How to Select, Align, Develop, and Retain Highly-Engaged People in Healthcare

INTRODUCTION A PATIENT-CENTERED WORKFORCE

A Patient-Centered Workforce™ is made of highly-engaged people and

teams who endeavor to provide patient-centered care. It “honors the whole

person and family, respects individual values and choices, and ensures

continuity of care. When care is patient-centered, patients will say, ‘They

gave me exactly the help I want (and need) exactly when I want (and need)

it.’”1 This can exist only when you select, align, develop, and continuously

retain highly-engaged people.

1 Guiding Principles for Patient Engagement

03. INTRODUCTION WHY DO WE NEED A PATIENT-CENTERED WORKFORCE?

There are many challenges facing the healthcare industry today, specifically related to the

labor shortage. The aging population is putting increasing demand on the system as more

people are requiring healthcare services, yet fewer healthcare professionals are available

to provide care. This problem will only worsen, as 40% of the U.S. nurse workforce is age

50 or older and may be retiring or finding employment outside of healthcare.2 Healthcare

organizations must also hire and train for workforce skillsets that are needed for new

complex technology.

Furthermore, retail clinics and primary care locations are expected to double over the

next five years and can be attractive places to work, with flexible hours and a variety of

locations. Healthcare organizations are competing for the same talent in order to provide

consistent quality care to their patients. This is happening as hospitals and providers are

moving from a fee-for-service to a value-based model, in which payment is tied to quality

of care. The consumer is more empowered than ever before, with access to self-diagnosis

tools, prices for healthcare services, provider ratings, and more choice about where they

seek care. When revenues are tied to patient experience, the need for employees with a

service-excellence competency is crucial to your bottom line.

2 AONE Guiding Principles for the Aging Workforce

04. INTRODUCTION HOW TO BUILD A PATIENT-CENTERED WORKFORCE?

A Patient-Centered Workforce can help your organization deal with these challenges. A

highly-skilled, highly-engaged Patient-Centered Workforce can do more with less to meet

your organization’s needs.

Creating a Patient-Centered Workforce requires looking at your entire employment lifecycle.

First, build a highly-engaged workforce that’s centered around providing the best possible

care, and then focus on retaining that workforce.

SELECT EFFICIENTLY SELECT ENGAGED, ACCOUNTABLE CANDIDATES

Employees should be engaged and accountable before you hire them

and assessed for competencies that drive patient-centered care in order

to build a Patient-Centered Workforce. But with the intense competition

for healthcare talent, you have to ensure you build an efficient recruitment

process so you can close your top choice candidates before they accept

an offer elsewhere.

06. SELECT ATTRACT THE BEST CANDIDATES

To build a Patient-Centered Workforce you need to source and select candidates who

align with job requirements and criteria, fast. You should be constantly recruiting, so when

a job opens up you can quickly engage candidates from your talent pipeline who are a

great fit for your open role.

Organizations that want to attract the best healthcare talent must provide a positive, fast,

and easy application process. With high turnover, nursing and physician shortages, and

new talent being more selective about where they work, the healthcare talent market is

highly competitive. People are busy and generally have very little free time to apply for jobs.

The most in-demand candidates won’t take the time to navigate long, clunky applications

and will drop out of the application process entirely. However, applying for a healthcare job

is more difficult than other industries because of the need to collect additional information

like clinical verification forms and licensure. An applicant tracking solution makes it

easy for applicants to find and apply to the right jobs, thereby reducing applicant drop-off,

and improving time-to-fill and quality of hire.

07. SELECT ASSESS CANDIDATES FOR CRITICAL, CLINICAL & BEHAVIORAL COMPETENCIES

To build a Patient-Centered Workforce you need to select candidates who align with

your mission, vision, and values, and have the right skillsets for each job family to deliver

care. Many of these competencies are also aligned with quality patient care and patient

satisfaction, such as customer-focus, compassion, and adaptability.

Assessment software can compare candidates’ behavioral competencies to

healthcare-specific data, and provide you with behavioral interview questions to dig

deeper into each candidate’s responses. It also helps your organization hire candidates

who have the potential to develop into leaders, so you can develop and retain them.

Reference checking software can help you gather honest, insightful feedback about

candidates through a streamlined reference checking process. Being able to select

accountable employees who align with your organizational values is pivotal to driving

a workforce centered around the patient.

08. SELECT

Healthcare organizations need to give a positive impression of their organization at all

contact points and provide a fast and easy recruitment experience. The most qualified

candidates are highly coveted by healthcare organizations, and their competitors. In order

to hire these individuals, healthcare organizations need to impress them with a positive

candidate experience and keep them engaged through relevant communications.

Applicant tracking software helps organizations streamline and simplify the recruitment

process by making it easy for applicants to find and apply to the right jobs, receive

relevant and timely communication, and complete the onboarding process — all of which

significantly improve the candidate experience. When you’re able to close your top choice

candidates, you can build a stronger workforce that’s aligned with your goals.

You also need to offer competitive compensation when attracting talent, and incentivize

them to put patients first. Build benchmarks and align salary decisions with a competitive

compensation philosophy for union, non-union, clinical, and non-clinical roles. Take the

candidate’s detailed work history into account to ensure that your offer is commensurate

with their professional experience and credentials. A compensation analysis solution

can help you select clinical and non-clinical positions and pay markets to build market

composites, so you can align salary decisions with best-in-class data and develop better

compensation strategies.

CLOSE TOP TALENT BY PROVIDING A GREAT EXPERIENCE & COMPETITIVE COMPENSATION

SELECT

ALIGN CONSISTENTLY ALIGN EXPECTATIONS OF EXCELLENCE WITH EMPLOYEES

Develop new hires with your mission, vision, and values from day one. Your

healthcare organization should enforce those expectations of excellence

during the onboarding and orientation process, and throughout the rest of

the employment lifecycle.

10. ALIGN

The first 90 days are crucial for integrating your new hire into your Patient-Centered

Workforce, beginning with the onboarding process. This is a time to set expectations

with your new hire. New hires should have a realistic job preview through peer and

group interviews, but you should also review the job description thoroughly. Your new hire

should know exactly what they’re responsible for and what’s expected of them. Require

sign-off to ensure the candidate knows what success in their new role looks like. Keep in

mind that healthcare workers are busy, and have very little time to complete onboarding

forms. Providing new hires with a fast, easy onboarding process allows your organization

to onboard new hires faster and ensure they begin their tenure at your organization with a

positive impression. A strong onboarding process also helps foster employee engagement

from day one, which is a crucial component of a Patient-Centered Workforce.

ONBOARDING NEW HIRES

11. ALIGN DEVELOPING PATIENT-CENTERED GOALS

Next, set goals with your new hires. Employee goals should align with those of the

organization to reinforce how the employee’s work supports the organization’s mission,

vision, and values, and focus on patient-centered care. These should include cross care

coordination and handoffs, collaborating and communicating about patients, timeliness of

access to care, reduction in inpatient utilization and organizational goals related to wellness

of whole populations.

Select individual performance metrics based on these organizational goals, job

descriptions, 360 feedback, and licensure. Each employee should be held accountable

for their impact on the organization’s bottom line. HCAHPS scores, for instance, are

directly tied to nurse communication, cleanliness of room, noise level during stay, and

care management during handoffs and across the continuum. With clearly defined goals,

employees know how to prioritize their tasks and how their success will be measured. This

makes performance management a continuous process to improve patient-centered care.

When employees know what it takes to succeed from day one, they will be happier and

more engaged — and it will show in their work.

12. ALIGN PREPARING LEADERS FOR CHANGE

To build a Patient-Centered Workforce you need to be able to rely on your leaders to

engage employees and drive performance. It starts with the right leadership selection

and continues through ongoing assessment and development. Define the leadership

competencies necessary for managing change — such as problem solving, innovative

and strategic thinking, persuasive communication, and creating a shared vision — and find

people with those competencies.

Keep in mind that leaders may have different styles of management, communication,

learning and feedback, but should be given autonomy and encouraged to lead in a way

that works for their teams. Hold all leaders across the organization to the same set of

standards, promote strengths-based leadership, and respect their individual competencies.

Leadership skills are not only necessary for C-levels — anyone who manages individuals,

functional areas, and/or shared governance models, have to step up as well.

13. ALIGN ASSESSING LEADERSHIP ENGAGEMENT

A leadership assessment can measure behavioral competencies and critical reasoning

to help you select the right leadership candidates, whether they are new hires or internal

promotions. It also identifies key gaps in behavioral competencies that are necessary for

successful leadership, so you can set development and performance goals. Many critical

skills today are behavioral: teamwork, communication, coordination, critical thinking, which

directly impacts care coordination, but you also have to train on clinical skills that drive

patient safety.

Studies suggest that 20% of all hospital employees are either disengaged or ambivalent,

which is a problem because engagement is necessary for success. Leadership

development has been known to increase leadership engagement which, in turn, increases

staff engagement. Engagement also impacts patient satisfaction: data shows every 1%

increase in employee engagement increases an organization’s overall HCAHPS rating by

0.33%, and patients’ willingness to recommend increases by 0.25%. In short, development

drives engagement, and when employees are engaged, they’re more dedicated to their

jobs and provide better patient care, leading to increased patient satisfaction.

3 The Advisory Board Company’s Employee Engagement Survey

SELECT

DEVELOP THOROUGHLY DEVELOP EMPLOYEES WITH CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT

To build a Patient-Centered Workforce you have to promote performance

improvement within your current workforce. Once selected, the team should

be developed and aligned together across the board. With constant learning

and career pathing, you can put people in the right position both today and

several years forward. Part of performance management is developing your

workforce to take on new roles by identifying high-potentials and helping them

improve their leadership competencies.

PROVIDE CONSISTENT FEEDBACK15. DEVELOP

While annual reviews are important for employee performance management, they

should not be the only time an employee receives feedback. Coaching, mentoring, and

training should happen regularly — not just during annual performance reviews — so that

employees are continuously improving their patient-centered care. Feedback should be given

regularly to show appreciation for things the employee is doing well, and to identify areas

for improvement. This may come in the form of employee rounding, in which managers

schedule time to meet with employees each month, or through teachable moments where

managers provide feedback in the moment they see the behavior.

Managers should record both positive and constructive feedback throughout the year so

it’s readily available during annual reviews. Annual reviews are a great time to measure

employee development, review compensation, discuss career paths, and determine

additional opportunities for development. Employee performance management software

can help you align employees with job descriptions and organizational values, select

competencies to develop through ongoing coaching, and track performance growth.

16. DEVELOP DISCUSS CAREER PATHING

Employees who feel that they have a future with your organization are more likely to be

engaged and provide patient-centered care. When they have something to work toward,

they will be more motivated to improve their performance and exceed expectations. Career

pathing should be discussed with your employees early and often to determine suitable

career paths, based on their goals and strengths, and your organization’s needs. Create

structured development action plans to ensure that feedback, coaching, mentoring, and

professional development are tailored toward the employee’s current role, as well as their

plan for the future. By laying out a clear career path for your employees and helping them

reach it, you will demonstrate your commitment to them.

17. DEVELOP PROVIDE LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES

After identifying your employees’ areas for improvement and creating a career path, map

learning opportunities to their development plans so they have the resources they need

to reach their goals. Provide employees with classes that teach them new skills to deliver

safe and compliant patient care. To build a Patient-Centered Workforce you need to create

engaging learning and development opportunities with readily available resources that

motivate your workforce. Many critical skills today are behavioral: teamwork, communication,

coordination, and critical thinking. Leveraging an eLearning solution that integrates with

an employee assessment program can provide managers with recommendations on what

courses employees need to develop these critical competencies.

Formal learning and development programs help your team reach its full potential and

provide the best quality of care to your patients. By laying out a clear career path for your

employees and developing them reach their career goals, you will be able to keep them

engaged, and focused on patient-centered care.

RETAIN CONTINUOUSLY RETAIN TOP TALENT

Ensuring that everything — from performance reviews to salary decisions

— is aligned with a culture of retaining top talent, is critical when it comes to

building a Patient-Centered Workforce. Organizations that align and reward their

workforce with patient-centered goals are constantly assessing competencies

across staff and leadership to develop them, so they can grow in their existing

roles or gain opportunities for advancement.

As the competition for in-demand talent heats up, time to fill and cost of hire

will increase dramatically — and smart organizations are focusing on retention

to ensure continuity of high-quality patient care.

19. RETAIN

In healthcare, the selection process is critical for hiring the right fit employees. Employees

who match the mission, vision, and values of the organization are more likely to be retained.

According to Frederick Morgeson, Ph.D., who conducted the Healthcare Retention Study,

more than 90% of all staff turnover occurs within 18 months. Behavioral assessment

software with job-specific retention index scoring can help you identify applicants who are

more likely to stay with the organization and better predict employee retention. Retention

measures are different according to job family, so nurses should be compared with other

nurses. For example, a factor driving nurse retention is an intrinsic interest in nursing as a

profession, and that’s not a factor that drives IT.

Assessments should be adjusted regularly as you analyze turnover. Learn why people are

leaving willingly, and what their attributes are. Also learn who stays and excels, what their

attributes are, and how they differ from people who leave. Adjust assessments so you don’t

bring in more people like those who willingly left or were managed out, and instead focus

on the traits and skills of people who stay and excel. Feed information from performance

management back into assessments to constantly tailor those outcomes. You should

be constantly measuring and using performance management learning to improve your

Patient-Centered Workforce.

PREDICT EMPLOYEE RETENTION

More than 90%

of all staff turnover

occurs within

18 months.

20. RETAIN

A positive work environment is more important than staffing levels for ensuring patient

safety and quality of care because it sets healthcare employees up to be successful in their

work.4 Elements of a positive work environment include workplace culture, availability of

sufficient supplies and equipment, interprofessional relationships and collaboration, and

a work-life balance.

Top-tier healthcare talent is in high-demand, and has many choices about where they work.

A positive work environment will help you attract top talent from healthcare organizations

that lack a great work environment. Conversely, healthcare workers who don’t feel they

work in a positive work environment are more likely to turnover, thereby putting more

strain on colleagues left behind, and leading to more turnover. Older workers may retire

altogether, further adding to the healthcare shortage. If you want to retain your Patient-

Centered Workforce, and attract more top-tier talent, make sure you have a positive work

environment in which your employees will thrive.

CREATE A POSITIVE WORK ENVIRONMENT

4 A Positive Work Environment

21. RETAIN

To build a Patient-Centered Workforce you need to incentivize employees to put patients

first, and recognize their contributions to ensure workforce satisfaction. Healthcare work

can be as stressful as it is rewarding, and one of the best ways to show employees you

value them is to compensate them fairly. If people don’t feel that they’re being paid fairly,

they will be dissatisfied and their quality of work will suffer.

A compensation market data solution can you help you quickly build market composites

for clinical and non-clinical positions and pay markets, and align salary decisions with

data to develop better compensation strategies. When you know appropriate pay rates

for varying factors, such as location, role, experience and company size, you can reduce

pay-based turnover and retain talent by staying competitive within the local and national

job markets. Merit planning software lets you easily align the merit and bonus cycle

with the performance management process, and select the right increase amounts to

develop a more cohesive merit planning strategy. Select increase and bonus amounts

that align with performance, providing a direct connection between annual evaluations

and compensation decisions.

PROVIDE COMPETITIVE COMPENSATION

22. RETAIN

More than ever, it’s important to retain highly-engaged people who can deliver quality care.

With nurses, for instance, studies suggest the average tenure of nurse managers is five

years. The costs of nursing turnover at the state and national level are equal to or greater

than two times a nurse’s salary. What’s more, according to The Advisory Board, nearly

1 million nurses will retire in the next 10 -15 years.5

Many of your best employees will have a desire to constantly learn and grow, and

developing a path for career advancement is one of the best ways to retain your

Patient-Centered Workforce. When a position opens up, look to internal candidates

first to determine who may be best suited for the role. If you can’t find a suitable internal

candidate, and expect a similar position to open up in the future, it may be a good time

to start succession planning and development of your staff. You should always have a

pipeline of internal candidates ready to go, and deliver on your plan to move them up in

your organization.

FOCUS ON EMPLOYEE DEVELOPMENT FOR CAREER ADVANCEMENT

Nearly 1 million

nurses will retire in

the next 10 -15 years.

5 AONE Guiding Principles for Creating Value and Meaning for the Next Generation of Early Careerist

1. BETTER PATIENT CARE & HIGHER PATIENT SATISFACTION A workforce focused on providing patient-centered care will improve community health, and have fewer errors and readmissions.

Employees are also more engaged and satisfied with their jobs, and will go above and beyond in their duties to support patients,

leading to higher patient satisfaction. With higher patient satisfaction, healthcare organizations will see higher HCAHPS scores

and reimbursements.

2. HIGHER EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT & LOWER TURNOVER A workforce that is focused on the same goals and working together to achieve them will have higher employee engagement

levels. Development opportunities also increase employee engagement levels, while allowing your workforce to provide a higher

quality of patient care. Engaged employees have lower turnover, which reduces recruitment costs and improves continuity of

patient care.

3. HIGH-QUALITY WORKFORCE ATTRACTS BETTER TALENT The ‘A-players’ will be attracted to the healthcare organizations that have a high quality of care, good benefits, and better

financials. This will help you build strong talent pipelines so you’ll have access to top talent when you need them, thereby

reducing time-to-fill.

TOP 3 BENEFITS OF A PATIENT-CENTERED WORKFORCE

SELECT

CONCLUSION PATIENT-CENTERED WORKFORCE

As you build the healthcare workforce for the next generation, you may

find that there simply isn’t enough talent to go around. In order for your

organization to be successful, you will have to recruit healthcare workers

who are engaged and accountable, and will go above and beyond to do

more with less.

You will need to attract the most qualified talent, align them with your

patient-centered goals, develop them to constantly improve, and continually

retain them. By properly aligning a skilled workforce with a service-excellence

culture, healthcare organizations can better leverage employees to provide

quality care and increase patient satisfaction.

HealthcareSource 100 Sylvan Road, Suite 100 Woburn, MA 01801 800.869.5200 solutions@healthcaresource.com www.healthcaresource.com

About HealthcareSourceWith more than 3,000 healthcare clients, HealthcareSource is the leading provider of talent management solutions for the healthcare industry. The HealthcareSource Quality Talent SuiteSM helps healthcare organizations build a Patient-Centered WorkforceTM by selecting, aligning, continuously developing, and retaining highly-engaged people. The company’s cloud-based platform of software, content, services and analytics includes applicant tracking, reference checking, behavioral and skills-based competency assessments, compensation analysis, performance and learning management, eLearning courseware, education and advisory services. A private company focused exclusively on the healthcare industry, HealthcareSource consistently earns high marks for client satisfaction and retention. HealthcareSource has been regularly ranked as a leader by KLAS Research for Talent Management, in addition to recognition in Healthcare Informatics 100, Modern Healthcare’s “Healthcare’s Hottest,” Inc. 500|5000, Deloitte Technology Fast 500, and Becker’s “150 Great Places to Work in Healthcare” list.

HCS328 06/16Copyright © 2016 HealthcareSource. All rights reserved.