Friday is the cruelest day of the week for job loss.
Through our experience as healthcare facility director recruiters and educators, we believe Friday is the day employers most frequently deliver news that begins something similar to we’ve decided to let you go.
Multi-year careers erased in 6 words, often without additional detail. (hiring.workopolis.com/article/the-best-day-to-fire-someone/)
But lately, and more so than in years past, the bell is tolling for employers, too.
Employees, at least in our corner of the healthcare facilities world, are increasingly leaving their jobs. A 3-year tenure is becoming common, leaving employers in a lurch as the greying and retiring of healthcare facility directors continues. Significantly, just one employee leaving can decimate years of succession planning.
Why are healthcare facility directors, managers, supervisors, and employees leaving roles more quickly now than in years past? Pinpointing a sole cause is difficult, but both loyalty and rabbits may play a role.
Loyalty. If employees perceive the organization is not loyal to them, they reciprocate that perceived slight. They have seen co-workers escorted out of the building after years of service and fear they may be next. They have seen their colleagues with years of experience forced to the street, sometimes without even a severance package. Rather than wait, they seek to control their employment destiny.
And make no mistake; it is a job-seekers market.
Rabbits. While speaking with a long-tenured and successful facility director, the director described his present employment status as “I have no more rabbits to pull out of my hat (to keep this facility running), I’m tired.” When directors perceive that they have exhausted the resources needed to do their job, and they can’t get more, they will move on. He planned to do so within the year.
There’s hope
So is employee loyalty an antiquated concept never to return? Perhaps, probably.
But while the theme is bleak, there is some good news: Managers and directors, the people with whom employees interact with daily, continue to have the most control over creating engaged employees (news.gallup.com/businessjournal/182792/managers-account-variance-employee-engagement.aspx).
Engage with and communicate authentically to employees. Now more than ever, there is a premium placed on providing them with frequent communication and clear expectations. Communication is the key to succession planning. Communication can provide an employee with hope in a time of constant organizational change and uncertainty.
To learn more about Gosselin/Martin programs created specifically for healthcare facilities, please see https://gosselin-associates.com/