A significant challenge I see with leaders in all industries although I do work more in healthcare than other careers, is that the conversations they have with their staff do not have depth or meaning as it relates to their careers. This easily can be a contributing factor to turnover.
One of the biggest challenges faced in many industries these days is recruitment and retention. Speaking of nursing – many newer nurses after 6-12 months are questioning if this is really the career for them. What they may not see is with nursing you can re-invent yourself many times during the span of your career. I did this several times during my career and found such growth and reward in exploring the various paths.
A top approache I’ve heard and used with my staff in the past, is creating a roadmap with your staff. When I first used this approach I actually had a paper roadmap in my office and would talk about that in the context of a career. I would also have a compute generated road map that we could use to map out their career so far leaving room for lots of new road, detours, and adventures. Having those in-depth conversations about what they enjoy about their current role, what are challenges, and then showing a true interest in what they are seeing as an option in the future. If they are unsure or need more information – adding that into the career roadmap. Encouraging them to learn about other career paths within nursing. Then reviewing this roadmap every year or more often to again chart out possible next steps. You will find some are happy being where they are, doing what they do, and others want new experiences and adventures. We also need to think about those later in their careers, they will enjoy reviewing the path they have traveled and explore what their wishes are for the future. It might be they just want to mentor, work a day a week as they ease into retirement. This approach applies to all, wherever they are in their career. It is a fabulous visual tool for those career development conversations and to show we really care about them as a person and a professional.
Try this out with your staff, be creative, and let me know how it works. You can also reach out anytime and we can work through this with your own career.