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Does Your Practice Struggle with Staff Retention? (Part 2):
The four Cs and what they mean to your practice
By Jeff Welch, Favorite Healthcare Staffing
In our preceding article, we discussed how benefits of effective onboarding leads to higher rates of employee retention and satisfaction. In this article, we offer practical guidance to help practices struggling with staff retention. The Society of Human Resources Management (SHRM) recommends using the four Cs — compliance, clarification, culture, and connection — as a strategy to ensure successful onboarding.
Compliance
The aspect of compliance is addressed when the new employee attends the new hire orientation. For small practices this might mean meeting with a practice manager. Here, the employee has an opportunity to learn about the basic rules and policies of the organization. Time is also set aside for the employee to complete any necessary paperwork related to taxes and employee benefits like health insurance and retirement savings.
Typically, the organization’s human resources team is tasked with addressing those compliance issues. According to Kristel Haynes, director of human resources at Favorite Healthcare Staffing and a 20-year HR veteran, the new-hire orientation “gives the employee an opportunity to review policies in a conversational manner versus simply giving them an employee handbook.”
Clarification
New employees must fully understand their new role and responsibilities. This understanding typically takes place during the clarification phase of onboarding. Unlike the compliance based new-hire orientation, the clarification phase is not a one-time event. For employees to get clarity on their new role, they might job shadow a colleague for several days to a week. They’ll likely have multiple “check-in” conversations with their immediate manager or supervisor. And they might even attend various job-related training courses offered by the organization’s learning and development department.
Culture
For new employees to feel the most engaged within an organization, “they need to understand the dynamics of the organization and the cultural expectations,” says Haynes. An effective onboarding process gives the new employee insight into the shared values, practices, and norms of the organization.
For a greater understanding of company culture, new employees should be given opportunities to watch and listen. This could range from being given a tour of the building or campus to observing meetings and project groups without the responsibility of assignments.
New employees should be made aware of employee resource groups (e.g., women, veterans or LGBTQ networking cohorts). Lastly, they should also be allowed to freely ask questions in an effort to understand the organizational culture.
For smaller independent medical practices, it might be helpful to define your values in a “mission statement” that can be shared with all employees. The SRHM defines this as “a concise explanation of the organization’s reason for existence. It describes the organization’s purpose and its overall intention. The mission statement supports the vision and serves to communicate purpose and direction to employees, customers, vendors, and other stakeholders.” Also, think of ways that new employees can gain an understanding of the culture and feel open to asking questions.
Connection
The connection phase of onboarding allows the new employee to develop relationships with other members of the organization. Since this phase is where the employee begins to feel included and part of the team, some argue that the connection phase is the most important part of the onboarding process.
In this phase, new employees should be introduced to as many people as possible from their immediate coworkers to leadership. When it comes to interacting with members of leadership, “it’s important the new employee gets to know the person, not just their title. This gives them an opportunity to understand the leader and their vision for the organization,” says Haynes.
Events related to the connection phase are usually formal and take place within the workplace. However, don’t underestimate the power of informal meetings that occur outside the workplace. New employees should be encouraged to go to lunch, attend team outings, and join in social mixers with their new colleagues and associates.
Some organizations even have mentoring programs that are part of their onboarding process. To round out the connection phase, new employees are often assigned a mentor or buddy to answer questions and serve as a networking resource.
The four Cs allow an organization to address onboarding from a holistic approach. And the concept is most impactful when the new employee reports to a traditional office environment.
But what about remote employees? The coronavirus pandemic has led to an increase in teleworking opportunities in many companies and organizations across the globe. Therefore, special considerations must be made when onboarding remote employees.
While the four Cs are still applicable, according to Haynes, building and establishing personal relationships are even more critical in the case of remote workers. “You never want those employees to feel like they’re on an island. Extra effort must be made when onboarding a remote employee, so they’re made to feel like a real person — not just someone on a computer screen,” says Haynes.
Lastly, if time and budgetary resources allow remote employees to travel, it’s recommended they make periodic visits to the main office. These visits allow them to establish those ever-important face-to-face connections.
As we discussed in part 1, data suggests that having a formalized process in place will help your practice lead to improved employee retention. For medical practices of all sizes, using the four Cs can help successfully retain new employees by making them feel like a member of the team.
References
- Bauer, Ph.D, T. N. (n.d.). SHRM Foundation’s Effective Practice Guidelines Series Onboarding New Employees. https://www.shrm.org/hr-today/trends-and-forecasting/special-reports-and-expert-views/documents/onboarding-new-employees.pdf
- Dewar J. 10 Employee Onboarding Statistics You Must Know in 2021. Sapling website. www.saplinghr.com/10-employee-onboarding-statistics-you-must-know-in-2021
- North Carolina State Industry Expansion Solutions. The Four Cs: Onboarding that Saves Time and Reduces Costs. www.ies.ncsu.edu/blog/the-four-cs-onboarding-that-saves-time-and-reduces-costs
Posted November 10, 2021
About the Author:
Jeff Welch serves as director of learning and development as well as director of diversity and inclusion for Favorite Healthcare Staffing. He holds a bachelor of arts degree in broadcast journalism and speech communications from Western Kentucky University. Welch currently resides in Atlanta, Georgia. He can be reached at jwelch5@favoritestaffing.com.
Edited for Physicians Insurance by Meghan Stanley. Please don’t hesitate to email Meghan at mstanley@mms.org with any topics you would like to see covered in this space.
About Favorite Healthcare Staffing:
MMS members receive preferred pricing for staffing and personnel services, including short-term coverage as well as temp-to-perm and permanent placement solutions, from Favorite Healthcare Staffing. If you have staffing needs, mention your MMS membership when you contact Favorite’s staffing experts via email at medicalstaffing@FavoriteStaffing.com or by phone at (781) 810-4016. You can learn more about Favorite Healthcare Staffing by visiting www.FavoriteStaffing.com.
