Organization: Develop Inward, Look Outward to Mitigate the Talent Shortage

Commentary by Amy Barry, Health Care Human Resources Consultant

The biggest conundrum in health care today is the talent shortage. Health care job openings reached an all-time high in 2015, even though hospitals hired more workers than the previous two years combined, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Hospitals struggle to fill high-paying jobs because they can’t find or attract the right people. The solution may come from unexpected sources, both within the hospital and far beyond it.

Build from Within — I believe a big part of the problem is that we in health care are not doing what we need to get people into the right roles. People become stale if they stay in the same position too long, continuously focusing on things they already know. That contributes to the perennial problem of turnover. There are two steps health care organizations can take to reduce turnover and mitigate the talent shortage. One is to continually invest in professional development so employees are learning new skills. Training and development is often the first thing that is cut from the budget, but it should be the last.

We also have to give people outlets to use new skills and increase their knowledge. That can be accomplished by rotating talent through different disciplines, and by creating collaborative teams to solve problems and take on projects. This will benefit the organization as a whole, because the traditional, silo-based approach to problem solving is no longer going to work. The big challenge to improving collaboration and taking a team approach is that it requires people to give up some control.

Cast a Wider Net — Progressive, successful hospitals are bringing in talent from other industries. We should strive for a blend of people who have spent their careers in health care, and those who have spent their careers in other industries. Operations professionals from outside health care often have very good skill sets for problem solving and building partnerships, which is becoming so much more important. Good leaders are good leaders — they don’t have to come from health care to be good.

The greatest innovations in health care are going to come from people. The fuel for these innovations will come from bringing these people together in a new model. You can’t be a top-tier health system without top-tier talent. To do that, you have to continually invest in your people, including their career health, financial health, and personal health and well-being.