, don’t just do yet another survey, although if you’re already surveying, use that channel as strategically as possible. Qualitative feedback is a little harder to analyze, but it’s worth its weight in gold.
Sarah Ratekin, Chief Happiness Officer, Happiness Is Courage
Differentiate Your Culture and Career Opportunities
According to a recent white paper about the US healthcare labor market, by 2025 the US will probably have a shortage of almost 500,000 home health aides. That’s a staggering number, and just one of many when we look at the shortfalls role by role.
These implications weigh heavily on those in need, and also those responsible for filling openings throughout their healthcare networks. It’s time for recruiters to put on their marketing hats and think about how to elevate and differentiate their job openings from those of their competitors, and consider what, other than money, would cause someone to do the same thing somewhere else.
Look at some of the most valuable brands in the world (Coca-Cola, Apple, Mercedes Benz) and think about what makes them more than a cola, a computer, or a car. Turn your organization into a beloved brand and reap the rewards of becoming an Employer of Choice.
Jody Ordioni, Chief Brand Officer, Brandemix
Make the Onboarding Clear and Comprehensive
One best HR practice for the healthcare industry is to have a clear and comprehensive onboarding process. It’s especially important to have a thorough onboarding process in this industry, as there are often complex protocols, policies, and procedures that new employees must learn in order to perform their job effectively.
An effective onboarding process can help new employees feel supported and prepared to succeed in their roles, and can also help the organization keep top talent. There are many significant elements of a strong onboarding process in the healthcare industry.
Above all, aim at providing a comprehensive overview of the organization, including its mission, values, and goals. Make sure you introduce new employees to key stakeholders. Providing training on specific protocols and procedures is also crucial. Overall, having a strong onboarding process is crucial in the healthcare industry, as it ensures that employees have the knowledge and support they need to succeed.
Piotrek Sosnowski, Chief People & Culture Officer, HiJunior
Solve the Staff Turnover Crisis With Automation
Staff turnover and burnout are some of the biggest issues in healthcare following the tough years of the COVID pandemic. Staff turnover means hiring challenges, onboarding challenges, training, compliance, and more.
Most healthcare teams are set up to handle this, and the employees who remain already feel overworked before the additional workload. The solution is already here; healthcare is just a slow-to-adopt industry. SaaS companies automating tasks, especially those related to onboarding and HR support, are growing tremendously. They’re directly saving teams’ time while keeping them 100% compliant in an ever-changing regulatory environment.
While a good deal of people may see this as an additional cost, many of these tools have shown they can even replace employees, negating the additional expense and then some. It’s time for healthcare to adopt these modern tools, just as so many other industries have.
Evan Fehler, Sr. Director of Marketing, MedTrainer
Create a Cohesive Candidate Hiring/Retention Strategy
Healthcare industry HR departments need to see talent acquisition as a strategic imperative central to overall growth instead of having a factory mindset and an undesirable candidate experience when hiring.
Think about the Fortune 100 that have been fighting tooth and nail in the war for talent for over two decades. Companies like Google, Apple, and Amazon have taken off and become some of the biggest in the world through realizing early on that HR, Talent, and technology were not nice-to-have back office-only functions. To get the best people, you need to have the ability to identify them, engage them in a way that gets them excited, share your value proposition, and then retain them once they’re hired.
Put more autonomy on the candidate’s side and create an experience that will make people want to work there. Keep the process as smooth as possible. Ensure a cohesive strategy for hiring and onboarding talent from the company and candidate perspective.
Prioritize Employee Well-Being for an Engaged Staff
One of the best HR practices in the healthcare industry is to prioritize employee well-being. Investing in a comprehensive wellness program and initiatives that promote physical, mental, and emotional well-being can help employees feel more engaged, supported, and productive at work.
Additionally, having clear policies around workplace safety, diversity, and inclusion is essential for cultivating an environment of mutual respect among employees, patients, and visitors. Finally, developing a culture of learning that encourages employees to gain new skills or advance their careers is also beneficial, as it helps ensure the workforce remains knowledgeable and up-to-date with current industry trends.
Mark McShane, Marketing Director, Birmingham First Aid Courses
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