Workforce Challenges: Attracting and Retaining Staff in Healthcare

This essay delves into the significant challenges faced by healthcare organizations in Australia concerning the attraction and retention of qualified staff. It highlights the increasing demand for skilled healthcare professionals due to factors like technological advancements, an aging population, and a growing patient base. The essay identifies issues such as high employee turnover, excessive workloads, and the need for a positive work environment as key factors affecting retention. It emphasizes the importance of aligning employee values with organizational culture, providing career development opportunities, and addressing the specific needs of different generations in the workforce. Furthermore, the essay discusses the challenges associated with recruiting allied health professionals and physicians, particularly in remote areas, and suggests strategies for overcoming these obstacles through effective human resource management practices. Desklib provides resources for students seeking similar solved assignments and past papers.

Running Head: Essay
The healthcare industry is a booming sector and is expected to bring about the next industrial
revolution. However, the organisations operating in this sector need to have the necessary
talent and workforce inadequate amount to reach the next level. This has made it important
for healthcare organisations in Australia and worldwide to attract and retain the stuff that
performs well. This essay covers some of the key challenges faced by the organisations
operating in the healthcare industry in Australia to attract and retain the staff. Finding and
keeping the high performing employees including the doctors, physicians, nurses, caretakers
and other service providers has become very important for improving the service
provisioning of the healthcare organisations and for enhancing the patient satisfaction.
Because of the increasing competition in this industry, there is a lot of demand for high-
quality talent which is resulting in increased employee turnover. It has become important for
the organisations to improve job satisfaction of the employees and take all measures for
retaining the talented members (Nankervis, Baird , Coffey , & Shields, 2017).
With the advancement in technology and medical science, the birth rate throughout the world
is increasing. These technologies have also contributed to a reduction in the death rate and
therefore there is a tremendous growth in the patient population throughout the world. The
entire population of the world is ageing and the onus of providing quality healthcare services
lies with the organisations operating in this industry. This essay outlines the key challenges
faced by the healthcare organisations in attracting quality healthcare staff and retaining them
along with providing the recommendations for overcoming these challenges in the Australian
context.
There is a growth in the patient population and the resultant Healthcare needs. The
developed, as well as the developing countries of the world, are facing a lot of challenges for
Sourcing, attracting and retaining qualified Healthcare professionals in adequate numbers and
with adequate skills. Rapid development in technology and innovation has also resulted in
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changing the skills and knowledge required by Healthcare practitioners and care providers.
The important river in the Healthcare industry is very high and some of the most common
reasons cited for this include excessive workload, poor work environment and poor
relationships with the supervisors or colleagues (Delery & Roumpi, 2017). Therefore, it is
important that the organisations select the employees by examining their behavioral
competencies professional skills in the first place.
The healthcare organisations have to work towards creating the right environment for the
workforce that is formed with a combination of environment, culture, training, leadership and
employee satisfaction. The human resource management function of the organisation plays a
central role in ensuring that the organisation is able to attract and retain the individuals who
are the right fit for the culture of the organisation and who are able to contribute to the growth
and development of the company once they are hired. This also requires providing regular
feedback to the employees about their work and their performance so that their talent and
skills grow with time. The human resource managers are responsible for providing timely
feedback and conducting reward and recognition programs for having a motivated staff that is
satisfied with their work and the workplace.
The first step towards optimising the human resource management practices of the healthcare
organisations is to get the right people on board. The recruitment function of HRM is
associated with the creation of write workplace culture and environment. The healthcare
organisations that are considered to be the best places to work are based on values that are
well articulated and practised (Marchington, 2015). It is important that the managers direct
the recruiting efforts to identify the potential employees who have the personal values that
align well with the organisational values. This helps in keeping the organisational culture
intact and also reinforces the values by providing them with the required strength. The human
resource managers can be considered to be the gatekeepers of the culture of the organisation.
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The healthcare industry is customer centric and therefore it is very important that the people
hired by the organisation are mission-driven and they are a good fit for the job role and for
the organisational culture.
Therefore, the first challenge in attracting and retaining the staff in the healthcare sector is to
find the employees that share similar values as the organisation and are a good fit for the
organisational culture. A lot of organisations in the healthcare industry fill the open positions
by the internal candidates. This is done because the existing employees understand the
internal culture and the processes of a business organisation (Mckenzie, 2011). Along with
this, filling the positions by the internal candidates also fulfils the desire of job growth and
professional development for the employees improving job satisfaction and sense of
belongingness for the organisation. The internal promotion of the employees also helps in
overcoming the challenge of finding the candidates that are culturally fit and well suited to
join the organisation.
Once the organisation has the desired candidates on board, it is the responsibility of the
managers to keep them engaged and satisfied for retaining time. The best employees are
always looking for working with other hardworking people so that they are able to grow and
develop at work. It is the responsibility of the organisation to strengthen the relationship of
the employees with the company and with their colleagues to improve employee retention.
The employees who are satisfied and engaged also provide exceptional service to the
customers improving the profitability and productivity of the healthcare organisations.
Conducting practices for performance management in healthcare organisations help to
reinforce the values and culture of the company and also contribute to creating strong
performers in the business reducing the employee turnover. Human resource managers must
work with the employees to identify and set the desired personal and professional goals for
the coming period. Performance appraisal of the employees should be based on the values of
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the business and it should also encourage the employees to share any challenges that the face
at the workplace (Mason, 2013). The human resource managers should also but with
employees to identify their competencies. Keeping the talent at the organisation engaged and
inspired is another challenge faced by human resource managers that acts against attracting
and retaining the staff at the healthcare organisations.
There is an increasing demand for the skilled and talented workforce in the Healthcare
organisations but the recruitment and selection of these employees also come with a lot of
challenges. The time taken for recruiting and selecting an experienced healthcare professional
is very long because of the time taken by them to gain the required skills and proficiencies.
This combined with a high turnover rate for the Healthcare organisations results in creating a
huge gap in the available workforce and the number of vacant positions. The coming up of a
number of institutions providing courses and education in Healthcare is contributed towards
the reduction in this gas but there is still a long way to go. There are also a number of
inconsistencies in the hiring requirements for the Healthcare professionals for the different
states of Australia. The variation in the degrees and courses has further increased the
complexity and challenges in measuring the competency and skills of the workforce and has
reduced the compatibility across different regions (Hogan, Moxham, & Dwyer, 2014).
A number of Healthcare employees who are a part of the existing workforce in the industry
are overworked. The shortage of staff in the labour market has forced the existing employees
to work for extended hours which negatively impact their efficiency, job satisfaction and
productivity. A temporary solution to this problem is being implemented by a few
organisations in the form of agency nurses and travel nurses but this also has a severe impact
on the quality of service provided to the patients and their safety. These employees are not as
skilled and experienced and therefore there is a decrease in patient satisfaction and the quality
of their experience with the Healthcare organisations.
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As the millennials join the labour force, it is important that the healthcare organisations take
the necessary steps to cater to their needs and create a work environment that is open, honest
and trustworthy. The organisations should provide career development opportunities and
grant them access to training so that they can set their own career trajectory and maximize the
satisfaction arising from the job. This generation is looking for clear opportunities to move
forward in their career and develop it in a meaningful way with the right feedback from the
superiors and opinion of their colleagues (Agarwal, Green, & Randhawa, 2016). Healthcare
organisations need to overcome the challenge of brand positioning by creating the right
working environment for attracting and retaining millennials. Technology is the gateway to
the Healthcare organisations and it is important that the companies make the most out of it.
They must implement automated scheduling and create a friendly working environment with
remote work opportunities to make the recruitment and retention process easier and more
effective.
There are a wide variety of career fields within the healthcare industry that is constantly
increasing and so is their influence in providing patient care. Along with this, the allied health
professionals also form a significant part of the Healthcare workforce in Australia. The
recruitment of these professionals also comes with a specific set of challenges unique to this
industry. As the baby boomers retire and the millennials become a part of the labour market,
there is an increase reported in the total Healthcare spending and increase in the requirement
for the support of patients in this industry. The supply of the people having the required skills
to provide the allied health services is also not meeting the demand of the industry and the
patient population (Schoo, Dunbar, & Mercer, 2005). Recruitment environment of the
healthcare industry is reactive and therefore, the healthcare organisations and facilities are
facing a lot of challenges keeping up with the changes in the demand of the allied health
workers. The healthcare facilities are increasingly focused on acquiring young talent from the
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institutions. However, even this workforce will not be able to meet the demand if it continues
to grow at the current pace. It is suggested that the healthcare organisations start with
grooming the younger talent so that they can check with them with the necessary skills and
prepare them according to the ongoing changes in the Healthcare landscape (Humphreys &
Jones, 2012).
The recruitment of physicians by the Healthcare organisations is also marred with the
challenges that have come with the need to provide affordable healthcare services to the ever
increasing population. Australia Healthcare organisations are struggling to provide a
competitive package to the physician having the required skills and experience because of the
increasingly high demand for them in the market. The physicians are at a better spot to
negotiate with the Healthcare facilities and set the terms of employment in their favour. The
organisations are also looking for competitive ways to attract top talent and increase the
chances of offer acceptance by providing attractive compensation along with additional
benefits. This is, in turn, resulting in declining profitability of these organisations.
About 75% of the Australian continent has a dry and harsh environment that is very difficult
to live in. Only about 3% of the total population of Australia resides in remote regions. It
becomes a challenge for the healthcare organisations to provide quality services and
Healthcare assistance to the people residing in these areas (Brooks, Lapsley, & Butt, 2013).
The geography of the Australian continent also fruits to be used challenge in attracting and
retaining top talent for the Healthcare organisations. Recruiting the Healthcare professionals
for these areas is very difficult because of the added challenge of offering compensation
packages that are as competitive as the ones offered by them in the geographic locations that
are desirable.
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There are a number of new equipment and machinery being introduced in the healthcare
organisations with every passing day. The staff working for the healthcare organisations
needs to be continuously trained to operate and learn the application of this medical
equipment to prevent errors and maximize the efficiency. By learning and understanding the
actual purpose and use of the equipment will promote their need-based application and will
also improve the flexibility in the deployment of the staff members by the Healthcare
organisations (Duckett, 2005).
There is a lack of wise hiring practices among the human resource managers in the
Healthcare organisations and there is also a need for them to understand how to efficiently
use the existing employees by practising effective management. Providing ongoing staff
training to the existing of force can improve the clinical outcomes for these organisations and
can also enable them to maintain our reputation that helps in attracting the right employees
(Armstrong, Gillespie, Leeder, Rubin, & Russell, 2007). The improvement in the reputation
of the Healthcare organisation not only enhances the trust of the patients but also contributes
to creating an image that automatically motivates the employees who are right fit for the
culture and the values of the business organisation to apply and be a part of them.
There is a lot of disconnect in the healthcare industry because of the huge gap between the
employer requirements and the experience possessed by the candidate. The healthcare
organisations need to come up with innovative ways for attracting top talent and provide the
correct and details job description for optimising the recruitment process. The employers
need to develop their ability to detect the capable candidates and also create nurturing
campaigns in the workplace for the upcoming talent for filling the positions that they face
difficulty in finding the right match for. It is also important for the organisation to take
measures for enhancing employee engagement and job satisfaction level of the existing
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Running Head: Essay
employees to reduce the turnover and retain desirable talent (Joyce, McNeil, & Stoelwinder,
2006).
There is a desire among the healthcare professionals to receive continuous training at the
workplace. It is also found that regular training by the Healthcare organisations contributes to
a reduction in the patient mortality rate and improves the efficiency of service provided by
them. The improvement in patient satisfaction also contribute to an increase in job
satisfaction among the workers and therefore, measures should be taken to provide
continuous training to the Healthcare professionals for preventing errors that may have a
potentially high cost (Murray & Skull, 2005).
The human resource management is a strategic function that requires the managers to add
value at all levels of the organisation. The shortage in the recruitment pool for the Healthcare
organisations in Australia is becoming a widespread challenge. Having a good working
relationship with the colleagues contributes to an improved employee satisfaction in any
industry. This combined with the communicative aspect is also true for the healthcare
organisations. The challenges discussed for filling the positions of nurses, physicians and
allied health professionals need to be addressed on an immediate basis. The HR team can take
a number of measures to overcome the challenges faced by the business organisation that
limit them from attracting and retaining the talented staff members in the healthcare sector.
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