The answer to this question is obvious: Which is more effective—to perform preventative screenings that may catch pathology in its early stages, allowing effective resolution of the disease…or to delay testing until a body begins revealing outward symptoms of failure and then try to get in front of a disease that’s now affecting multiple systems? Modern medicine preaches the benefits of prevention. We’ve learned how it positively impacts overall health, increases quality of life, and decreases cost of care.
What if we were to apply this concept to our staffing pipeline? Too often in the midst of today’s healthcare climate, where steadying today’s staffing levels is—at best—a struggle, considering tomorrow’s needs takes a back seat. It can be hard to dedicate time to secure the stability of the future when the present isn’t on solid ground. While the difficulty is understandable, by postponing the preparations until the time of need, it creates more work (and cost), not less, when the time comes.
By developing a staffing pipeline, what I mean is that we should be ever diligent about preparing tomorrow’s workforce…today. There are three key ways this happens:
- Routinely scouting for the next new employee. I worked with a VP of HR who was fantastic at this. Any time an opening came up within her team, she already had in mind 2-3 individuals who might be great to fill the void. She was constantly networking, planting seeds, taking inventory of the strengths of individuals everywhere she went—even at sporting events! Rarely were openings on her team left open more than a few weeks. Her groundwork saved recruitment efforts and lost work…and prevented burnout on her team through shortened absences of key team roles. Look around you—in your facility, your community, your network. Who demonstrates the character and has skills that would be useful for your team or organization?
- Building bench strengths. Take inventory of those skills or activities that are critical to the function of your team’s work. Deliberately create skill development opportunities and cross-training, purposefully molding staff as back-ups (even 2-3 layers deep). Others can then step in to cover the critical needs in the absence of the primary individual responsible. This minimizes coverage crises in unexpected leaves of absence, emergency situations, or employment termination. Could you focus on cross-training one key practice each month?
- Investing in succession efforts. It takes only about two days as a new leader to realize the learning for effective leadership is a long road. Don’t wait until someone announces their intention for retirement, accepts a promotion, or vacates a leadership position to be preparing the next person for the role. If you don’t already have a capable person in mind to step into each leadership role within your organization, there’s work to do. Begin now building fundamental leadership skills for your emerging leaders, developing your next senior leaders, and engaging your next CEO. Often your future greatness is built upon your current goodness. Where does the potential lie within the environment around you?
Here’s why laying the foundation in these ways now saves you time, cost, and effort:
- It promotes retention. Research shows today’s workforce has increased engagement and loyalty to organizations who put intentional investment in its development. You want to retain your top talent…yes? How better to demonstrate your appreciation of their value and hard work than to commit to their ongoing growth in tangible ways. If these top talent individuals aren’t reassured of development opportunities, they will look elsewhere to find it. Let them see the path you envision for their future. Then begin the foundational effort that initiates preparation along that path.
- It lowers lost transition time. If you previously have folks identified and readying for positions, the lost time required to transition into their new role is dramatically diminished. A typical new employee, fresh to an organization and unfamiliar to a role, is said to take 8+ months to achieve full productivity. When you fill roles from within your walls, you know the character you’re getting and have confidence they have a solid grasp on organizational mission and culture. If you’ve then also begun the orientation to the work before the transition is needed, you could cut the transition time by 50% or greater!
- It reduces recruitment costs. There’s no surprise that recruiting new employees for any role is expensive. And the more senior the role, the greater the expense. If you’ve already primed your next CEO, senior leader, and middle manager roles, you may end up needing recruitment at more of entry-level roles, where you may have a broader applicant pool for a smaller fee.
It pays to be thinking ahead. The time to prepare is when you least think it’s necessary.
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"An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." – Benjamin Franklin
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Contact me to explore how RWHC can help: csearles@rwhc.com. Or consider attending one of these workshops to strengthen your efforts. To learn more, visit RWHC Leadership Series Workshops:
- Succession Planning, Building Bench Strength & Talent Development: Keeping Your Team Game Ready
- Coach ‘Em to Keep ‘Em: Retaining Your Workforce
- Emerging Leaders: Preparing for Tomorrow’s Future Leaders
- Stepping into Supervision: Finding Your Way in the Move to Management and Leadership
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
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Corrie Searles, MPT, Leadership Development Educator
In Corrie’s role as Leadership Development Educator at the Rural Wisconsin Health Cooperative (RWHC), her aim is to empower leaders--formal and informal--to create positive influence that enables others to serve well.
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