Hospitals are borrowing more management practices from other industries, but not all approaches can translate to the healthcare setting. Hiring in healthcare, for instance, involves a few traits and challenges that may not be as pressing in other industries. According to Select International, a Pittsburgh-based company specializing in employee selection and hiring systems, the following issues make healthcare hiring different:
1. Complexity. Compared to some other companies or industries, hospitals have highly-involved organizational structures with multiple components. For instance, a 400-bed hospital may involve more than 1,000 different job titles.
2. Highly trained, and thus autonomous, professionals. Physicians, nurses, technical positions and other providers are highly trained with a high degree of autonomy. Much of the performance criteria for these positions are objectively defined by the profession as well as state and national licensing organizations.
3. Fragmented organization structures. With numerous departments, hospitals can be fragmented with each specific profession or specialty taking on a great deal of autonomy. This has begun to change in healthcare as of late, as hospitals strive to make patient-centered care a common focus.
4. Decentralized, disparate hiring processes. Autonomy can foster a decentralized and inconsistent approach to employee recruitment and hiring. Nurses, physicians and other providers may all be recruited and/or hired differently, especially since the hiring of each role can be overseen by a different entity. Inconsistencies between hiring managers can create unnecessary legal risk.
5. Customer service isn't optional. Under value-based purchasing, patient satisfaction scores are highly critical for hospital's success. This metric is no longer optional for hospitals.
6. High risks. If hiring results in poor quality of work at one industry, it may mean a weakened competitive advantage or questionable product. For hospitals, though, the stakes are higher since a bad hire can mean direct harm to the patient.
Download Select International's e-book, Healthcare Hiring Essentials, here.
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1. Complexity. Compared to some other companies or industries, hospitals have highly-involved organizational structures with multiple components. For instance, a 400-bed hospital may involve more than 1,000 different job titles.
2. Highly trained, and thus autonomous, professionals. Physicians, nurses, technical positions and other providers are highly trained with a high degree of autonomy. Much of the performance criteria for these positions are objectively defined by the profession as well as state and national licensing organizations.
3. Fragmented organization structures. With numerous departments, hospitals can be fragmented with each specific profession or specialty taking on a great deal of autonomy. This has begun to change in healthcare as of late, as hospitals strive to make patient-centered care a common focus.
4. Decentralized, disparate hiring processes. Autonomy can foster a decentralized and inconsistent approach to employee recruitment and hiring. Nurses, physicians and other providers may all be recruited and/or hired differently, especially since the hiring of each role can be overseen by a different entity. Inconsistencies between hiring managers can create unnecessary legal risk.
5. Customer service isn't optional. Under value-based purchasing, patient satisfaction scores are highly critical for hospital's success. This metric is no longer optional for hospitals.
6. High risks. If hiring results in poor quality of work at one industry, it may mean a weakened competitive advantage or questionable product. For hospitals, though, the stakes are higher since a bad hire can mean direct harm to the patient.
Download Select International's e-book, Healthcare Hiring Essentials, here.
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