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Bringing Diversity and Inclusion into Your Talent Management Strategy

in Industry Insider

If health systems want to increase diversity and inclusion in their hospitals and clinics, they focus on hiring diverse staff for full-time, part-time, contract, and contingent positions. And this makes sense. Having a workforce made up of people of different races, genders, sexual orientations, and faiths brings different points of view to your workforce. This also ensures that patients of all cultures and backgrounds receive the same quality of care. 

And while this sounds like the ideal approach, many health systems find it hard to get started. Meeting diversity and inclusion goals can be extremely challenging, especially considering that most health system workforces are made up of a small percentage of minorities. A 2018 report from B.E. Smith showed that 32% of patients are minorities, but minorities make up just 14% of board members, 11% of executive hospital leadership, and 19% of mid- and first-level managers.

Health systems seem to have their work cut out for them, so where can they begin when it comes to forming diversity and inclusion goals, let alone meeting them? 

Bringing Diversity and Inclusion to Your Talent Management Strategy

In healthcare, diverse and inclusive work environments start with diversity-owned and focused vendors. These vendors should be dedicated to supporting your diversity and inclusion goals by providing well-qualified candidates, despite protected statuses.

Health systems should make it a goal to work with agencies owned by women, people of color, veterans, or those with disabilities. If you’re working with a staffing vendor that keeps diversity and inclusion top of mind in their own company, it stands to reason that your own workforce will be diverse. And there are very tangible benefits of having a diverse workforce: 

  • Companies with a good balance of men and women are 21% more likely to outperform the competition. 
  • Companies with a good mix of ethnic backgrounds are 33% more likely to outperform the competition in profitability.
  • Teams with gender, age, and ethnic diversity make better decisions up to 87% of the time. 

How to Meet Diversity and Inclusion Goals With a VMS

A vendor management system (VMS) can help you take the first step toward meeting your diversity and inclusion goals. 

  • Increase diverse supplier pools. You can use supplier pools to ensure you are working with vendors who are committed to helping you meet your diversity and inclusion goals. This applies not just to core staff, but to contingent workers, too. To do this, pay attention to the vendors you’re working with, or ask them how they encourage staffing diversity and inclusion internally.
  • Gain workforce visibility. A VMS can help you clearly see if you’re meeting your diversity and inclusion goals. With better visibility, you’ll know if you’re on your way to meeting your goals, and you can use this information to make better staffing decisions. This visibility also gives you insight into workforce costs, limits risk and liability during audits, and streamlines your staff’s workflow.
  • Partner with experts. VMS firms like ShiftWise are well aware of the importance of diversity and inclusion, and have the resources to help you meet your goals. ShiftWise is widely known in the industry, and has strong connections with diverse vendors. They can match you up with the right supplier mix, ensuring you meet your goals when hiring staff for all positions. ShiftWise can also act as a liaison to enforce service-level agreements (SLAs), help you navigate changing workforce needs, and support your health system for continual improvement.

Are you ready to define and meet your diversity and inclusion goals? ShiftWise has what you need to create a talent management strategy focused on equality. Contact us today to learn more.

Resources

1 https://www.amnhealthcare.com/latest-healthcare-news/rewards-of-diversity-in-healthcare-leadership/

2 https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/organization/our-insights/delivering-through-diversity

3https://www.forbes.com/sites/eriklarson/2017/09/21/new-research-diversity-inclusion-better-decision-making-at-work/#4f1de7264cbf

4 https://hbr.org/2013/12/how-diversity-can-drive-innovation

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