Healthcare workers are the backbone of Australia’s healthcare industry. But as hospitals and private practices bear the brunt of the response to the pandemic, resources are stretched and workers are left feeling exhausted and burnt-out.
Chief Human Resources Officers are faced with new internal challenges. To overcome them, the end-to-end companies need to prioritize the employee experience. When employees feel empowered and engaged at work, the organisation will benefit from improved job performance and productivity, staff retention and better quality of care. Higher healthcare worker satisfaction resulted in an 87% decrease in infection rate, according to the National Database of Nursing Quality Indicators (NDNQI).
In today’s digital-first world, the best way for healthcare providers to achieve a positive employee experience is using SuccessFactors® from SAP® for Human Capital Management.
Rethink employee experience to respond to today’s challenges
In healthcare, the employee experience depends on a series of factors including:
- Job expectations
- Workplace culture
- External circumstances (like COVID-19)
- The quality of the organisation’s response to challenges
Because of the unpredictability of external events, the healthcare sector faces unique challenges in creating a positive employee experience. For example, COVID-19 has led to an increased need for nurses and doctors, and in turn, increased competition within the sector. Hiring, scheduling and rostering processes are disrupted as HR teams scramble to recruit skilled professionals that have the right qualifications and training for the required tasks.
Fluctuating demand for services has also given rise to a more mobile workforce. Technology can be a valuable investment to support Chief Human Resources Officers and HR teams identify and hire talent to allow healthcare organisations to keep up with the pace of change.
By streamlining the recruitment process, onboarding and knowledge transfer becomes more efficient. It helps remove organisational-wide challenges caused by under-qualified new hires and under-staffed teams.
“Healthcare employees who experience a sense of belonging, purpose, achievement, happiness and vigour perform at higher levels and are more likely to contribute ‘above and beyond’ expectations. They are also less likely to quit.”
– IBM, Smarter Workforce Institute
Risky business: The consequence of unhappy healthcare workers
Patient care is a critical priority. So is the employee experience. When Chief Human Resources Officers fail to prioritise the employee experience, consequences include:
- Declining productivity
- High staff turnover
- Low customer satisfaction
These consequences inevitability impact a healthcare organisation’s bottom line and extend far beyond HR.
The ‘ripple effect’ of poor employee experience has an organisational-wide impact. When healthcare workers experience burnout, consequences not only include lower patient satisfaction but also the increased likelihood of medical errors, which may end up in malpractice suits. Inadequate or overworked management may result in unintentional mistakes and injuries. This puts the healthcare organisation at risk of severe financial risk, legal risk, and a damaged reputation.
While prioritising employee experience may take the backseat to direct profit-generating HR activities, the subsequent costs will creep up sooner or later.
An employee experience designed for success: satisfaction, engagement, and beyond
Modern human capital management software can better inform Chief Human Resources Officers who must balance demands from individual employers and the wider organisation. A well-thought-out SAP SuccessFactors Solution includes several features designed to support human resources provide a positive end-to-end employee experience. These features span across all stages of the HR process:
- Learning and development
- Payroll solutions
- Shift scheduling
A positive end-to-end employee experience is crucial to overcome the challenges facing healthcare workers, managers and organisations today.
Optimize your healthcare organization
Rizing has deep human capital experience and provides award-winning HR technologies to boost both the employee experience and your bottom line. Rizing supports organisations as they learn to better understand and respond to the demands and needs of their employees.
Want to learn more about how to optimize employee experiences in the Heathcare industry? Download our free eBook.