ABSTRACT
Healthcare leaders who fail to implement effective employee retention strategies during the COVID-19 pandemic could negatively affect patient outcomes, organizational goals, business performance, and employee wellbeing. This multi-site qualitative study aimed to explore effective strategies used by healthcare leaders to retain employees during the pandemic. This study addressed the lack of understanding of strategies used for employee retention in the healthcare industry. The purpose of this qualitative study was to gain a better understanding of the retention strategies used by healthcare executives during the COVID-19 pandemic. The guiding theory for the study was Herzberg's two-factor theory. A qualitative multiple case study design was utilized. The first research question was "How do healthcare administrators use strategies to retain employees during the COVID-19 Pandemic?" And second, was "How are retention strategies used by healthcare administrators effective in employee retention during and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic?" Data was collected by utilizing semi-structured interviews with 15 leaders in Memphis, Tennessee. The findings showed that employee engagement activities, training, flexible leave packages, implementing COVID policies, incentives for employees such as bonuses & pay increases, protection and valuing of employees and clients, taking additional safety precautions, and health insurance benefits for employees are the retention strategies used during COVID. The most effective retention strategies included bonuses and educational incentives for employees, providing employees with a collegial working environment, flexible duty schedule & employee engagement, incentives & benefits of a competitive salary, and paying attention to the needs, and one-on-one conversations with employees. Based on the current study it can be concluded that different effective strategies can be implemented to retain employees during the pandemic. The findings of this study may contribute to positive social change as business leaders may use these strategies to retain employees during and post-pandemic. In the future, a broad research study is needed to focus on factors that lead to job dissatisfaction and satisfaction during COVID-19. To further extend the literature, leaders from different locations and organizations should be included in future research studies. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)
ABSTRACT
Healthcare leaders who fail to implement effective employee retention strategies during the COVID-19 pandemic could negatively affect patient outcomes, organizational goals, business performance, and employee wellbeing. This multi-site qualitative study aimed to explore effective strategies used by healthcare leaders to retain employees during the pandemic. This study addressed the lack of understanding of strategies used for employee retention in the healthcare industry. The purpose of this qualitative study was to gain a better understanding of the retention strategies used by healthcare executives during the COVID-19 pandemic. The guiding theory for the study was Herzberg's two-factor theory. A qualitative multiple case study design was utilized. The first research question was "How do healthcare administrators use strategies to retain employees during the COVID-19 Pandemic?" And second, was "How are retention strategies used by healthcare administrators effective in employee retention during and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic?" Data was collected by utilizing semi-structured interviews with 15 leaders in Memphis, Tennessee. The findings showed that employee engagement activities, training, flexible leave packages, implementing COVID policies, incentives for employees such as bonuses & pay increases, protection and valuing of employees and clients, taking additional safety precautions, and health insurance benefits for employees are the retention strategies used during COVID. The most effective retention strategies included bonuses and educational incentives for employees, providing employees with a collegial working environment, flexible duty schedule & employee engagement, incentives & benefits of a competitive salary, and paying attention to the needs, and one-on-one conversations with employees. Based on the current study it can be concluded that different effective strategies can be implemented to retain employees during the pandemic. The findings of this study may contribute to positive social change as business leaders may use these strategies to retain employees during and post-pandemic. In the future, a broad research study is needed to focus on factors that lead to job dissatisfaction and satisfaction during COVID-19. To further extend the literature, leaders from different locations and organizations should be included in future research studies. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)