Ms Gemma Tuxworth1, Ms Catherine Maloney
1Services for Australian Rural and Remote Allied Health, Australia
Abstract:
Maldistribution of the health workforce is a substantial contributor to reduced access to healthcare in rural and remote Australia. High turnover of the health workforce not only impacts on service delivery and continuity but is also costly to organisations.
Allied health services are often subject to short-term funding cycles, presenting challenges to employers where the workforce is in short supply, employment contracts are fixed term, uncertainty is high, and employees have plenty of competitive alternative opportunities.
In this context, investment in strategies that improve retention of the allied health workforce is becoming increasingly important to service providers.
This presentation will use a case study to demonstrate how team leaders prioritised getting to know their team and used this understanding to apply practical strategies that harnessed individual strengths to improve team communication and cohesion, elevate productivity through positive culture and ultimately improve staff retention.
The implications are that in an employee’s market where allied health professionals have plenty of options, it will be the culture and workplace experience that holds their attention – and therefore retention. Leaders are perfectly positioned to better understand their employees’ behavioural styles and preferences and take a person focused approach to positive workplace culture and staff retention.