In 2020, we paid special attention to how HUS is recommended as an employer and on exit turnover.
We failed to attain the goal in recommendations: the percentage of employees who would recommend HUS as an employer was 65%, down five percentage points from the previous year.
Differences between personnel groups and between age groups increased from 2019. By age group, the largest decrease was in the two lowest age groups, 30 to 35 (in 2020, 54% of them said they would recommend HUS as an employer, compared with 62% one year earlier) and 30 and below (2020: 60%, 2019: 68%). The incidence of HUS employees recommending their own workplace unit was good in 2020: 76% of HUS employees would recommend their own workplace unit.
Commitment to one’s job and workplace depends to a great extent on:
- induction training
- opportunities for improvement
- perceived meaningfulness of the work
- atmosphere of the workplace community
- management and
- feedback.
In 2020, strategic development focused on induction and management, and this work is still ongoing. Manifesting the values of HUS in concrete ways in management and in the everyday work of supervisors is an important development point for us, because it reinforces perceived appreciation and a sense of community.
Overall exit turnover higher than the goal
We monitor exit turnover on an annual basis. In 2020, overall exit turnover was also defined as an operational indicator. Monitoring exit turnover and its causes provides us with information about how committed employees are to the organization, how successful we are in recruiting and training new employees and how competitive our organization is on the recruitment market.
Whenever an employee leaves us, we lose expertise and tacit knowledge, leading to ‘idling’ and additional costs from recruiting replacements. On the other hand, exit turnover being too low can also be a risk factor when the goal is to revitalize competencies in the organization.
Exit turnover excluding retirement is at a good level
The target level for exit turnover has been 5.5% to 6.5%. We have also been monitoring exit turnover excluding retirement. This indicator gives us a better idea of personnel turnover than overall exit turnover.
In 2020, we did not attain our goal for overall exit turnover at HUS as a whole. The number of permanent employees who resigned during the year was 1,782, the overall exit turnover being 8.6%. This figure includes retirees. There were significant differences between divisions. Those that did attain the goal were Lohja Hospital Area, Comprehensive Cancer Center, Neurocenter, HUS Pharmacy, HUS Logistics, HUS IT Management, HUS Facilities Center and the Joint Authority Administration.
Retirement accounted for a substantial part of overall exit turnover, as exit turnover excluding retirement was 5.8%. This may be considered a good result, given that turnover has been increasing in specialist medical care, in the social welfare and health care sector as a whole and in other sectors too.
There are several underlying causes for the observed exit turnover. Boomers are reaching retirement age, and at the same time the mobility of nursing staff is increasing due to emerging opportunities. In many cases, exit turnover is due to conventional reasons such as relocating to another community, a change in life situation, better pay or retraining for another occupation.
The atmosphere and leadership in the workplace unit is also of great importance. In a rapidly changing operating environment with conflicting pressures, employees may feel that they do not have control over their work and eventually end up changing jobs. These challenges, which can be traced back to management and workplace atmosphere, must be considered when we ponder exactly how employees commit to their work and to their workplace unit.