09/16/2024 | News release | Distributed by Public on 09/16/2024 13:09
Proactive strategies to recruit, retain and develop future healthcare professionals.
Physician turnover rates saw a significant increase during the onset of COVID-19. According to a survey by CHG Health conducted between 2020 and 2022, 8 percent of physicians reported retiring, while 3 percent chose to leave clinical practice. However, a striking 43 percent of physicians made career moves within the field during this period. These shifts have had a profound impact on healthcare organizations, particularly with physician leaders also exiting, leaving substantial gaps that are challenging to fill in today's competitive landscape.
To navigate these challenges successfully, organizations must proactively plan and implement robust recruitment strategies and leadership development programs, embracing the "grow your own" concept. It's crucial to prepare now, especially with Generation Z physicians poised to become the next generation of leaders in health care.
Recruiting Gen Z physicians and preparing them to lead comes down to three basic areas of your recruitment and retention programs.
Before we break it down, let us understand what Gen Zers are all about.
According to Roberta Katz, a senior research scholar at Stanford's Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, "Gen Z are not coddled, but are highly collaborative, self-reliant and pragmatic. Members of Generation Z, the first generation never to know the world without the internet, value diversity and finding their own unique identities, says Katz. This group - also known as Gen Z, iGen or postmillennial - is a highly collaborative cohort that cares deeply about others and has a pragmatic attitude about how to address a set of inherited issues like climate change."
Strong Employer Brand
The first step in attracting Gen Z physicians is to develop a strong employer brand that resonates to their core. Use it to create your recruitment marketing collaterals and include the supporting detail to demonstrate this isn't just a marketing campaign but part of the organizational culture.
Tech Savvy and Cutting-Edge Technology
Collaborative Environment
Gen Z Embraces Change
Wellness and Work-Life Balance
There's been a lot of talk about burnout in health care in the news media as well as social media. How can you demonstrate your organization's concern and commitment to physician well-being and wellness (and for all employees)?
Diversity and Inclusion
Physician Retention
Retaining physician staff and leaders is an important part of attracting Gen Z physicians to your organization. They want to know they are not going to end up where there's a revolving door of physicians coming and going. They want to know your organization truly values them, their contribution and what they do for patients. How do you prove to them it isn't just lip service?
Planned Advancement
Gen Z physicians are known for being motivated by organizations that foster professional growth. Not all professional growth means leadership. It may mean they want to be involved in the development of new medical advancements, therapies, services and research activities such as outcomes research or clinical trials. You can create some great questions around this subject and even talk through during the interview process. Be prepared though to answer these questions:
When it comes to the above or the possibility of leadership, Gen Z physicians want to know what the process is and what goals they must meet to be promoted. They want concrete answers, which are often difficult to map and for which it is even more difficult to guarantee the desired outcome. That said, it is important to lay out a road map of their journey to leadership. The first thing I would want to know is who on staff is driven to lead and have it on their goal list. There are certain people who you will be able to point to. There are others who don't make it that evident. So, ask. Have your department leaders ask at their next one-on-one about their possible desire to lead. Not everyone wants to lead. Not everyone that wants to lead wants to be a health system CEO. For the ones who indicate they have an interest in leading, the questions should start flowing:
No matter what type of advancement each person is interested in, there should be a plan. If you don't have one, discuss individually how you can help obtain their goals and then create a specific plan with them, including time frames.
To be successful in attracting, retaining and advancing Gen Z physicians, it comes down to these three things:
Although exit interviews, to me, are akin to an autopsy, they are invaluable in determining common threads and trends needing to be addressed. If there are things driving your physicians away, they need to be addressed and improvements need to be made.
Leadership development with a programmatic approach will be a retention tool and help your organization by creating and cultivating the most effective leadership team available. You will also help your future self by creating a succession plan to reduce the holes when leaders depart your organization.
This article originally appeared in the Fall 2024 issue of In the Lead magazine, from Stillman School of Business's Department of Management and the Buccino Leadership Institute. The bi-annual magazine focuses on sharing leadership perspectives from the field, with content that is curated from leaders across industries.
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