How to Improve Employee Retention in Healthcare

The employee turnover rate is high and costly for the healthcare industry. According to a recent report via Nursing Solutions, Inc., the turnover rate is at a staggering 16.2%, costing hospitals $5.13 million to $7.86 million each year. Addressing employee retention issues with a strategy in mind can help reduce employee turnover. Once you implement each of the following tips, you'll increase patient satisfaction and improve the overall experience for your employees.

Improve Engagement

Decreased employee engagement within the healthcare industry is the result of many factors, including heavy workloads, excessive overtime, lack of flexibility, and an unpredictable work schedule. While some of these factors are hard to avoid, leadership has an important role when it comes to improving healthcare engagement. Active leadership can take place by celebrating teamwork, conducting employee surveys, doing informal check-ins, and taking action as a result of the surveys. Requiring each of your former employees to fill out an exit interview questions and answers pdf can provide you with an in-depth look at how to improve your company culture.

Foster Teamwork & Communication

Fostering teamwork among healthcare employees is important for creating a positive patient environment. Healthcare providers do little when it comes to foster teamwork and communication. Most healthcare providers don't have the skills to do this effectively. Improving communication is imperative for creating clarity, reducing errors, and resolving conflicts in the workplace.

Improved communication between your leaders and teams is important. When your leaders are able to communicate their expectations and organizational goals, your employees are able to prioritize tasks and understand how their roles take place in the hospital industry. A clear line of communication can give your employees more points of contact and allow them to know where they can get the answers to their most common questions.

Provide a Competitive Compensation

Keeping good employees requires increasing engagement and maintaining job satisfaction among the entire staff. Compensation is the primary factor in this area. As your healthcare business grows and the demand for high-quality employees increases, bonuses, competitive salaries, and other benefits come into play. Due to high turnover rates, it's important for leaders to weigh the advantages of an attractive and competitive compensation package.

Give Credit Where Credit is Due

In addition to providing a competitive compensation package, there are other ways to give your employees credit where credit is due. You can reward them for the work that they do. While they may receive ongoing feedback from their patients, it's important for them to feel appreciated and valued by their leaders and colleagues.

Some ways you can recognize your employees for their hard work include annual recognition dinners, awards, extra time off, and informal shout-outs. Recognition and rewards increase engagement and contribute to a better work environment. Your healthcare employees want to feel as if they're making a positive difference in the world. Giving credit for their individual contributions can help them stay engaged, motivated, and dedicated to your business.

Invest in Education & Ongoing Training

Ongoing education and training can help healthcare employees that improve their people skills and training, both of which are important for improving the patient experience, productivity levels, and employee satisfaction. Two ways to promote ongoing learning is by establishing an employee development plan and provide training opportunities. The Leaders for Today Survey revealed that having an opportunity for advancement is not as important as it may seem when it comes to workplace satisfaction.

Having a clearly defined employee development plan can help keep your employees engaged with your business because they know there will be opportunities for growth. And having the opportunity to learn and develop new skills can provide them with the tools they need to achieve their career goals, improve the patient experience, and support your business as a whole.

Increasing employee retention is a problem in the healthcare industry due to its high employee turnover. It can be expensive for businesses and stressful for employees who want a stable job. It also doesn't create a positive experience for your patients. Addressing each of these problems can help your healthcare business reduce the employee turnover rate and attract potential candidates who are excited about being a part of your organization.