Solving HR Challenges in Healthcare: Best Practices

HR departments face massive challenges in the healthcare industry. In a fast-moving, high-stress environment, it can often be difficult to implement new initiatives and keep problems like declining staff morale high. Streamlining HR requires an outside-the-box approach to reaching your objectives as an organization. The question on every decision-maker’s mind is, “Where should we start?” To support your business in adapting to the changing HR landscape, here are a selection of best practices specific to HR departments in the healthcare business to follow.

Best HR Practices in the Healthcare Industry

In the meantime, HR teams can already begin implementing new initiatives and rejuvenating approaches to systems no longer fit for purpose. So, what practices can HR teams implement now to confront the significant HR challenges in healthcare?

Build Effective Feedback Channels

Low staff morale and high turnover rates have crippled many healthcare facilities. It shows a need for HR teams to act on dissatisfaction to improve workplace environments. HR teams can utilize technology to build feedback channels with which employees can interact. However, it’s not a matter of throwing up a platform like a digital feedback box. These platforms must go further by providing direct access to leadership and peers.

Create an Actionable Culture

Collaboration between employees, managers, and your organization’s leadership can only happen when there’s a culture of action. One of the most common complaints from employees is organizations not acting on their feedback, making the entire process pointless. Unsurprisingly, employees stop providing feedback, creating the false impression that all is well. HR teams must lead the charge for taking action on feedback. This can take the form of regular meetings and reports and regular updates to staff to demonstrate what they say is important.

Differentiate Your Culture from the Rest

Attacking current and future staffing shortages is about more than increasing benefits and salaries – although those are important, too. Across all industries, culture can attract top-tier talent and keep them there. HR teams must put on their marketing hats and consider how to elevate and differentiate their workplaces from the rest. Some examples could include:

• Building mentorship programs
• Creating employee events
• Recognizing hard work
• Focusing on core values
• Regular communication
• Ongoing support

Every clinic and hospital is unique. HR teams must be willing to experiment to find which initiatives have the greatest impact on their workforces. Note that building a culture takes time. Simply implementing a few campaigns will not be enough to depart from your current culture. It requires a constant drive toward improvement, with every stakeholder participating.

Clear and Comprehensive Onboarding and Training

Making new hires feel supported sets the tone for their time working with you. Additionally, we already know that employees want to see training and development opportunities to help them achieve their goals. Examine your current onboarding and training processes. Are they fit for purpose? Within healthcare, protocols and policies are complex, making them feel overwhelming from day one. The key is to make them clear and comprehensive so everyone feels well-supported, even when the going gets tough. Robust onboarding and training processes are not only pleasing for employees but also lead to better results.

Prioritize Employee Well-Being

Employee well-being can be linked to most healthcare challenges, including burnout and high employee turnover rates. Unlike other industries, healthcare is unique because there’s always considerable pressure on an employee’s shoulders. After all, many are dealing with life and death daily, which was emphasized further during the pandemic. While HR teams cannot ease this strain, they can take action to support employees in combatting this problem. Ideally, HR should have clear initiatives to address the three aspects of well-being. Here are some ideas: Comprehensive wellness programs can address these three areas to help employees feel more engaged and supported. But the best thing HR teams can do is to carve out a culture that’s inclusive, diverse, and filled with opportunities to succeed.

Embrace Technology Instead of Turning Away from It

Technology can be intimidating, especially if you already have HR systems that function perfectly well. However, with the rapid rise of automation and AI, it must be embraced to avoid being left behind. Forward-thinking HR departments must consider how they can implement and integrate technology to address a range of functions, including data protection, supporting collaborative healthcare, and making their teams more productive. Thankfully, the healthcare has a range of cloud-based platforms to support HR teams in their goals, such as:

• Online feedback platforms
• AI-based scheduling
• Automated parameters to control data access
• Automated compliance with data protection regulations
• Online training trackers

Every organization will choose to use technology differently, but the fact remains that embracing technology is the only way forward as the industry becomes increasingly digitized. Sticking with outdated systems will only make the transition more difficult later.

Let Us Help Your Healthcare HR Management Team

HR in the healthcare industry must assume the responsibility for functions that go beyond what you would expect. In particular, the risk posed to employee and patient data is one area that is putting tremendous strain on clinics and hospitals nationwide. To learn more about how Corodata can support your records management needs, speak to the team today.