Keeping Your Heart & Vascular Employees: Proven Ideas for an Effective Retention Plan

In today’s competitive market for cardiovascular services, job opportunities within the specialty have increased as a result of nationwide program growth. And, current vacancy and staff turnover rates further contribute to retention being a significant challenge for many organizations. Based on this scenario, staff retention should always be considered of major importance to hospital and service line leaders.
Industry estimates reveal that the increased expenses for recruitment and relocation of new staff, overtime rates to ensure adequate coverage during the hiring process, the costs of temporary/agency staff, as well as the costs associated with training the new team members, can easily exceed $25,000 for every new hire. While these expenses can be quantified, it is much more difficult to assess the impact of vacancy and turnover on the organization as a whole in terms of the morale and job satisfaction of the existing staff. Furthermore, unhappy employees are typically under-productive, which can translate into operational inefficiencies, higher care delivery costs, and decreased patient satisfaction scores.

How should you go about retaining your existing employees?
There are several schools of thought related to the importance of staff retention and also varied approaches to designing an effective retention model. While every hospital is different, with unique needs and culture, there are several key components of an effective plan. At Corazon, we have the privilege of very diverse experiences from consulting and recruiting for all types of cardiovascular programs. Retaining your staff with a customized and formalized plan is one of the best ways to ensure success in cardiovascular services.

Consider these important components of a sound retention plan:
SALARY: In evaluating why employees elect to move on, it is equally important to understand why employees chose to remain at a particular job. In a recent survey of over 12,000 healthcare workers regarding the top 20 reasons why employees remained in a position, “fair pay” ranked fourth. Unfortunately, retention is often viewed as a wage issue, but most employees do not leave a job because of money. The number-one reason cited was “exciting work and challenge” followed by “career growth, learning, and development” and “working with great people.” Clearly, salary can be an important motivator, but not always; thus, it should not always be the first consideration in a retention plan. Truly, many workers place greater value on other factors aside from pay. Many institutions underestimate the impact of work-life balance on employee retention. Finding out what motivates your team is crucial to keeping them.

MANAGEMENT CULTURE: Management is an important consideration as it relates to the culture in the workplace. Studies reveal that more employees resign because of bad managers than for any other single, controllable reason. We believe that even the most experienced managers require continual training and leadership development to improve their management skills. Managers who can effect positive change can no doubt impact employee retention. Managers can also affect retention through acknowledging and appreciating their employees, which will likely increase overall job performance and satisfaction as well. In essence, successful management is delivered through effective communication.

FLEXIBLE SCHEDULING: As a result of the round-the-clock nature of healthcare, allowing for flexible scheduling can lead to greater employee satisfaction. For instance, if cath lab case volume slows significantly towards the end of the day, some staff may be eager to “flex” down their time and go home early. Taking advantage of such opportunities can lead to employee satisfaction, while also having a positive budget impact for the department. Self-scheduling is another option, wherein an employee can work a longer day or a different day than usual, in order to have time off without using a personal, vacation or sick day. Steps must be taken, however, to ensure that each employee meets their minimum hourly obligation and that the flexibility does not result in overtime that would not otherwise be incurred. Flex scheduling can succeed if clear boundaries indicating what is and is not acceptable are clearly communicated and equally enforced.

CHALLENGING WORK: Creating an environment that includes staff development and growth opportunities can go a long way to retaining your staff. To ensure your employees are adequately challenged, it is essential that they be allowed to function at their highest skill level. For example, if the staff is overwhelmed with paper documentation, then are there opportunities to revise policies and streamline processes? Or can some of the paperwork be handled through a staffing modification, such as adding a unit clerk to handle these assignments? Understanding the necessity to do more with less sometimes impacts productivity, and ultimately results in decreased morale. In evaluating growth and development opportunities, it is essential that your staff be stimulated to learn new things and to incorporate this new knowledge and expertise into daily operations.

REPUTATION: Organizations with high retention rates strive to build their reputation as an “employer of choice.” Earning this designation means that your employees are proud to work in your organization and are willing to recommend the organization to their colleagues who may be in the job market. From a quality standpoint, every healthcare organization wants to earn “Top 100” designation. Why not earn a similar designation when it comes to being one of the best places to work? Many states and agencies offer awards programs that survey employees and management to determine winners. Participants usually receive a summary report of findings, which can be a great starting point for identifying areas needing improvement.

COMMUNICATION: Clear communication is essential. As a manager, make sure that directions are clear and consistent, and are also aligned with the mission and values of the organization. It is imperative that employees have a clear, realistic understanding of their job expectations and that their performance is evaluated based on the defined expectations.

Use these Top 10 Retention Tips to help you design an effective retention plan to inspire your team:
1. Retention is more effective when you put the right person in the right job.
2. Treat your employees like you treat your patients.
3. Get your employees to “fall in love” with your organization.
4. Money is important, but it is not the only reason employees stay.
5. Employee committees that help develop retention strategies are very effective.
6. Leadership must be deeply invested in retention.
7. Recognition, in various forms, is a powerful retention strategy.
8. Remember the “fun factor.”
9. Know the trends in benefits packages and do your best to offer what is needed.
10. Strong retention strategies become strong recruitment advantages.

The overarching goal of any effective retention program is more engaged employees with a sense of ownership in their jobs, which results in quality performance and enhanced operational efficiencies. Higher job satisfaction often follows, which should translate into higher patient satisfaction scores. And finally, lower employee turnover is the ultimate goal, especially since this may have been the initial rationale for implementing the retention program. Hopefully, through the creation of an effective retention plan, your organization can reap these benefits as well as compete in the “best places to work” category. And remember, an effective retention plan is an excellent recruitment tool — it will not only help you to keep your current employees, but attract new ones as well!

 

<p><strong>References</strong> </p><p>1. Kaye B, Jordan-Evans S. Love ‘Em or Lose ‘Em: Getting Good People to Stay. Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc., San Francisco, CA: 2005. <br />2. Kursmark L. Strategies for Healthcare Retention. J. Walter Thompson Specialized Communications.</p>