KEY CHALLENGES IN ATTRACTING AND RETAINING A WORKFORCE IN HEALTH SECTOR
Introduction
In all the organisations, Human Resource Management (HRM) has the responsibility of managing its people. It can also be stated that the HRM acts as an organisational support junction in context to the employees. The main HRM functions are managing the issues related to human resources and effectively align the employees with the organisation. In every organisation, success is highly dependent on the performance of the employees who can ensure that the objectives of the organisation are achieved. This will help the organisation in improving the overall performance and earning higher profitability. Hence, it can be stated that attracting and retaining the potential staffs is highly essential for the organisational success in all the sectors which is assured by the HR managers. However, currently, all the organisations in different areas effacing challenges to attract and retain the employees within the workplace. The study focuses on the main problems which are faced by the organisation in attracting and retaining the staffs in the healthcare sector. It also sheds light on the effective HR strategies needed to pull the talented employees while focusing on the current scenario behind the preparation of attraction and selection of the employees. The study also emphasises the main themes to draw upon the learnings. It also includes retention and development of the talent, attraction and selection of the skill, strategic reward management, human resource planning and performance management.
Discussion
According to Dhakal, Nankervis, Connell, Fitzgerald and Burgess (2017), it has been averred that one of the major concerns of the health care organisation is the training and development of the employees. Hence, there is need for organising programs for training and developing them. The employees working in the medical field requires new abilities and skills so that they can grab new opportunities. Employees seek growth within the organisation in which they are working to get success in their career and continuously develop their skills. Turnover of the staffs is reduced when the job satisfaction level is high among the employees. HR in the healthcare sector has the critical role of engaging the employees in training and development. However, providing such opportunities for the development purpose is considered to be a costly process. Hiring a new employee in place of the existing employee is deemed to be more expensive. Thus, spending money on training the employee is a better option for the organisation. Training is also a kind of investment that is done by the organisation to achieve a higher level of success and profitability. Digital system is used by the clinics and hospitals to manage the workflows, educate and entertain the patients, and track the charts of the patients. Each method requires a certain level of learning for which training is needed.
According to Gwynne and Lincoln (2017), it is posited that the performance management along with maintaining the relationship with the employees is considered in the healthcare organisations means by the implementation of practices such as performance appraisals, bonuses, rewards and incentives to retain the employees. There are organisations in the Healthcare sector which also provides infrastructure and other facilities so that they can attract the potential workforce and be able to retain the loyal staffs. However, it has been found that the healthcare sector fails to provide such facilities to the workforce. Showing negligence in development and being unable to praise the performance results in dissatisfaction in the job and poor motivation among the workforce. In addition to this, as the organisations have a limited workforce, the staffs are made to work for the extra time. This results in affecting personal life and disturbing the work-life balance. Hence, this becomes another issue of retaining the employees within the workplace.
As stated by Mansfield, Kay, Anokye and Fox-Rushby (2018), selection and recruitment are referred to as the practice that is done by the organisations for attracting the potential employees. These individuals are identified so that they can be selected for performing the specific job roles within the workplace. Recruitment and selection are considered to be highly essential process within the healthcare organisation as it helps in the development of human capital. Hence, the healthcare organisation has included the process in the HRM strategies made by human resource managers so that the related actions can be performed. The HR managers have the responsibility of identifying the number of medical specialities and nurse’s workforce needed to be recruited and selected by designing the process. This includes determining the skills of the employees and aligning the requirements of the organisation with the employees so that the vacant position can be filled. The issue is that it is a significant process as it involves crucial decision making. Firstly, there is a need for understanding the requirements of the healthcare organisation and the job role for which the selection and recruitment process is done along with finding a most suitable candidate for the position. The requirement includes a selection of the efficient employees, evaluation of the staffing requirements, and hiring the employees considering the skills required. If the right candidate is not selected for the correct position, it will create difficulty in retaining the employee as well as organisational objectives will not be fulfilled. At the same time, the healthcare organisation faces a problem in the recruitment of efficient nurses. Moreover, due to the changes witnessed in the sector, HR is facing the issue of performing the staffing processes. Also, there is a massive shortage of employees, especially the registered nurses, despite using the strategies for effective recruitment and selection.
Mburu and George (2017) have opined that the procedures and policies of HRM help improve an employee’s performance through which attracting and retaining the employees becomes more comfortable. This will help in strengthening the capabilities of the organisation while fulfilling its goals and objectives. Healthcare sector is based on the use of the benefits of HRM and the performance of the HR through which the goals and objectives of the organisation can be fulfilled. This includes motivating and attracting the skilled and potential nurses and medical staffs by using the process of hiring and firing the employees. This results in restraining the employees from joining the organisation as policies do not attract them. It also includes the implementation and development of specific frameworks so that the effectiveness of the work can be increased. According to Herzberg’s motivation-hygiene theory, two factors have been recognised, which includes job content, including motivational factors. Through this job satisfaction can be achieved. The elements are highly connected with the work nature that is the job role and the rewards that can be made through effective work performance. In the health care organisation, the employee growth, responsibilities allocated to them and the nature of the work, high-performance recognition and advancement of the career act as the motivating factors. However, in the Healthcare sector, there are so many organisations as stated by Shikweni, Schurink and van Wyk (2019) who fails to basic requirements and neglect the HRM roles. This creates issues related to the workforce in the healthcare sector. According to Sinha and Sigamani (2016), it has been averred that there are specific strategies which can benefit the organisation in attracting and retaining the employees by proper use of the selection and recruitment procedures for the organisational workforce mainly in the emerging countries. Training and motivation are considered to be highly significant as the employees can gain the desired insight in context to the role that is performed by the nurses and medical specialist along with the attractive incentives which can be obtained by performing well. However, before the training process, there is a requirement of the selection procedure, which is also challenging for the managers involved in the HRM department. There is a need for selecting individuals as for the conditions and goals of the organisation such as medical institutions, hospitals and clinics. If the selection procedure is not successfully performed, it can impact on the entire process of recruitment and selection. Lyria, Namusonge and Karanja (2017) have stated that the standards followed by the organisations for selection include generalizability, legality, utility, validity and reliability.
As opined by Maurya and Aggarwal (2018), the measurement of the performance is referred to as the procedure of measuring the work efficiency of an individual. It is an essential factor in HRM as it pushes the individuals to perform well and give their best performance by completely utilising their skills and qualities. The organisation that is operating in the competitive environment requires management of the capabilities of the individuals. It is possible to gain the desired objectives only by effectively managing the performance of the employees. According to Gilbert, Courtright and Ramasamy (2019), it has been evaluated that the appraisal of the performance is a crucial part of managing the performance that is used by the healthcare organisations in the developing countries such as Australia. These organisations focus on workforce management through performance appraisals at consistent intervals. However, there are also other factors which are considered to be a part of the performance appraisal and are significant for the retention of the employees. The issue is that the organisation fails to adopt the practices such as acceptability, validity, specificity, strategic congruence and reliability. These factors help measure the performance of the employees. This process of managing the performance needs the involvement of the employees to show that the employees can be achieved. On the other hand, the employees feel that the measurement of performance is done in a biased manner which effects on employee retention.
According to Kaliannan, Abraha and Ponnusamy (2016), it has been posited that the strategies related to training and development of the healthcare organisation are beneficial to retain the employees within the workplace with the help of the initiatives so that significant changes can be observed. This also helps in learning the skills according to the requirements and demand in the health care organisation. Therefore, it is the responsibility of the organisation to invest in organising the developmental programs for the nurses and the medical specialists within the hospitals and health care institutions. Furthermore, the Healthcare organisation faces the issue of implementation of technologies while maintaining the required operations because of which the employees are unable to work correctly. Due to insufficient technological accessibility, the employees feel the need of switching to another company. It can create a significant challenge in retaining the potential employees within the healthcare industry.
To manage the challenges that are faced by the healthcare sector in retaining and attracting talent, it is essential to ensure that the managers adopt strategies related to human resource. The human resource strategies will provide the advantages in decreasing the attrition rate within the sector and develop a higher level of commitment and employee engagement towards the role performed in the organisation. According to Jena (2017), it has been construed that the from various sectors can be attracted with the help of effective HR planning. It is necessary for the managers to ensure that there is an effective plan that can help in retaining the staff and attracting them. There must be a proper process for recruitment so that the candidates are recognised well to attract talented people for different roles and responsibilities within the organisation. It is significant to apply various promotions and advertisements procedures such as job fairs, seminar and online portals.
It is founded that the employees working within the healthcare organisations have a heavy workload which leads to dissatisfaction among the employees. The main requirement of the employees is to maintain the work-life balance. This also helps in retaining the employees and motivating them. HR managers must provide a balance of work-life to the employees so that they can focus on the personal life as well. This will also increase the attention employees towards the work, thereby improving their performance. This can be achieved through compensation, lower work pressure, scheduled work flexibility and proper vacations. Hence, the job satisfaction level also increases within the employees. In addition to this, the |HR managers can manage the performance of the employees and also reduce the rate of attrition within the healthcare organisation by feedback and appreciation which is significant for motivating the employees and increasing their moral. The feedback will help them to improve themselves, and recognition will provide the knowledge that they are moving towards the right path and encourage them to work better.
Conclusion
Throughout the study, the focus has been on the requirement of using the strategies so that the potential employees in the healthcare organisations can be retained. It is highly essential to attract and retain the staffs for the overall organisational success within the healthcare sector. It is significant for the managers of the healthcare organisation to concentrate on the employee’s development so that they can grow in professional and personal life. To make sure that the recruitment of efficient and skilled employees is appropriately done, it is required that the Healthcare organisation focus on different activities to attract them. Also, the healthcare organisations are required to emphasise on the methods and policies so that the grievances and the issues of the employees can be solved. This will help in retaining the employees for long. Furthermore, reduced salary, work overload, absence of opportunities, lack of training and technological accessibility result send difficulty in maintaining the employees. Therefore, the HR managers within the organisation are required to concentrate on a systematic process of recruitment to meet the demands and needs of the individuals that have been recognised. Also, it is the responsibility of the managers to provide the needed work-life balance to the individuals working within the healthcare organisations. This will help the employees in managing the personal life as well. The employee’s performance can be achieved and evaluated so that the attrition rate reduces in the organisations.
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