The latest research shows that better onboarding can improve employee retention by 82%. It also shows that 88% of organizations in every industry do a poor job of onboarding their employees. In healthcare, we know it’s a problem, but particularly in community healthcare settings where a shortage of staff can sometimes negatively affect the design and implementation of onboarding programs. What makes for a better medical onboarding process? Here’s what you need to know.
Elements of a More Successful Onboarding Process
The Harvard Business Review says there are 10-elements to a good onboarding program. They include:
- Creating jobs that evolve into careers. They state, “Career jobs pay living wages, have predictable hours, visible skill and wage progression, and most importantly foster respectful relationships with supervisors and co-workers.”
- Communicating a career roadmap. This gives opportunities for advancement for employees that exhibit the loyalty needed to stick around for the long-haul.
- Building proactive candidate relationships prior to the hire. This is something recruiting firms excel at but few employers, particularly in the FQHC field, have time for.
- Improving the first day reception process. Showing the new employee around or taking them to lunch are all good ways for teams to start off on the right foot.
- Assigning a mentor to the new employee is critical. A mentor can be there to support the new employee throughout their early tenure and cut down on those 90-day hires that are so costly to our organizations.
- Communication expectations well, early, and often. How much of the job is left to learning as the new employee goes along? Don’t make your new employees figure things out as they go along but instead give them the tools they need to know what’s expected right out of the gate.
- Creating communication transparency across the organization will help retain your new and existing employees. Asking questions should be a normal part of the organizational culture.
- Respecting work/life boundaries is just as important as understanding them. Does the employee have young children and need more flex time? What is the reality of their home life and can your managers help support them?
- Fostering a climate of respect for all employees. This extends beyond a mission statement, of course. While you may consider that the FQHC community is free of hidden biases the reality is that racism, agism, homophobia, sexual harassment or other negative workplaces issues can happen anywhere. Train your teams and remain vigilant to create a better workplace.
- Creating a racially diverse and culturally equitable workplace is important. Taking a color-blind approach in all organizational approaches is both a legal and moral imperative. Communicating this right up front during orientation will set the tone for a zero-tolerance approach in this area.
UHC Solutions can help you build a better orientation process that pre-screens our healthcare candidates for cultural fit as much as we closely review experiences and credentials. Our organization is solely devoted to finding high caliber staff for community health organizations. We work in tandem with your hiring teams to set the tone for a long career for your new employees. Call on us to find out how we can help your organization.