Healthcare is a complex and rapidly changing industry, so meeting the ever-changing demands of patients, staff, and regulatory bodies is critical. That’s why partnering with a business application consulting partner and embracing a skills-driven approach can make a real difference. By leveraging expert guidance to build, develop, and manage employee skills, healthcare organizations can enhance operational efficiency, improve patient outcomes, and boost workforce satisfaction, ensuring they are well-equipped to navigate the industry’s challenges.
What is a Skills-Driven Organization?
A skills-driven organization places a priority on developing and managing employee skills as part of its core strategy. It identifies key competencies required for success, cultivates a culture of continuous learning, and leverages technologies such as AI/ML to equip employees with the skills they need to succeed.
For healthcare organizations, this approach is crucial. Hospitals, clinics, and health systems rely on skilled professionals across various specialties. As medical technology and patient care models evolve, healthcare staff must keep pace to deliver high-quality, safe, and effective care.
Benefits of a Skills-Powered Approach in Healthcare
1. Improved Patient Outcomes
A key goal for any healthcare organization is better patient outcomes. With a skills-driven approach, healthcare staff are continually upskilled, enabling them to handle complex cases, use the latest technologies, and apply evidence-based practices with confidence.
Example: Cleveland Clinic
Cleveland Clinic, renowned for its patient-centered care model, has embraced a skills-powered approach by implementing continuous professional development (CPD) programs. Through these initiatives, the clinic ensures that its healthcare professionals are constantly updating their knowledge and skills. This has led to better patient outcomes, reduced medical errors, and higher patient satisfaction scores.
2. Employee Retention and Satisfaction
Turnover is costly in any field, but in healthcare, it can disrupt operations and morale. A skills-powered organization fosters a culture of growth and development and builds trust with employees that the organization is invested in their future. The result is higher employee satisfaction and retention rates.
Example: Kaiser Permanente
Kaiser Permanente has implemented several initiatives to support the professional development of its employees. By offering on-demand training programs, tuition reimbursement, and leadership development opportunities, Kaiser has improved both employee retention and job satisfaction. A recent internal survey showed that over 85% of employees felt they had opportunities for growth within the organization, leading to a significantly lower turnover rate compared to industry averages.
3. Improved Performance
By building a highly skilled workforce, healthcare organizations can improve efficiency and reduce costs. Skills-based recruiting enables more targeted and effective training and ensures employees are more likely to complete tasks correctly the first time, reducing errors and the need for rework, which can be especially costly in healthcare settings.
Example: Mayo Clinic’s Lean Healthcare Initiative
The Mayo Clinic has taken a skills-based approach to improving operational efficiency through its Lean Healthcare Initiative. By training employees in lean methodologies and empowering them to make data-driven decisions, the clinic has been able to cut operational waste and reduce wait times without compromising the quality of care. These efforts have translated to significant cost savings while improving patient outcomes.
4. Enhanced Compliance Risk Management
In healthcare, compliance is non-negotiable. A skills-powered organization ensures that its workforce is not only trained on compliance requirements but is also equipped to adapt to regulatory changes swiftly. This minimizes the risk of costly violations and enhances overall patient safety.
Example: Ascension Health’s Compliance Training Program
Ascension Health has developed an extensive compliance training program that is part of its broader skills management strategy. By ensuring that employees are continually trained on the latest regulatory standards, Ascension has been able to reduce compliance risks and maintain a strong reputation for patient safety and care quality.
Key Steps to Building a Skills Based Healthcare Organization
- Assess Skill Gaps: Conduct regular assessments to understand where skill gaps exist within your organization. This can be done through employee feedback, performance reviews, and patient outcomes data.
- Leverage Technology: Implement AI-driven skills management tools such as Eightfold.ai and Workday that can match employees with training programs tailored to their needs. These tools can also predict future skills that will be necessary as healthcare technologies and regulations evolve.
- Promote Continuous Learning: Showcase the benefits of learning and develop targeted change and training plans that are interactive and relevant to an employee’s current and future goals.
- Foster Internal Mobility: Enable employees to move between roles as they develop new skills. This not only keeps the workforce engaged but ensures that your organization remains agile in the face of change and significantly reduces costly attrition and maintains its culture.
- Track Progress: Be a data driven company and leverage data analytics to track the effectiveness of skills development initiatives. Understand where data is stored, how it is accessed, maintained, and secured. Without proper data governance building a skills-based organization will be significantly more challenging.
Conclusion
As healthcare continues to evolve, a skills-driven approach is no longer a “nice-to-have” but a necessity. By investing in employee skills, healthcare organizations can improve patient care, retain talent, and ensure regulatory compliance, all while becoming more resilient and adaptable. Following the lead of trailblazers like Cleveland Clinic, Kaiser Permanente, and Ascension Health, other organizations can also create an environment that champions skill development, supports staff, and, most importantly, enhances patient care.
Ready to elevate your organization with a skills-driven approach? The Groove can help you navigate the path to a more efficient, resilient, and patient-centered healthcare environment. Our team specializes in helping healthcare organizations build a workforce that’s equipped to meet today’s challenges and thrive in tomorrow’s landscape.
Contact us today to discover how The Groove can support your organization’s journey toward enhanced patient outcomes, workforce satisfaction, and compliance. Let’s work together to build a healthcare organization that’s truly powered by skills.
