Hospital Reduces Nurse Turnover

Hospital Reduces Nurse Turnover

ABOUT THE CLIENT

This general hospital network operates in several Western states, often in cities with small populations; the study location faced major challenges in hiring and retaining new nurses in the Oncology Department, which was considered their most difficult work environment. Compounding the retention challenge—a competing hospital is literally right across the street in this small city. Pirating each other’s professional staff was a time-honored HR methodology in this setting!

The client had not used assessments in their hiring and selection processes. And before introducing the PXT Select™ assessment, 33% of new oncology hires in their RN (registered nurse) positions failed before their 6-month anniversary; a whopping 40% of new CNA (Certified Nursing Assistant) hires failed before that point! The hospital’s own calculations placed the cost of each failed hire at over $80,000, so the financial consequences were a major driver of an initiative to stop the bleeding.

INTRODUCING CHANGE

In a serious modification of their hiring process, each new candidate for a nursing job in the Oncology Department was required to complete the PXT Select™ assessment as part of the application process. Contrary to their earlier fears that candidates would refuse to complete the assessment, they discovered that only 7% actually dropped out at the assessment stage.

Performance Models

The Hospital Leadership elected to use the PXT Select Concurrent Study Performance Model which combined raw benchmarked data (of RNs and CNAs who were asked to take the assessment) with the PXT Select RN and CNA Nurse Library Performance Models. The two buckets of data consisted of two separate performance models one for RNs and the other for CNAs; Nurses selected for the benchmarking performance model were those who worked in Oncology for two years or more; and scored in the top 25% on their annual performance evaluations. Candidates who were scheduled for interviews (based on their existing process) were scored on the assessment.

The Comprehensive Selection Report
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𝐇𝐞𝐥𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐄𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐲𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐇𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐒𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐑𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐋𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐒𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞 2003

This report is used to help identify finalists and to guide their subsequent interviews. Final hiring decisions were made, considering all the information available, by the same team who had always made those decisions…but included the information from the assessment and the enhanced interview process. Once hired, new nurses were paired with an experienced mentor for their first six months on the job. The pairings were random, made for scheduling convenience, with the underlying assumption that the match between mentor and new employee pairings was not critical.

On occasion, though, pairings were changed when things did not seem to work. Under the new program, the pool of potential mentors also completed the assessment; the Manager-Employee Report was then used to guide pairings in an attempt to maximize compatibility between mentor and new hire. Once paired, the mentors received the Coaching Report to help guide their efforts. Anecdotal statements were that this process seemed to head off potential conflicts before they arose and provided useful insights to the mentors they would otherwise have been without. The staff charged with mentoring duties were quite positive about having these additional tools.

These combined changes, using the PXT Select assessment to guide both hiring and onboarding processes, were utilized, and data was collected over 30 months.

RESULTS

Compared with the 30 months before the intervention, early hire failure rates (defined as termination for any reason before six months of employment) were dramatically reduced:

• For both RN and CNA positions, early hire failures were reduced by 50%.

• Analysis after implementing PXT Select™ revealed the overall match to Performance Model scores, and average tenure showed a remarkable correlation of 0.60.*

• For the RN group, nurses with a match of 80% or above in their PXT results were all still on the job at the two-year mark!

• For the CNA group, 75% of those with 80% or better match patterns in their PXT results were still on the job after two years.

• For both groups, two-year retention more than doubled!

*Correlation is a statistical measure that expresses how two variables are related. It can range from -1 to 1. Values close to 0 indicate a low relation, and values closer to 1 indicate a strong positive relation.

RETURN ON INVESTMENT

Assessment costs for this pilot project totaled $20,000; the hospital’s cost-saving calculation (via avoiding failed hires) was $350,000, for a return of $17.50 for every dollar invested. This program focused on the Oncology Department—the operating unit with the most severe early hire failure challenge at a single hospital location. Eventually, given the success, the implementation of assessments expanded to three hospitals in the same setting. Their core focus areas of early hire failure reduction and improving long term retention had a significant impact on this client’s efficiency and bottom line.

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𝐇𝐞𝐥𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐄𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐲𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐇𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐒𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐑𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐋𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐒𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞 2003

PXT Select™ is a powerful multi-faceted talent selection tool; providing insightful Job-Fit data so you can hire quickly, and accurately identify, interview and hire with confidence every time.

The Comprehensive Selection Report helps business leaders quickly and accurately identify an individual’s attributes and their match to the job.

Discover how PXT Select reports play a role in an organization by improving; retention, the employee experience, and unlocking talent. The PXT Select reports are the retention glue that fosters employee loyalty, engagement and invigorates the employee experience.

Sample Reports

See Replicating Top Performers

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𝐇𝐞𝐥𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐄𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐲𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐇𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐒𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐑𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐋𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐒𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞 2003


𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝𝐮𝐥𝐞 𝐚 𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝.

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𝐇𝐞𝐥𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐄𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐲𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐇𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐒𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐑𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐋𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐒𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞 2003


Michele LaPadura

Retired Massage Therapist

1y

This sounds like a boon to facilities and to nurses as well. There have times in past as a nurse that a facility wasn't a good match but it wasn't that. After 37 years of nursing I was tired and made a professional change for 5 years. Physically I am not able to phyically manage the required physical requirements of both professions. I had done telephonic nursing in the past but not being in active practice sine 2015 I retired.

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