The Center's Guide to Recruitment, Retention and Workforce Development

Start with the Right Soil. Health care should be fertile ground for recruiting youth and adults to new careers. After all, many health careers offer:
Workforce studies insist that jobs with such characteristics are most desirable. Why, then, is health care struggling with recruitment and retention issues?

Why are many healthcare professionals working in high demand careers steering their children toward other choices?

The problems are complex. Certainly, some of the careers we are marketing need some product tweaking. Many factors can be improved to make health careers more competitive with other alternatives, including certain salaries, benefits, articulated educational programs for career progression, employer-sponsored professional development opportunities, work design, and scheduling.

According to engagement and satisfaction research among hospital employees, however, the ultimate solution to workforce shortages includes improving organizational cultures, management structures and styles and internal relationships. These so-called "soft" issues are the soil of our individual gardens.

All hospitals should aspire to become great places to work. When local word of mouth from hospital employees, visitors, patients and vendors reinforces the inspiring images we are creating in our TV recruitment ads, our soil will realize its lush potential.
Seeding. Finding the right replacement workers is no easy task. Healthcare heroes, by definition, are people who are bright, capable, hard working, responsible, lifelong learners, team players, excellence-driven, emotionally intelligent and dedicated to the service of others. They also should represent the diverse language and cultures of the communities they serve.
This is a daunting order when vacancies are high and applicants are few. But we must recruit selectively, attracting individuals who will flourish in health care. Compromising on the qualifications of those we entrust with the health of our families and communities will only exacerbate the current crisis. The "warm body" approach is a trap, not a solution.
Feeding. Comprehensive orientation, preceptorships, articulated higher education pathways, mentoring, staff development and career ladders all support growth in the garden. Students and new hires need extra help to establish strong roots. And retention—i.e., employee engagement, satisfaction, motivation and loyalty—is a perpetual task. Every individual needs nurturing and recognition on the job, at every stage along the way.
Weeding. Not everything that sprouts in a garden belongs there. Early identification of individuals mismatched to a health career choice allows both the individual and the receiving provider organization to revise their plans. It is far better to lose a potential nurse or medical technologist than to train one who is certain to fail or to be frustrated. Career exploration should include opportunities for students to engage in job shadowing and hands-on experience—the earlier, the better.
Harvest. Recruitment and retention is cyclical, like growing seasons in a garden. Incumbent healthcare workers are our most influential youth recruiters. How they feel about their own vocations is often powerfully communicated to future generations. Many healthcare professionals in your organization are nearing retirement age. Who will replace them? What are they saying to their children and grandchildren about the career choices they made? What will say about their jobs tonight when they go home?