Mercy Health: Using Evidence to Drive Hiring and Advancement

7.31.17 • Profile • by James W. Guest

I Strategic Priorities Drive Investment

Mercy Health, a regional health ministry of Trinity Health, is a regional partnership of hospitals and healthcare providers throughout Western Michigan. The system uses a range of practices to hire and engage employees including evidence-based hiring practices to build a diverse talent pipeline and extensive workforce investments to advance frontline workers.

These programs are driven by strategic imperatives to diversify the workforce and to use effective hiring to deliver quality care.

The Mercy Health, West Michigan case study is the second in CareerSTAT’s business practice series on how healthcare employers measure the impact of their investments on frontline workers. This study documents Mercy Health’s approach to workforce development and program measurement with a focus on how strategic goals, workforce needs, and programatic tools influence decision making and investment goals.

II Effective Workforce Programs

Evidence-Based Selection Process

To improve key metrics like turnover, time to fill, retention, and diversity, Mercy Health shifted how hiring managers and the talent acquisition team collaborate.

With the goal of leveraging relevant quantitative information about applicants, the EBSP goes beyond standard hiring procedures that consider certification, experience, and performance in standard interviews. Mercy Health wanted to make it possible for talent acquisition specialists to consult quantitative information at different stages of the hiring process to sort and narrow applicant pools in ways that maximize quality.

Develop a Regional Talent Pipeline

Mercy Health envisioned how the education and training providers could use the harmonized set of competencies to improve and align competency models across the region. In an effective to build the region’s healthcare workforce, Mercy Health led collaborative efforts such as the Career Portfolio system and the Health Careers Council.

Launch a Medical Assistant Apprenticeship Program

In 2015, Mercy Health developed and launched a U.S. Department of Labor–registered MA apprenticeship program with three community college partners from the region. The program—now in its second cohort—balances the employee’s time between school and work. Since Mercy Health is recruiting often underserved individuals in the community, it is building a workforce that reflects the entire community, which results in stronger community relationships and often better community health. Above serving the community and its workers, this development strategy delivers a strong return on investment.

With the average cost of turnover estimated to be $26,769, investment in MA apprentices are expected to lower turnover and result in overall savings.

A Develop a Program for Certified Health Environmental Services Technicians (CHEST)

Mercy Health seeks to develop the skills and careers of all employees and has developed the CHEST training program to advance the skills and careers of environmental service workers.

III Best Practices

CareerSTAT has identified more than 20 industry-vetted best practices implemented across healthcare organization to advance their frontline workers. Mercy Health utilizes a number of best practices including:

Alignment with Organizational Priorities

Mercy Health’s organizational commitment to increasing the diversity of their workforce and reducing turnover gave Talent Acquisition the
time and resources needed to redesign their selection process and reduce hiring bias. Their EBSP is an exemplary practice that demonstrates the impact employers can have when their workforce investments align with organizational priorities.

Recruit from the Community and Evidence-Based Hiring

At the core of Mercy Health’s evidenced-based selection and hiring process is a commitment to hire from the community it serves. While improving the quality of new hires and reducing rst-year turnover, the new process incorporates assessment of cognitive skills, behavioral skills, and professional references to ensure a fair and objective hiring experience.

The evidence-based hiring process has resulted in an increase of 11 percent minority hires and reduced time to fill open positions from 37 days to 31 days. First-year turnover rates have dropped from a baseline of 25 percent to 19 percent in a three-year period.

Making Career Advancement Accessible

The CHEST training program and the MA apprenticeship help frontline workers gain critical competencies needed to access and advance
in healthcare careers. Employees are given the opportunity to gain new knowledge and learn new skills, and are rewarded with a wage increase to re ect their increased value to the organization.

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