Aside from patients, healthcare employers may need to administer remedies for their own workforce as they struggle to retain existing talent and recruit new talent. About one-third of healthcare employers (34 percent) say it's harder to retain employees this year compared to last year, according to a recent CareerBuilder.com survey. At the same time, more than three-fourths of healthcare employers say they plan to hire new employees in 2007. Strong job growth in the healthcare industry may be driving workers to look for better opportunities, and motivating employers to take competitive measures in their recruitment and retention efforts.

Broken down by size of the organization, 94 percent of large healthcare organizations (more than 50 employees) expect to hire new employees in 2007 compared to 62 percent of small healthcare organizations (50 employees or less). Based on CareerBuilder.com data, healthcare positions in strong demand are nurses, radiology technicians, respiratory and physical therapists, pharmacists, medical assistants and other healthcare support staff.

With 42 percent citing the inability to find qualified workers as the biggest impediment to their organizations hiring more people, healthcare employers say they are increasing workplace flexibility (49 percent), salaries (38 percent), bonuses (28 percent) and benefits (18 percent) to retain current employees.

"Healthcare is a recession-proof industry that has experienced strong levels of job creation in recent years," said Rosemary Haefner, vice president of Human Resources at CareerBuilder.com. "CareerBuilder.com currently sees more than 8 million job searches in healthcare every month. In order to remain a highly sought-after employer, companies need to evaluate their employee experience and how effectively key factors such as earning potential, career advancement and investment in professional development are conveyed."

Nearly one-in-five healthcare workers (19 percent) surveyed feels they have been overlooked for a promotion at their current job. Thirty-three percent say they're unsatisfied with their pay. Sixty percent say their workload is either heavy or too heavy and nearly half (48 percent) say their workload is heavier compared to six months ago. In terms of career advancement, 31 percent are dissatisfied with their opportunities at their current position and 30 percent are dissatisfied with the training and learning opportunities.

Haefner recommends the following tips to improve recruitment and retention efforts:

  1) Break through the clutter -- Treat your job posting like a candidate
     treats a resume.  Communicate an employee brand that is
     accomplishment-based, highlighting growth and stability, work culture,
     career advancement, etc.  Include testimonials from current employers
     and showcase examples of employees who have worked their way to the
     top.
  2) Get specific -- The more definitive you can be in a job posting, the
     better your chance of attracting qualified candidates.  Everyone says
     competitive salaries and benefits -- define what that means in your
     organization.  Outline what flexible schedules and work/life balance
     programs entail, specifically address the training/courses available to
     employees in the first quarter, first year, etc.
  3) Check your workplace temperature -- Measure employee satisfaction
     levels regularly whether it be through informal discussions or
     organization-wide surveys.  If necessary, create action plans and
     implementation dates with employee input and deliver on what's
     promised.


  Survey Methodology

This survey was conducted online by Harris Interactive on behalf of CareerBuilder.com among 319 Healthcare employers (employed full-time; not self employed; with at least some involvement in hiring decisions), and 763 Healthcare employees (employed full-time; not self employed; with no involvement in hiring decisions) ages 18 and over within the United States between February 15 and March 6, 2007. Figures for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, region and household income were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population. Propensity score weighting was also used to adjust for respondents' propensity to be online.

With a pure probability sample of 319 one could say with a ninety-five percent probability that the overall results have a sampling error of +/- 5 percentage points. With a pure probability sample of 763 one could say with a ninety-five percent probability that the overall results have a sampling error of +/- 4 percentage points. Sampling error for data from subsamples is higher and varies. However that does not take other sources of error into account. This online survey is not based on a probability sample and therefore no theoretical sampling error can be calculated.

About CareerBuilder.com

CareerBuilder.com is the nation's largest online job site with more than 21 million unique visitors and over 1.5 million jobs. Owned by Gannett Co., Inc. , Tribune Company , and The McClatchy Company , the company offers a vast online and print network to help job seekers connect with employers. CareerBuilder.com powers the career centers for more than 1,000 partners that reach national, local, industry and niche audiences. These include more than 150 newspapers and leading portals such as America Online and MSN. More than 250,000 employers take advantage of CareerBuilder.com's easy job postings, 20 million-plus resumes, Diversity Channel and more. Millions of job seekers visit the site every month to search for opportunities by industry, location, company and job type, sign up for automatic email job alerts, and get advice on job hunting and career management. For more information about CareerBuilder.com, visit http://www.careerbuilder.com/.

  Media Contact:
  Theresa Chu
  773-527-2437
  Theresa.Chu@careerbuilder.com

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SOURCE: CareerBuilder.com