The Importance of Workforce Strategy

Healthcare organizations typically spend 60% of their operating costs on workforce. The clinical workforce is not only an organization’s largest single cost, but the individuals who make up the workforce also shape the organizational culture and impact financial performance and patient outcomes. Organizations have long struggled to develop a workforce strategy that is truly aligned with their organizational goals. As organizations strive to recover from the financial impacts of COVID-19, respond to changing patient demands, and cope with the toll the pandemic inflicted on clinicians, the imperative to optimize the clinical workforce is more important than ever. 

Many clinicians are suffering from burnout, moral injury, and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), and as many of 30% of them are planning to leave the workforce. Four imperatives to cultivate an optimal workforce strategy are discussed in this brief. They were identified through evaluation of the 2020 Clinical Team Insight’s data and assessment of the current healthcare landscape.