Laura Hoppa – Principal Performance Consultant Your organization is a field of dreams for the right players. Build a valuable employee experience, tell the world about it, and it will bring them to your doors. That’s how you’ll score talented staff who will deliver your unique patient experience.
When it comes to attracting and retaining healthcare talent, too often our enthusiastic, talent-attraction “spin” sets people up for disappointment. Healthcare organizations are imperfect, the work we do is hard, and the industry itself is evolving and messy. So once people sign on, it can be pretty tough to live up to our own marketing hype. Sure, we engage in this self-promotion to attract more applicants— because we need to meet our staffing targets and there’s a shortage out there. But, rather than focusing on high applicant rates, we could focus on fewer applicants…with a stronger fit.
If we’re targeting excellent patient outcomes delivered through a brand-right patient experience, we need the right staff, and we need them to stay. That means people with excellent skills and credentials who embrace our mission. People who will love our facilities and our work, despite our crazy organizational challenges or quirky environment. People who want to be part of our solution, and don’t become disillusioned when things get tough. Those people aren’t easy to identify (much less onboard successfully) if we sweep our challenges under the rug.
Instead, we need to get real. It starts with identifying a true and transparent employee value proposition, or EVP. And then we need to make sure that EVP comes to life through intentional design of the employee experience.
While the idea may feel a bit uncomfortable—even scary—the results can be amazing. Here are four steps for drafting an EVP and then activating an employee experience so you build the committed, engaged, patient-centered workforce you need.
Draft a description of your work environment that is authentic and will resonate with your ideal candidates. Be upfront about the truth of today, and balance it with your aspirations for tomorrow. Consider your reality and detail your differentiators—your culture, processes, relationships, norms, rewards, and benefits that specifically appeal to people with the character traits and values you desire. Include a glimpse of the future you’re striving for—describe a vision they can be part of building.
A well-crafted EVP makes a promise to employees, and that shouldn’t be taken lightly. Use it as a touchstone—a reference point for leaders to be sure they are managing and supporting people as intended. Consider all the important moments that matter to your workforce, and carefully architect how they should be experienced. Your EVP should also act as a north star for senior leadership, who should make certain that organizational strategy is never at odds with this description. The ability to continually live up to these words is critical to your organizational effectiveness and therefore, patient care.
A great EVP details the generally unwritten rules between your organization and your employees; it makes explicit the balanced value-exchange you’re both entering into. It should be written as a give-get statement that lays out for people, “When you give us X, you’ll get Y.” Great EVPs describe the organization’s expectations for employees, while listing both the incredible aspects of the workplace as well as its challenges. It creates a moment for your workforce to sign on, eyes wide open; and that makes them more invested, committed, and resilient.
When an employee joins the organization, you’re basically striking a bargain together. And for the rest of their employment life cycle, that bargain gets subconsciously assessed by both sides. So, imagine if your managers used your honest, forthright EVP for coaching conversations that begin during onboarding and never stop. Managers could simply ask, “Where do you see yourself living up to this statement and where do you have room to grow? How about the organization—are we supporting you as described?” It’s an effective way to get ahead of problems, prevent resentment, and decrease unwanted turnover. With continued use, your EVP can be the catalyst that builds highly engaged teams—and that’s a true investment in the care of your patients.
OK, ready to take this on? When you write your EVP with honesty and live it with intention, your staff will return your sincerity with their trust, engagement, retention, and passion. It just takes the courage to build something great and share it truthfully. Then watch them come.