With the lack of healthcare talent, a continuing and pressing concern, most systems have increased their bonus and hiring incentives to bring in more talent. The problem in the FQHC community is simply that we don’t have the same kind of money to throw around. Yet organizations like UHC Solutions are still able to find our community healthcare partners the talent they need. How do we do it? The answer is culture and how we “market” it.
Why Does Culture Matter?
FQHCs come with a ready-made mission that appeals to any candidate that wants to make a difference in the world. Culture is the glue that retains our staff even when times are difficult. A recent survey shows:
- 77% of job applicants now consider culture before they even apply for a job.
- Millennials care more about culture than they do salary.
- Nearly 90% of job applicants say it’s important for employers to “have a clear mission and purpose.”
Mission-driven community healthcare organizations can use these trends to their advantage, but only if they have the internal culture to back up the mission. How can you improve your organizational culture for the one-two punch that lands you more candidates?
10 Cultural Improvement Tips for FQHCs
1. Start with orientation. This is your new employee’s first impression of your organization so make it a positive, engaging experience.
- Back up orientation with a formalized mentorship program. FQHCs can get mileage out of the idea of “each one/teach one.” Mentors can impart historical knowledge that orientation doesn’t cover. Mentors also help with employee retention and engagement over the long term.
- Encourage collaboration beyond the core team. The more you connect employees to the mission and to each other, the more impact you’ll have on productivity and retention.
- Celebrate wins and lessen stress with social events. Having a unit potluck or holiday parties, celebrating birthdays or other milestones creates culture. Use these events to your advantage.
- Spotlight individual and team contributions. Set goals and reward them. Share best practices across the organization to create a more positive cultural environment.
- Lead by example. Your doctors, leadership, and administration teams should embrace the spirit of positive culture and share it. Pro Tip: When you’re looking for high level clinical and administrative talent, screen for these characteristics to naturally build them in your organization.
- Communicate often. Newsletters, organizational emails, monthly meetings with leadership where feedback is shared from staff—all of these can create a more transparent, open, and honest culture that will attract a better caliber of talent to your FQHC.
- Share and focus on the mission as much as the margin. Do leadership decisions reflect your organization’s core values? Does this effort trickle down to unit managers and clinical leadership?
- Open the door to ideas and feedback. Encourage your staff to point out process inefficiencies. Create a culture where new best practices are embraced. Change is what makes us better. Be the FQHC that continually strives to improve and innovate.
- Hire for culture. Pay attention to something more than clinical credentials or administrative experiences. Now that you understand the critical importance of culture, leverage your hiring process to build culture by hiring the candidates that bring the culture you’re striving for.
That’s where UHC Solutions can help. We partner with the FQHC community to find high-level talent to improve your organization. Contact us today to find out how we can help you build a better culture with better talent
