Speaker details how to recruit, retain staff for dialysis centers
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Staff retention starts with successful recruitment, according to a speaker at the virtual Annual Dialysis Conference.
“Today, we are realizing a shortage of employees like no other time in history. But we can't stop employees from leaving unless we have a plan to make them stay,” Maria Regnier, MS, RN, the senior director at Enterprise Dialysis, said in the presentation. “This is some of the plan that we've put into place that has been successful for the organization that I'm working for.”
Before making changes, Regnier and colleagues analyzed resignations in their dialysis center in attempt to retain employees. Analyses included monthly turnover rates, tenure resignations rates and resignation reasons. Regnier found the number one reason people resigned from the dialysis center was there was something about the job they did not like.
“That made us take a step back and question, ‘Did they understand what the job expectations were? Did they understand the pace of the work? Did they understand the knowledge and skills that they need to have and be successful to work in a dialysis unit?’”
Looking at data allowed Regnier’s dialysis center to evaluate its system and rework what was possible. According to Regnier, it takes 8 to 12 months to replace an employee and turnover is expensive. Therefore, recruiting the right staff is a crucial part of retaining employees.
Interviewing to find long-term employees
After implementing some changes, Regnier’s dialysis center changed its interviewing process to a structured interview with the same 12 questions in the same order to remain objective. Each candidate’s answer was scored and evaluated on the same scale. Regnier said questions should be behavioral based to elicit a response that reveals a candidate’s communication skills and attitude. Similarly, behavioral-based questions can reveal a candidate’s self-evaluation.
Job shadowing can help show a candidate what truly happens in a dialysis unit. Regnier’s dialysis center now requires 4 hours of unpaid shadowing to show candidates how a dialysis unit works.
Onboarding to retain employment
Regnier found that choosing the right candidate was the most important step when it came to retaining dialysis staff members. Following interviews, onboarding becomes the next priority.
“Don't take the warm body,” Regnier said in the presentation. “Take a knowledgeable warm body and somebody who is willing to and can fit the job that you're hiring them for.”
Regnier referenced a study that showed employees satisfied with their onboarding are likely to stay at their job for a minimum of 3 years. Therefore, a timeline with a position-specific pathway can be a useful tactic for onboarding. Regnier emphasized that onboarding should include policy training so that staff truly understand how dialysis works. Additionally, the onboarding timeline should include manager check-ins during which the manager assesses the way the candidate is fitting into the role.
Stay Interviews
Regnier found that stay interviews should occur twice a year and take 15 to 20 minutes. These interviews are not performance reviews, and instead focus on the relationship between managers and employees. While stay interviews touch upon an employee’s work obstacles, the focus should be to reinforce the strengths of an employee. Managers should be listening for most of the interview and respond conversationally. This is an opportunity for managers to make a connection with staff that can make employees feel invested in the dialysis center.
Leader Rounding
Similar to stay interviews, leaders or managers at a center will intentionally make rounds to connect with staff. These rounds include creating a personal connection, asking if the staff member has any insight on a work task, asking if the memeber has any concerns about the job and then asking the staff member to commit to a task. Developing trust and loyalty between colleagues can stem from leader rounding, Regnier said.
“The most important thing is making sure that we are showing appreciation,” Regnier concluded. “It may be small tokens of some physical manner, but it may be just a verbal affirmation of a good job that they did that particular day or a situation that they might have handled. Implementing these tactics and strategies were some intentional things that we put into place to start to help reduce our turnover.”
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Regnier M. Overview: Staffing strategies in dialysis – How to hire and get the right people to stay. Presented at: Annual Dialysis Conference; March 4-7, 2022 (virtual meeting).
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