How To Create An HR Strategy for Healthcare Industries

To no one’s surprise, the healthcare industry is incredibly unique. It’s vital to millions of Americans. The regulations and technology that shape this industry are constantly in flux. And to top it off, healthcare workers are experiencing burnout at a time when available talent is scarce. 

Because of this blend of industry-specific challenges, healthcare organizations require a robust, multi-year HR strategy. 

HR Strategy for Healthcare 

The nature of healthcare requires every function act strategically, especially human resources. Otherwise, the organization may face workforce problems that lead to a loss of revenue and drop in patient satisfaction. 

A successful HR strategy includes talent management (acquisition, retention & development), workforce planning, organizational design, compensation planning, and analytics. Here’s a quick breakdown on why these are essential. 

• Talent Management: How effective are you at acquiring new talent? How are you simultaneously retaining and developing your current talent? 
• Workforce Planning: What will your healthcare team look like in five years? If a shift in care takes place, you’ll want a solid talent foundation to respond quickly.
• Organizational Design: Understanding how your organizational structure helps or hinders the business needs and future direction is critical. 
• Compensation Planning: An optimized workforce is great, but how are you going to pay for it? Compensation planning lets you see the return from individual talent assets. 
• HR Analytics: HR data alone won’t cut it.  HR should allow the business to forecast future needs by deploying predictive analytics.

When healthcare and HR aren’t aligned, they can cause headaches that can’t be treated with conventional methods. Creating a custom strategy for your organization can give you a competitive advantage. 

How Healthcare Organizations Can Create an HR Strategy  

The internal and external factors at play in today’s largest healthcare sectors require special focus and skills. Here are some things to consider.

Hire The Right HR Talent 

Finding and recruiting HR talent who understand healthcare, talent management, and HR trends can be difficult. Here are some common roles you may need to recruit for:

• Director of Talent Management 
• Healthcare Talent Acquisition Specialists 
• Organizational Design Director 
• Workforce Planning Analyst
• Data Analytics Specialist 
• Total Rewards Leader
• HR Business Partners

Putting the right people in the right place paves the way for an optimized HR department, which directly impacts the rest of the organization. 

Utilize Interim Solutions

Just like traveling nurses can fill a gap in a hospital’s workforce, interim HR staff can help you develop or execute HR gaps. 

Interim staff can be used during rapid expansion, special projects, or after key players leave your organization. Here are some examples of instances when interim HR staff can help:

• You need to recruit many healthcare specialists over a short period of time
• A key player is out on a leave of absence and you need an interim backfill
• A total rewards leader suddenly resigns at the beginning of budgeting, leaving your team with a hole that needs immediate expertise
• You need someone to come in and evaluate your HR team and structure and recommend a roadmap for change
• You need a revamped workforce, organizational design, or succession planning process

Interim HR resources are a quick and efficient way to achieve both short and long term goals.  

Tips for a Successful HR Strategy 

As you’re reviewing the progress on your HR strategy this year, make sure to include these:  

• Plan for Succession: Forecast when and where you’ll need to replace your workforce. Make sure to plan for succession in your own HR roles too.  
• Understand Your Competitor’s HR Strategy: How are your competitors attracting and retaining talent? How are they utilizing technology and all types of workers to accomplish their business goals? 
• Develop Leaders Now: Begin identifying and planning leadership changes. If you don’t have any leaders in your pipeline, address this with leadership development initiatives.  
• Review Organizational Design: Is your design enhancing communication? Fostering collaboration? Driving efficiency in your services?  
• Use HR Analytics: Being able to predict and analyze key data means your team is agile and equipped to respond to market shifts. 

hrQ Can Help Your HR Department

hrQ has worked in the healthcare industry, providing HR talent, interim HR solutions, and HR strategy and consulting services. Some of the clients we’ve worked with include:

• Denver Health
• Healthgrades
• Centura Health
• Phoenix Children’s Hospital
• Elder Care Alliance
• Stanford Children’s Health
• Hospital Corporation of America

If you need support for your stretched-too-thin HR team, contact us. We’d love to help you create an efficient, effective HR strategy.