Talent Management

“Lean manufacturing” took off in the early 1990s as companies tried to emulate Toyota’s efficiency-boosting processes. The philosophy’s tenets of continuous improvement through incremental change are meant to improve quality, bring teams together and ultimately improve the bottom line. It’s not as common in the healthcare industry, although healthcare’s shift to outcome-based care over volume-based care has inspired leaders to look at different improvement strategies, including Lean.

As healthcare HR leaders look to play a more strategic role in the organizations they serve, they’ll need to embrace new ways of thinking when managing employees.

Today’s widespread talent shortages and rising costs are no longer a secret in healthcare. In fact, reports indicate that the looming talent shortage is only expected to worsen over the next few years.

Football is unarguably one of the most celebrated events in American sports. Many cities who bid to host the big game know that scoring a game of this magnitude not only generates publicity worldwide, it also brings in millions of dollars for the city and its local businesses.

Leadership development in healthcare should be an intentional effort that provides current and future leaders the opportunity to learn and grow. It should also advance the organization by focusing on growth, performance, and emotional intelligence and help leaders become more empowered, confident and innovative.

The effectiveness of your performance management strategy may be one of the most important facets contributing to your healthcare organization’s long-term success. The fundamental goal is to work together to improve employee efficiency, maximize talent, and assess progress to ensure employees are meeting their objectives and career goals. It’s a continuous process that empowers, inspires and engages employees in ways that foster ongoing learning and improvement, making your people a competitive advantage.

The healthcare workplace is rapidly changing and annual performance reviews are no longer considered an effective practice. By implementing continuous feedback and coaching, the pulse of employees and of the entire organization can be collected and evaluated in a more easy and timely manner. For example, healthcare workers are exposed to unique problems every day. Instituting a system of continuous feedback can help improve patient safety by increasing transparency, remediating future issues, and enabling managers to make more proactive and less reactive decisions.

As Rear Admiral Grace Hopper of the US Naval Reserve so eloquently said, “the most dangerous phrase in the language is, ‘we’ve always done it this way.’” In order to survive in the world, change is necessary because it is the only constant. This remains especially true for healthcare, which is constantly pushed to evolve by changing regulations, an aging workforce, the rise of consumerism, the population health movement, and several other factors affecting the industry.

Any organization that hopes to thrive in today’s marketplace should be actively seeking and engaging younger generations.

Employee referral programs are a classic tool for building your talent pipeline, and healthcare organizations continue to use them to to find qualified candidates efficiently.