I was on Marketwatch.com and came across an article about a new scholarship program recently launched by the American Hospital Association. The goal of the program is to boost student enrollment in health care programs and promote health care as a career choice for new college graduates. Awareness of the growing labor shortage in health care is nothing new – the U.S. Department of Labor predicts that growth in demand for health care occupations will be twice that of other occupations by the year 2010 – but this article got me thinking about the different issues at play here, and the ways in which this program falls short. While targeting new workers is critical, a broader workforce strategy that focuses on all aspects of the employee life cycle is ultimately needed to bridge this gap.
Developing students and creating more opportunities for them to pursue careers in health care will not only directly increase the workforce pipeline, but also improve overall quality of new hires as well. “We are looking for… dedicated, ambitious and talented students who are preparing for their future today and those who are committed to being life-long learners, mentors, volunteers and sharing their knowledge through participating in professional societies, community organizations and networking groups tomorrow.” This is a big step; however strategies aimed at growing workforce supply and improving new hire quality are only half the battle.
There is no way around it – benefits of this scholarship program and others like it will take years to realize. Even as more and more workers enter the workforce, skill shortages in upper management and senior professional positions will continue to exist. I met a friend for lunch the other week who has spent her entire career in health care, and held several senior HR positions. It was interesting to hear her viewpoint on the current situation, and what resonated most was that the key to solving these problems is actually something which health care institutions have historically lacked: flexibility.
I think this could be achieved through a variety of different programs. Implementing alternate work schedules, promoting skill specialization to reduce training and ramp up time and increasing internal movement opportunities are just a few options. In an effort to mitigate knowledge loss, allowing would-be-retirees to work fewer hours, stay on in a limited training capacity or customize their salary/benefits mix would be effective, but unfortunately few organizations are implementing these types of strategies.
In order for any program to have sustainability, organizations need to focus on both short-term and long-term solutions. All too often, the best laid plans fail due to a lack of execution. In this case, breaking down historically rigid policies is paramount in facilitating a more comprehensive workforce strategy. Striving to increase flexible workforce options will not only maximize existing resources in the interim, but increase the attractiveness of health care as a career and improve overall job fit for the generation of new workers to come.
Tags: aging workforce, alternate work schedules, American Hospital Association, certification program, continuing education, health care, healthcare, internal movement, internal training, job fit, knowledge loss, labor shortage, scholorship program, sill specialization, worforce crisis, worforce strategies, Workforce Planning