Creating an Attractive Health Care Employment Brand

How can health care organizations differentiate themselves to potential employees? Is their commitment to the employee experience as powerful as their commitment to their patients?  Axiom Consulting Partners’ Susanna Mlot shares her perspectives on how the health care employment brand is a key piece of creating “stickiness” for the workforce.

In the year I spent as CHRO “on loan” to a major health care organization, we were in a market that was crowded with other health care systems, and yet nurses and physicians and CNAs and other clinical roles – radiologists, radiology techs – knew the different climates, cultures and styles of every one of those systems. Some employees would play the game, if they were just in it for the money, of moving from system to system to system. But those who really wanted to plug in and build a career were attracted to systems that differentiated themselves on what they offered as an employee. They knew what experience they wanted across their life cycle from pre-hire through development, advancement, and overall well-being – including how they’re treated, listened to, or have influence.

Health care professionals are committed to their patients. Creating environments where everyone’s voice is heard in the appropriate ways, both in care delivery and in making the organization a better place, is a big part of that equation. Here’s the problem, though: many health care organizations and systems don’t recognize how powerful their employment brand can be and is a key piece of creating “stickiness” for their employees – conveying clearly and consistently how their organization is different as an employer and what an employee can expect. Are their feet going to be held to the fire in terms of productivity goals primarily first and foremost? Is that the main focus, or will they have access to more as a citizen and member of a particular employment community?

As we start to see generational shifts in the labor force, it will be increasingly important for employees to feel like a member of a community. The health systems that don’t take advantage of that and figure out how to do it, or those that are doing it well already but fail to leverage that in their offerings to the labor market, will be missing a significant opportunity.

Transcript edited for clarity.