HJAR Jan/Feb 2021

HOSPITAL HEALTH FORCE 16 JAN / FEB 2021 I  HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF ARKANSAS   MOFFETT I love working with Human Resources. For me, there is a satisfaction in knowing that I have played a vital role in fulfilling the personnel needs of our orga- nization; in addition, I have also played a vital role in the individual who has obtained employment. LOMBARD-SIMS What I love most about my role is that I am not just confined to “HR” strategy, but in the implementation of an enterprise-wide strategy that goes across all functions within the organization. As I like to say, I am a businessperson who is a subject matter expert on talent but who also knows and understands business impera- tives. I connect the organizational goals with talent who will execute on that vision. I also love being involved in building our work- force for the future through talent develop- ment strategies that will enable us to meet the goals of not only the organization, but also the community who we serve. CARRAWAY What I like most about my job is threefold: variety of the work, lifelong learn- ing in an ever-changing career/industry and gratification. I have an extraordinary oppor- tunity as the HR director to interact with employees across all departments. I love the days when I can have a positive impact on an employee’s life. It doesn’t get any bet- ter than that. Editor From an HR perspective, what do you see on the horizon for your organization and the industry at large? MOFFETT HR professionals have found that traditional methods of recruitment seem to be archaic to a large majority of the pres- ent-day employee pool. HR managers are finding social media platforms, open inter- view days and in-house educational assis- tance opportunities much more effective when seeking healthcare workers. We must have long-range strategies to fulfill staffing needs. Ouachita County Medical Center has worked with local colleges to expand areas of study that will impact the ability to recruit individuals in our community to pursue healthcare careers. LOMBARD-SIMS The healthcare industry has been disrupted by the pandemic, but there were good innovations that also resulted from this disruption. For HR, that means helping employees accept the “new nor- mal”as virtual meetings, work at home and hybrid work arrangements will more than likely stay after the pandemic is contained. I also see HR as a whole taking on a more strategic role as worker shortages, changes in employment laws and creating a change culture becomes tantamount with hav- ing the flexibility to work under increasing demand and pressures. Last, as an industry, now more than ever before, we have to tackle the chal- lenges associated with worker shortages in healthcare. The result is wage compe- tition between healthcare providers, but that’s only robbing Peter to pay Paul. We have to come up with a viable solution that will address this problem so that employee burnout, which results from worker short- ages, does not lead to individuals deciding to leave this field or not to look into it to begin with. CARRAWAY • Digital improvements in many areas, including people management; • Improved employee access to their information (benefits, pay, etc.); • Improvements in HR as it relates to digital filing and information shar- ing with managers; • Employee reward and recognition pro- grams continue to be refined to ensure the programs are meaningful to our employees; • Continued opportunities for pro- fessional development and job advancement; • Employee wellness with a more direct focus on overall employee health, including mental health; • Work/Life balance programs to help meet expectations of all employees within diverse employee populations. n “The almost overwhelming strain on the healthcare system has exposed the shortages of professionals in the fields of nursing, laboratory technology, radiology and respiratory therapy. In addition, the influx of contractual agencies in the aforementioned fields has made it nearly impossible for rural hospitals to competitively compete for permanent placement employees.” –Stephanie Moffett, Ouachita County Medical Center