In a post-pandemic world still beset by inflation pressures and labor costs and shortages, many health systems are carrying out initiatives to boost employee retention and lessen reliance on contract labor.
Such initiatives are to be encouraged, say experts at Kaufman Hall. The challenge is making them all work together in a constructive way.
"Evaluating the overall staffing ecosystem in both a qualitative and quantitative way is critical," Erik Swanson, senior vice president of data analytics at Kaufman Hall, told Becker's.
Workforce optimization is key, Mr. Swanson said.
This can mean moving toward an empathetic model where employees' needs are treated in a more holistic way. As well as offering more obvious things like appropriate wages, that can also in practice mean offering help with day care services, finding housing and mapping out predictable schedules well in advance.
Such challenges are further emphasized by differing expectations from incoming workers belonging to the millennial and Gen Z generations, the fastest-growing labor groups, said Therese Fitzpatrick, PhD, BSN, RN, senior vice president in strategic and financial planning at Kaufman Hall. Leaders must be aware such workers will only be in that initial position for a few years at most.
"We talk about succession planning, and we need to extend this from leadership to all employees," she said. There has to be a focus on offering "meaningful work" and a coherent career path from the start.
Such challenges will be around for a while as competition both within and outside of healthcare continues and increases.
"Health systems are absolutely aware of what that means and they are attempting to do it," Mr. Swanson said of such challenges and the need to find solutions. "What they can miss is how to quantify these initiatives in an optimal way."