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Welcome!

  • Zooming and Streaming
  • Questions and conversation throughout, please
    • Chat
    • Comments
  • On-Demand

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Meet the Authors

Katie Sorce Lisa Barone Paul Fahey

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Agenda

Let’s talk

  • How you can position your organization
  • Build an employee culture that is mission-aligned and patient-centric but attentive to the unique challenges facing healthcare workers today.
  • We will also address the impact of COVID and vaccination mandates on community and employee engagement
  • Tips and tactics 

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Smith & Jones encourage our colleagues who are rolling out vaccine mandates at hospitals and health systems to stay the course. 

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Your core job is to protect patient care. Everything else that has to be done should support that goal. Listen. Learn. Roll it out over time, in an organized way, and be ready to accept the criticism, controversy and demonstrations.

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Know that you are doing the right thing.

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Agenda

  • Chronic Issues
  • Acute / Recent Challenges
  • What Workers Want
  • Strategies and Ideas

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Our Methodologies

  • Since 2014
  • Email surveys
  • One-on-one interviews with
    • Healthcare marketers
    • Industry thought leaders
    • Elected officials
  • American Hospital Association
  • Social Listening
  • Google Trends

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Chronic Issues

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The Situation - Chronic

  • Industry Highlights
    • The nursing shortage crisis (since…30s, persistent since 90s?)
    • Hospitals are no longer the only option
    • Nursing school enrollment is down
    • A clearly-defined hospital culture is necessary
  • Competitive Highlights
    • Competing on price and flexibility
    • The “extras” being offered continue to grow
    • Recruitment has been the focus at the expense of retention
    • Struggling to discover a true point of difference

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The Situation - Chronic

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  • Employee Highlights
    • Employees have become more demanding
    • Creating loyalty is key for retention
    • It’s time to shift the category debate

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Acute Challenges

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The Situation - Acute

  • That was pre-COVID
  • Overall, employment in healthcare is down by 524,000 jobs since February 2020
  • Nursing and residential care facilities represent 80% of the losses
  • A recent BOL report showed healthcare lost 17,500 jobs in September, after losing 4,900 jobs in August
    • Hospitals lost 8,100 jobs
    • Nursing and residential care facilities lost 37,600 jobs
    • Ambulatory healthcare services gained 28,200 jobs.

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The Situation - Acute

States, cities, universities and even individual employers across the country are considering vaccine mandates in an attempt to drive up vaccination rates and protect people from contracting COVID. 

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The Situation - Acute

  • Rate of COVID cases by state governor political affiliation

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The response to vaccination mandates

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History is not on their side

What year was the first vaccine mandate law in the United States?

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History is not on their side

1809 in Massachusetts for smallpox.

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History is not on their side

Jacobson v. Massachusetts, 1905 : Supreme Court upheld a Cambridge City law, which required smallpox vaccination, saying that while people have personal rights, they don't have a right to place other people at risk.

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That sentiment is the core of this issue for healthcare workers. We pursued careers in health care to serve people who are vulnerable and suffering.

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COVID-19 vaccination helps us do that safely and effectively – especially at a time when new cases are surging in our region and reaching crisis levels in parts of our country.

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The response to mandates

  • Surprisingly, thousands of healthcare workers, at hundreds of sites nationwide, are walking off the job. 

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Protect your brand

  • Northwell CEO: "You would have assumed people who work in healthcare would easily come to the conclusion that if you are going to take care of patients, irrespective of circumstances, you should be vaccinated against a virus that is deadly," he told Becker's. "Ninety-eight percent of people understood that. Ninety-eight percent said it's the right thing to do. For the others, they made the choice they aren't going to do it. That's upsetting. I didn't terminate anybody, they decided they didn't want to work in an organization with these requirements." 
  • Consumer confidence is the bedrock foundation of your brand

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Sandra Lindsay, RN

Northwell's Long Island Jewish Medical Center.

First American to receive the COVID-19 vaccine Dec. 14, 2020.

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What your workforce wants

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Other reasons for leaving?

  • Burnout during COVID
    • 19% of workers that retained their job during COVID have considered leaving profession.
  • Employees often feel overworked, task-focused
  • Perception of lower-than-market pay scale (changing?)
  • Disjointed pay equity between new/old employees
  • Lack of frequent, meaningful communication from leadership
  • Little appreciation – “over-surveyed”

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What your workforce wants

The issues most important to prospective employees, in order of preference, are:

  • Long-term growth and benefits
  • Flexible schedule, work/life balance
  • Friendly/pleasant staff
  • Independence/decision-making ability
  • Pay/benefits
  • Care-giving role and intrinsic satisfaction of �their job overpowers pay/benefit concerns �and fosters loyalty

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Strategies

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Strategies

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  • Develop an employment subbrand, �similar to your approach to a �service line.
  • Find a point of differentiation.
  • Build the brand while advertising �career opportunities.
  • Get HR and Marketing to the table: shared interests, shared resources
  • Raise the image of your organization as an employer up to the level it enjoys for medical excellence

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Strategies

Humanize campaigns,

it’s all about people.

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Building an internal culture of caring

Addressing Burnout Head On (Trend #1)

  • Address systemic failures
  • “Too many bureaucratic tasks”
  • Engage staff to listen, CEO hotline
  • Conduct technology audit
  • Promote self-care programs and benefits

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Building an internal culture of caring

Timesaver perks packages

      • Day care and elder care
      • Dry cleaning service (drop off/pick up at hospital)
      • Bagels for new hires
      • Free coffee
      • Discounts on personal housekeeping services
      • Car maintenance services (oil change, inspection, etc.) performed while at work
      • Take-home family dinners that can be ordered and picked up at end of shift
      • Discounts and coupons for area food establishments

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Building an internal culture of caring

    • Public relations
      • Celebrate human moments and achievements
      • Expert positioning
      • Merchandise the campaign (newsletters, in-hospital signage)
    • Mentorship and buddy systems for new employees
    • Personal career counselors
    • Recognition programs
    • Scholarship programs, more than just writing a check, �spotlight on internal culture of caring

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A few misc recruitment ideas

    • Back-to-Work program for returning employees
    • Revisit recent applicants and cross-sell new/different opportunities

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Parting Thought

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"You treat a disease: You win, you lose. �You treat a person, I guarantee you win. �No matter the outcome."

– Patch Adams

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Thank you!

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Upcoming Events

Second Edition Release

January 20, 2022

Webinar December 14

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Thank you!

Lisa Barone Katie Sorce Paul Fahey

paul@smithandjones.com

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