WASHINGTON, October 11, 2006 - U.S. health care organizations aren´t making much progress in the war for talent, and are finding it especially difficult to hold on to registered nurses and other critical-skill workers, according to a survey by Watson Wyatt Worldwide, a leading global consulting firm, and the American Society for Healthcare Human Resources Administration (ASHHRA).
More than two-thirds (69 percent) of the 110 health care providers surveyed reported having difficulty retaining critical-skill workers to a moderate or great extent. Across industries overall, only 43 percent of companies have similar retention problems. Retaining registered nurses is the most difficult staffing challenge facing health care providers, with 84 percent listing it among their top three staffing challenges, followed by pharmacists (39 percent) and rehab therapists (33 percent).
"Staffing in the health care industry is currently a losing battle of supply and demand. As demand for services escalates, the supply of health care professionals in the workforce shrinks," said Luellen Lucid, senior consultant for compensation consulting at Watson Wyatt. "But these shortages are now creating a serious situation for health care organizations, and they have made little headway in solving the problem."
Voluntary turnover, while often uncontrollable, is also hitting health care providers harder than other industries. Health care providers are experiencing a median 14 percent voluntary turnover rate, which is considerably higher than other industries overall. Nearly half of the respondents (47 percent) cited relocation as one of the top three reasons employees leave, followed by lack of promotional opportunity (41 percent) and pay (33 percent).
According to the survey, health care organizations are implementing various initiatives to address the staffing situation, including adjusting pay levels to better reflect the market, providing reimbursements and forgiving loan payments for educational studies, and implementing flexible work arrangements. Some organizations are also enhancing their retirement benefit programs, such as improving the match on contributions that workers make to their 401(k) or 403(b) plans.
The survey noted, however, that few employers are improving other aspects of their employee benefits, including health insurance, paid time off or retiree medical benefits - possible opportunities to improve the attraction and retention of critical-skill workers.
"Health care organizations know they need to take action and try new approaches. Some of the top organizations are already doing so by increasing incentive pay opportunities to better reward their best workers," said Jamie Hale, a senior workforce planning consultant at Watson Wyatt. "However, this problem will not be solved overnight. In the end, the health care organizations that will be most successful are the ones that take a broad-based approach and consider the long-term picture."
Copies of the survey are available at www.watsonwyatt.com.
About Watson Wyatt
Watson Wyatt (NYSE: WW) is the trusted business partner to the world's leading organizations on people and financial issues. The firm´s global services include: managing the cost and effectiveness of employee benefit programs; developing attraction, retention and reward strategies; advising pension plan sponsors and other institutions on optimal investment strategies; providing strategic and financial advice to insurance and financial services companies; and delivering related technology, outsourcing and data services. Watson Wyatt has 6,000 associates in 30 countries and is located on the Web at www.watsonwyatt.com.
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Source: HRmarketer.com