Sustainability in Healthcare: An Investigation into Dynamic Employee Recruitment, Engagement and Retention

Abstract

The healthcare industry is one of the largest and most complex industries with relatively low employee retention rates and multiple groups of professionals with divergent interests and requirements. Talent management strategies including employee retention have become increasingly important to the healthcare industry with already established deficits among groups of professionals. This study aims to evaluate the current employee retention practices in healthcare, factors affecting employee retention within the healthcare sector and sustainable measures ensuring dynamism of employee retention. This study uses secondary data and the systematic literature review methodology to answer the research questions. A total of 17 studies were included in the study based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria of the study. Studies were collected and reviewed using the SALSA framework for systematic literature review and meta-analyses. This study included qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods research as well as observational and experimental studies. This study found that similar to other industries, factors that affect employee retention within organisations included reward and recognition, compensation and benefits, training and development, job flexibility and opportunities for career development. The most significant finding of this study includes mentorship, social capital, comprehensive orientation, decentralised education, recruitment process and employer branding as measures for sustainable employee retention within healthcare organisations.