Why Your Workforce Management Team Needs To Play A Key Role In Strategic Planning For 2019
By Danielle K. Miller, Infor
Healthcare organizations today face a myriad of workforce planning issues, from shortages of skilled personnel to needs for improved diversity and inclusion. As budget planning season moves into full-swing, human resource-related topics need their moment in the spotlight. Solutions requiring capital investment need to be discussed with an open mind. Workforce management has become a strategic issue in healthcare. Hence, the team bearing responsibility for juggling the issues deserves a spot at the planning table.
Defining The Problem
Every healthcare organization understands the value of personal relationships in wellness, diagnosis, treatment, and recovery--yet the workforce does not always get the budget-backing it needs. Of course, equipment, supplies, and logistical elements, like wheelchairs and beds, are important in carrying out daily care routines, but people make—or break—the systems.
Common headlines today include violence, harassment and gender-inequality in the workplace. These emotionally-charged topics can be distractions that interrupt productivity and alienate team members. Issues can even escalate into legal implications with huge price tags.
HR professionals in the healthcare industry frequently face workforce planning challenges with outdated strategies and ineffective technology. This needs to change.
Cautionary Tales
Strategic workforce planning requires software solutions that will help professionals focus on the issues and develop solutions. Some common stumbling points should be avoided:
Cookie cutter approach: Health care companies need to align their recruitment strategies with specific operational strategies, whether it is controlling costs, improving the patient experience or providing care to at-risk demographics. The same workforce goals do not apply to each business unit, and a cookie cutter set of hiring practices cannot be applied every time a position needs to be filled. Modern workforce planning solutions can help tailor job definitions and document necessary skillsets.
Disparate systems: Technology and automation are rapidly changing the way facilities provide care, manage patient data, and plan use of resources. Too often, several disparate solutions with specialized applications are bolted on—without considering the impact on the workforce. In an ideal world, technology will eliminate or streamline mundane jobs, eliminate duplication of tasks, and simplify adherence to policies so personnel can spend more time building relationships with patients and improve patient outcomes. Disparate solutions can increase stress levels and frustrate the workforce.
Lack of long-term plan: Workforce planning tools can help healthcare organizations address both short-term and long-term strategies. Institutionalizing operational flexibility will allow the company to address dynamic pressures as they arise. Best practices should be implemented immediately in order to will help the organization bend and flex as needed to anticipate and respond to future needs, while staying true to the core mission.
Creative problem-solving can address some workforce planning issues, such as the need to recruit highly specialized workers that are in demand. Harvard Business Review reports that 60 percent of the jobs in the 21st century require skills possessed by only 20 percent of the workforce. Filling those positions will not be easy. A Deloitte report explains how high-demand positions likely will be filled: 37 percent of respondents will turn to outside contractors, 33 percent foresee an increase in freelancers, and 28 percent expect growth in gig or project-based workers.
Tips For Success
- Think out of the box for recruiting. Recruiting a skilled workforce can be a challenge. Hiring managers may need to look beyond the traditional tactics to identify and recruit employees with high potential. Jobs might be out-sourced to third parties or personnel may be asked to work as contractors. Exploring talents within groups such as returning veterans or recent retirees may also be worth exploring.
- Align short-term and long-term workforce planning. Some issues require stop-gap solutions and others require more complex, lasting solutions. The ability to discern between the two comes from strategic insights, data, and predictive analytics. Modern workforce planning tools, integrated to business intelligence tools, help HR professionals formulate solutions which meet objectives, while staying within logistical parameters.
- Demand precision in capacity requirements planning. Modern IT capabilities with business intelligence (BI), predictive analytics, and artificial intelligence (AI) play an important role in foreseeing future needs. The tech-savvy HR professional will be able to develop a granular view of projected labor capacity requirements and go beyond projecting generalized hunches as evolving skillsets. BI tools will help managers address complex issues, such as the trade-off between reskilling existing workers versus hiring new recruits.
- Deploy modern workforce planning technology and data analytics. Many organizations are trying to stretch the lifespan of outdated technology and cobble together disparate point solutions in order to postpone investment. Outdated technology falls short on capabilities and forces professionals to make do with static spreadsheets, pseudo-accurate projections, and late nights of number-crunching and manually charting reports.
In contrast, modern workforce planning solutions and advanced analytics can help turn data into strategy. The HR team can anticipate needs, compare new skills to the current skillsets of employees, and formulate solutions. AI, using data science and algorithms, will be able to apply objective considerations to managing talent, identifying learning opportunities, and tracking training and education sessions, as well as soft skills acquired.
Closing Thoughts
Workforce issues today are complex, and the stakes are high. Workforce planning needs to be elevated to a strategic position within the healthcare organization, receiving support from the top executives and appropriate funding. Legacy, patched solutions are unlikely to have the functionality needed to take on today’s planning needs and keep pace with change. Modern thinking, including turning to AI and predictive analytics, will be an important part of recruiting and retaining the workforce of the future. The right workforce is essential for providing smart patient care while being fiscally responsible.
About The Author
Danielle K. Miller is Chief Nursing Officer, Clinical Applications for Infor.