Healthcare and Life Sciences Institute
KPMG Healthcare & Life Sciences Institute provides an open forum for business leaders across the industry to share perspectives, gain insight, develop approaches to help balance risk and improve performance.
Leverage Analytics to Reimagine the Workforce
Learn how analytics can shift the trajectory in a distressed labor market
Video transcript
Kristine Coogan: (00:01) Hi, I'm Kristine Coogan, a principal in our people strategy practice. I help my clients utilize data and analytics to better understand their workforce so they can attract, retain, and engage them more effectively.
(00:14) Healthcare is in crisis today when it comes to workforce. The impact of the pandemic, patient care standards, technology and the increased complexity of treatments have made the jobs more complicated and more demanding than ever. The Great Resignation has created increased demand from other industries, creating more competition for talent.
(00:34) When healthcare employees look at their options, 50% indicated they're still searching for greater meaning in their healthcare careers, and 20% indicated that they're planning to pursue a career outside of healthcare. On top of this, 25% of healthcare professionals have accelerated their plans to retire since the pandemic, opting out of the workforce altogether.
(00:54) In this challenging labor market, data can be a powerful tool for hiring and retaining talent. For example, with regard to hiring, organizations can focus on using data as a guide. For example, research shows that resumes and job applications do not necessarily predict success within a role. Instead, organizations can utilize analytics to better screen candidates for the factors that do predict success.
(01:19) When we think about the hiring process, there are so many opportunities to make the focus about the candidate rather than the employer. For example, pooling hiring across an organization so that candidates are considered for all the roles they meet the criteria for, can be a way to optimize outcomes. A candidate can apply once for roles that include locations across the health system, different shifts, different locations, and then the hiring process becomes a matching exercise, pairing a candidate with roles that meet their interests and skills, optimize commute times, shift preferences, and more to create better outcomes for everyone.
(01:56) When it comes to retaining talent, we can also use data to understand what employees want or need. It starts with listening to employees. So often organizations apply leadership's perspectives around what employees want rather than really listening to their workforce. For instance, it's very commonly believed that certain shifts are undesirable, difficult to staff, including weekends and overnight shifts. However, our data shows that there are nearly as many people who prefer overnight or weekend shifts as weekday, daytime shifts, paving the way for individuals to choose their own working hours, and for organizations to provide hours that really meet an employee's individual needs.
(02:35) Data allows organizations to customize, knowing that one size doesn't fit all. You understand that each employee is unique and has unique circumstances, and that their needs can vary over time. So, finding ways to offer flexibility when employees need it, developmental opportunities when workers are ready to move their career forward and measuring connectivity and engagement throughout allows employers to demonstrate a willingness to make the relationship work on the employee's terms.
