In this webinar, I learned about the 5 challenges that we will take a closer look at right now. To start off, this webinar was conducted by 3 different people who are either managers, directors, or executives. Challenge 1 is called Flexing Staff Based on Volumes and Patient Needs which mainly just discussed how hospital and healthcare facilities need to schedule their employees on a daily basis based on patient needs and attendance everyday at the hospital. For example, if the manager knows that Mondays and Fridays are very busy for the hospital or at least for their department, it is up to them to make sure there are enough employees so that patient care and quality of service is not compromised. Another important aspect that Gina mentioned in the webinar, is that if these fluctuation timings are already expected and prepared for, then it will cause less disruption and disturbance in the work flow of the department which will increase employee satisfaction, patient satisfaction and of course the monetary benefits. This will ensure that not every employee is staying back to help out and in turn getting overtime because the manager or lead overlooked the schedule and doesn’t have enough coverage.
Challenge 2: Managing Overtime and Premium Labor Costs was mostly about how managers and department leads can manage their workers accidental overtime when they are not scheduled. Gina gave a great example that there was a facility who was able to reduce their employees’ missed lunches by 35% by sending out just one email to the staff and having a meeting and addressing the situation. Many of the workers were missing or had to miss lunch because they were understaffed and did not get to eat a proper meal. This is one of the reasons as to why staffing properly based on patient and hospital needs is so important.
Challenge 3: Leveraging Staff Across the Enterprise is actually a very smart challenge to face and accomplish because not only is scheduling important for the staff to ensure that you have enough coverage but also being able to efficiently spreading them out across the department while utilizing them is and can be very beneficial. For example, if you have certain employees who have different strengths then this challenge can serve as being able to resourcefully use the employees you have in the correct discretion. Certain employees can and should be placed in specific areas and assigned certain tasks that you know they will be able to complete in a timely manner or in the time necessary for you. Of course, we would not go off of convenience for the employees who can be more beneficial and resourceful in another location of the hospital compared to another.
Challenge 4: Moving from Retrospective to Proactive Productivity teaches us here that instead of analyzing the accomplishments after the shift is over or after the pay period is over might be too late. For example, if something needs to be evaluated but was only conducted for one day then waiting 2 weeks to analyze the results from that scenario seems bizarre to me. This challenge is suggesting that managers, leads, or directors need to start doing evaluations and analyses during the shifts so as to better delegate the work load amongst the employees. This will increase efficiency and communication between the staff and the patients.
Challenge 5: Managing Turnover can be a bit of a hassle because this in my opinion, all depends on leadership and management. It is up to the management to make the conscious decision on who they choose to hire and how many people they choose to hire. For example, of course all depending on your job description that you are trying to fill, you would need to hire someone who matches that description to the best of their ability. So if you have a clerk position that needs flexibility and someone who can stay in that role for about a year or more, then a high school student who is about to graduate who is looking for a summer job will obviously not be a good candidate. This being said, I truly believe the managers and directors have all the control when it comes to high turnover rates. If you keep your people happy, they will keep you happy. That means that if you fulfill their needs, requests (within reason), and make them feel appreciated, then they will definitely stay in their current position which will decrease your rates of turnovers.
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