Employee Retention Should Absolutely Be a Part of Your Business Plan

In an economy with less than four percent unemployment, employee retention matters.

Couple that with a significant healthcare staffing shortage, and employers face an environment where employee retention is more than just a goal – it is a strategic necessity.

Days become busy and weeks turn into months, but when was the last time you checked on the well being and engagement of your employees?

Here’s why employee retention should always be top-of-mind.

The Cost of Employee Turnover

Employee turnover in any industry has been well documented as being exorbitantly costly. In healthcare, the costs of replacing knowledge workers, or those employees that have received extensive medical training, is much higher. One study placed the cost at more than five percent of the average hospital’s operating budget.

Over the next decade, these costs are expected to rise, as the aging baby boomer population places an unprecedented strain on our healthcare infrastructure. CNN Money reports, “The U.S. will need to hire 2.3 million new healthcare workers by 2025 in order to adequately take care of its aging population.”

With the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reporting three million employees voluntarily leave their job every month, healthcare employers must change their tactics in order to retain employees.

Simply put, there won’t be enough workers to go around, so retaining the employees you have will become imperative to the survival of your organization.

Engaging and Retaining Your Healthcare Workforce

For employers in the healthcare space, new strategies encompassing employee engagement and wellness will be necessary to retain tomorrow’s workforce. Monster defines employee engagement as “an employee’s willingness to expend discretionary effort on the job.” But Gallup reports that not only are American workers not into their jobs, they haven’t been for years.

Healthcare organizations must spend more time actively working on employee engagement and retention of their top employees as a business-level strategy. Here are four key strategies for your organization to consider:

  • Offer employees a climate of continuous growth and learning. While this can be particularly challenging in a service environment of long-term patient care, it is crucial.
  • Make the effort to support work-life balance by allowing as much flexibility as possible to improve employee retention. This flexibility can be as important or more important than compensation, as employees struggle to balance childcare and school schedules with running a home.
  • Relationships are key to employee retention. Encourage and empower middle managers to provide mentorship, support, and career advice to their colleagues. Having a positive relationship with their manager is one crucial step toward employee satisfaction. Carefully monitor these relationships to ensure healthy relationships that will help you retain employees.

While these are just a few suggestions, the new work environment of the future will necessitate employers to work harder to develop business strategies that encompass employee retention. In this climate, new partnerships will need to be forged and outsourced staffing relationships will be key.

Build Your Healthcare Team

National Recruiters is a healthcare staffing specialist company standing by to provide you with nursing, home health, infusion, and physician resources around the nation. Contact our top healthcare recruiters today to get started!

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