2006 Salary Survey Results: Avoid hiring woes by keeping your current good employees
2006 Salary Survey Results
Avoid hiring woes by keeping your current good employees
Educational opportunities, meaningful bonuses appreciated by staff
"The best offense is a good defense" is often said by athletic coaches, but the same concept applies to recruitment and retention of employees. While many managers look carefully at how their outpatient surgery programs recruit new employees, it is just as important to look carefully at what you are doing to retain the good employees you have now, say experts interviewed by Same-Day Surgery.
In the past six years, the staff at Harmony Ambulatory Surgery Center in Fort Collins, CO, has grown to accommodate the 8%-11% annual growth in volume of cases handled, but the key to the center's success has been a low turnover rate, says Rebecca Craig, RN, CNOR, CASC, administrator of the center.
In the July 2006 issue of Same-Day Surgery, 780 salary surveys were mailed to readers, and 10.7% of the readers responded to the survey. Although almost 46% of respondents to the 2006 Same-Day Surgery Salary Survey reported no change in their staff size in the past year, slightly more than 42% did report an increase in staff size. While increasing in volume and staff size is exciting, it does pose challenges, she admits.
"We have usually had no problem finding applicants for positions, but the local hospital is opening another trauma facility and is hiring at a higher salary rate than we pay," she says. Craig still receives qualified applicants for her positions, but not as many as she used to receive, she adds.
More than 80% of respondents to the SDS Salary Survey reported increases in their salaries that ranged from 1% to more than 21%, with the largest percentage (33.33%) reporting increases of between 4% and 6%. Respondents also reported salaries that ranged from $50,000 per year to more than $130,000 per year, with the largest percentage (22.62%) reporting salaries between $90,000 and $99,000 per year. (See charts.)
'People move for lifestyle reasons'
While the competitiveness of your salary in the marketplace may affect the number of applicants you attract, salary alone usually is not a reason for people to leave your outpatient surgery program, reports Laurie J. Wensink, RN, MBA, MSN, clinical director of perioperative services at Luther Midelfort Hospital in Eau Claire, WI.
"I have found that people move for lifestyle reasons," she says. These reasons may include flexible schedules, a friendlier workplace environment, or an opportunity to grow professionally, Wensink notes. "If you can address employee's needs for these things within your own organization, you will retain good employees."
The most important first step to take once you've hired a new employee is to make him or her feel welcome, suggests Wensink. "I call new employees after they've been hired and given a start date, but before they report to work to tell them how happy I am that they will be joining our staff," she says. "I also tell them the name of the staff member who will greet them on their first day and give them their tour and be available to answer their questions."
After Wensink's call, the "peer" staff member also calls the new employees to welcome them and answer any questions that new hires are reluctant to ask Wensink. "There are a lot of unwritten cultural rules," says Wensink. For example, new employees may wonder whether staff can take time off for their child's doctor's appointment. "No new employee wants to ask that of the new boss, but everyone is comfortable asking that of a peer," she says.
They also make sure the new employee's name is written on a mail slot in the employee lounge, so the staff member can point to it and say, "here's your mailbox," says Wensink. "It's a small thing, but it shows that they are already part of the team," she explains. Wensink also sends an e-mail to all staff members the day before a new employee's first day with a brief introduction of the employee. "It is very reassuring to a new employee to hear people say that they knew he or she was coming and that they are excited to have them join the team," she adds.
Once the new employee has started employment, make sure that your orientation program is interesting and specific to the job, suggests Mary P. Malone, MS, JD, president of Malone Advisory Services, a South Bend, IN-based patient and employee satisfaction consulting firm. Interactive sessions, use of on-line education programs, tours, and a variety of speakers can improve any orientation session, she says.
The most important way you can improve orientation is to make it applicable to the individual employee, Malone points out. "Revitalize the traditional orientation to include mentors for new employees," she suggests. "Formalizing a mentor program not only ensures that new employees get skills training they need for their job, but it also recognizes experienced employees for their knowledge and talent," Malone explains.
Tailor program to age, experience, skill
When you evaluate recognition and reward programs to enhance your retention rates, it is important to look at employees' experience and age, suggests Malone.
"You might have a nurse in her mid-30s with over 15 years of experience and a nurse in her mid 40s who is just entering the profession," she points out. "Each of these employees is looking for something different to stay interested in your organization."
Remember, too, that you need to take into account how long the employee has worked in outpatient surgery, not just health care, suggests Malone. "A nurse with 15 years of experience in a hospital setting is a very different employee than another new employee with 15 years of outpatient surgery experience," she points out. It is very common to have employees move to outpatient surgery from other health care fields, as shown by salary survey respondents who have all worked in health care for 10 or more years, but slightly more than 45% have been in outpatient surgery for less than 10 years. (See charts.)
Signing bonuses have become popular in competitive markets, but Wensink questions their value. A signing bonus might make someone choose one job over another, but it doesn't provide an ongoing incentive to stay, she points out.
"In a previous hospital in which I worked, the critical care unit was piloting an incentive program that rewarded employees who consistently stepped up to take extra shifts above and beyond the requirements for their FTE level," she says. "Employees were given a $250 bonus each quarter that they pitched in and helped when staffing was tight." The bonus check was sent separately from the paycheck so it was easily recognized as something special, she points out. "I don't know how it could work in outpatient surgery, but I liked the idea of rewarding employees for specific actions that truly helped the unit," she adds.
Wensink's current employer offers a different type of monetary recognition. "In addition to an annual cost of living raise, employees can receive between 1% and 4% performance raise that is based on employee evaluations and performance throughout the year," she says. This is another way to let employees know that you have noticed their effort during the year and that you appreciate it, she says.
If your program offers bonuses that are tied to the organization's performance, consider giving it more often than annually, recommends Craig. At her center, employees receive a bonus that is directly proportionate to the quarterly distribution given to the investors, she explains. "We base the amount on the wage and FTE status of the employee instead of the number of hours or shifts worked." The bonus is based on FTE rather than hours worked because the center will send people home if they are not needed. People who are sent home due to a slow surgery schedule should not be punished financially, Craig says.
The danger with monetary rewards or recognition is that if the money appears in a check, then the employee forgets that it is a reward for specific performance and assumes that the money will just continue. That is not the case with education, however, points out Wensink. "People will forget that they got a 50-cent per hour bump in pay, but if I tell someone that I appreciate the good job that they do and I'd like to send them to an educational seminar as a reward, it is a more memorable form of recognition," she says.
The key with using educational seminars or conferences as a reward is to know the areas in which your staff members want to learn more, Wensink adds. "I make it a point to know what my employees short and long-term goals are, then I offer them a chance to progress toward those goals," she says.
Sometimes the educational opportunities won't cost more than giving the nurse a few hours out of the operating room to attend a lecture given by a staff physician, points out Wensink. "The key is to make your offer mean something to that employee," she says. The value of this type of recognition is twofold, Wensink says. Not only does the employee appreciate the educational opportunity, but the employee also appreciates the fact that you did listen to his or her goals, she adds.
Lunches for staff members and holiday giveaways are always welcome, but another reward that means a lot to employees is a day off, says Craig. "We hold a drawing each month," she says. The names of employees who have had no discipline actions during the month are placed in the drawing, and the winner receives an extra day off. "Only 12 people win during the year, but everyone gets excited about the monthly drawing," Craig says.
An important part of retaining employees is that the workplace environment is welcoming and that people enjoy being there, says Craig. Not only does a good environment keep employees at your program, but it also ensures that applicants hear about openings through word-of-mouth, she says.
In Fort Collins, the hospital that is a joint venture partner with Craig's center developed behavior standards for hospital employees. Craig incorporated the standards into her own employee performance evaluations. "Everyone knows up front what is expected, so it is easy to talk with an employee if there is an attitude problem," she explains. Not only do the behavior standards minimize problems but they also reassure all employees that everyone is expected to work as a team, Craig adds. [A copy of these standards is available with the on-line version of Same-Day Surgery at www.reliasmedia.com. For assistance, contact Customer Service at (800) 688-2421 or [email protected].]
While it is important for administrators to be open and communicative with employees, remember that the strongest relationship an employee develops is with his or her immediate supervisor, says Malone. More than 61% of the salary survey respondents carry the titles of director, chief executive officer, or administrator, but there are many supervisors within an outpatient surgery program that can affect the organization's retention rate, she explains. (See chart.) "One mistake that is often made is to promote people for the wrong reasons," she says. Instead of basing promotions on seniority, years of experience, or clinical skills, look for people who can develop strong relationships, Malone suggests.
One way that all levels of management can build relationships with employees is to walk around and ask questions, suggests Craig. Ask the right questions, she emphasizes, such as, "What's working well for you?" Such questions also will lead to suggestions that will improve the employee's ability to do the job, she says. When a nurse said she needed another vital signs monitor and another employee said that they needed chairs for family members in the preoperative and postoperative area, Craig was able to do something to help. "Employees want to have the tools they need to do their job," she points out. "Being able to provide simple things like chairs demonstrates that we do value their contribution and we do listen to their suggestions."
Resource
For other information about research and strategies used by other health care organizations to retain employees, go to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation web site at www.rwjf.org. Choose the "Interest Areas" tab on the top navigational bar and select "nursing." Click on "Publications" or "Research."
"The best offense is a good defense" is often said by athletic coaches, but the same concept applies to recruitment and retention of employees. While many managers look carefully at how their outpatient surgery programs recruit new employees, it is just as important to look carefully at what you are doing to retain the good employees you have now, say experts interviewed by Same-Day Surgery.Subscribe Now for Access
You have reached your article limit for the month. We hope you found our articles both enjoyable and insightful. For information on new subscriptions, product trials, alternative billing arrangements or group and site discounts please call 800-688-2421. We look forward to having you as a long-term member of the Relias Media community.