While the exact statistics vary, there can be little doubt that modern professionals are changing employment positions more and more often throughout the course of their careers. This has led to astronomical HR and recruitment costs within healthcare organisations, who may feel they are constantly recruiting, interviewing, and training new hires. To minimise the revenue-draining effects of this costly cycle, consider the following five tips to optimise your employee retention within healthcare.
Hire the best employee
Sounds a bit of an obvious one, right? However, it’s often the most difficult to execute because it’s impossible to know if a candidate is the right fit for both the role and the organisation until they have not only started, but been with you for a while.
Our number one recommendation here is to find an individual who is passionate about what your company does and has a good idea on how they can grow within it. During the screening and interview process, it’s also useful to pay close attention to why they left their previous role(s). If this was clearly to advance their career, then great. However, if the candidate appears to frequently make lateral career moves, your suspicion should be aroused. Open and honest conversations with references will also offer important insight here.
Provide a leading mentoring programme
Gone are the days when the workforce viewed an employer as just a paycheck. Prospective employees are now looking for an environment which will help them thrive both professionally and personally. They want to do meaningful work and take pride in it doing it well.
This all starts with company culture. Create an environment that your ideal candidate craves to be a part of. One which is perhaps missing from their current role. In order to aid this experience, we would recommend offering a leading mentorship programme, ear-marking successful, senior employees who can appropriately manage the expectations for a new starter within your organisation, providing them with support and guidance whenever required.
Offer an attractive compensation package
OK, so we’re going to slightly contradict our previous point, but when your employees do feel fulfilled and entirely satisfied in their position, one of the few lures a competitor can offer is a more attractive compensation package. When a rival does come knocking to steal your perfectly moulded employee, offering them a 20% higher salary to work for them, it can be tempting to let that employee move on and try to find a cheaper replacement.
However, this can often be a big mistake. In very few cases does saving on employee compensation ever result in a positive outcome. When interviewing, onboarding and training are all considered, it can cost up to 50% of an entry-level salary just to bring on a new employee. This will leave you with an employee who may have ended up costing you substantially more than the ideal candidate who was in place to start with.
The key here is to compensate your employees well, ensuring you keep an eye on the market rates. The increased wages will likely pay for themselves in the long run.
Provide an enjoyable working environment
The days of suits, ties and formality are slowly fading, even within healthcare. Modern employees want to work in an environment that lets their personally shine. Contemporary, open spaces that allow collaboration and free-flowing natural light will keep your employees excited about coming to work each day.
Also consider the social benefits offered. Creating meaningful friendships between staff members is likely to significantly improve their performance when collaborating in a professional environment, so be sure to encourage this with social events and informal activities where possible.
Prioritise your employees needs’
While the internet and remote work opportunities have revolutionised businesses, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic, this isn’t always possible within a healthcare setting. Leaders within our industry therefore need to find alternative ways to flexible with staff. This would be simple actions such as gathering their thoughts when scheduling staff rotas, or choosing not to deduct annual leave when they have a Monday morning doctor’s appointment and will be an hour late.
Conclusion
To conclude, increased employee turnover will cost your organisation significantly more in the long run, which is why it’s important to get the hire right, first-time. Here at Marsh Farmer, we believe professionals and healthcare organisations deserve to be represented with care and integrity. Our drive is to produce meaningful results for those we serve, not just jobs and CVs, but career opportunities and adding valuable members to your teams.
We pride ourselves on superior quality service and high levels of engagement with the aim of positively impacting the industry. Contact us today to see how we can help solve your latest healthcare recruitment requirement.