Why Employees Leave Healthcare Jobs for Better Work-Life Balance

Some healthcare jobs make the flexibility demands of a modern life too difficult to manage. If healthcare organizations are not paying attention to unhappy employees and giving them some options to adjust schedules, travel demands, or commute issues, they may find themselves on the losing end of the turnover equation.

The HealthStream article, 7 Common Reasons People Leave Healthcare Jobs and What to Do about It, looks at the labor market, examines trends involving hiring and the demands of a healthcare work environment, and connects these key areas to the retention problem in healthcare. Here is an excerpt from the article.

Work-life Balance and Healthcare May Have a Compatibility Problem

According to The Work Institute, work-life balance is growing as a reason for turnover. Employees are departing in search of more favorable schedules, improved daily commutes, and different travel commitments. This trend coincides with the rise of the service economy, which likely demands more flexibility from workers. When given the opportunity, workers often took jobs that offered better balance (Work Institute, 2018).

Adding Flexibility and Improving Work Conditions

One recommendation is that “employers must understand how they can offer more favorable schedules to attract and retain employees… [and] must design ways to improve other conditions within their organizations to make them preferred by workers” (Work Institute, 2018). McKnight’s Long-Term Care News reminds us that “Time off is another particularly important aspect of every employee’s work environment, and it is a vital component of caregivers and nurses maintaining a healthy work-life balance. Alternative schedule options are another option that can be attractive to staff, including flexible start and stop times, compressed work weeks, job sharing, and remote work options (Keller, 2018).

References

Keller, Jayne, “Caring for those who care: Retaining your team through revolutionizing the workplace,” McKnight’s Long-Term Care News, July 11, 2018, Retrieved at https://www.mcknights.com/guest-columns/caring-for-those-who-care-retaining-your-team-through-revolutionizing-the-work­place/article/780072/

Work Institute, “2018 Retention Report: Truth & Trends in Turnover,” available at http://info.workinstitute.com/retentionreport2018.