Improved Healthcare Space Can Mean Higher Employee Retention

Here’s a sobering statistic: 24% of respondents participating in JLL’s “Employee Perspective on Healthcare Real Estate” study said they’re considering leaving their current position in the next 12 months.

It’s no secret that burnout is a problem among healthcare professionals. In response, JLL suggested how healthcare employers could improve attraction, experience and retention. Among the “employee experience” factors, physical location, safety modifications, convenience, and community investment can go a long way in helping attract and retain healthcare experts.

The Physical Issues

Here’s where real estate can play an important part. Report author and JLL Senior Manager, Healthcare Research Kari Beets told Connect CRE that one issue strongly correlated with negative workplace perceptions (and those considering leaving) was sound privacy.

Sound isn’t always considered when building or renovating healthcare spaces. “Sometimes investment is focused on patient care spaces instead of employee spaces, like break rooms,” Beets explained. Additionally, due to build-out cost efficiencies, “thin walls and dense layouts can lead to a lack of sound privacy,” she added.

Certainly, patients need their sound privacy. But employees also need quiet places to recharge and be at their best. Beets said this will help boost better patient care.

In other cases, many healthcare spaces are just old. While older spaces weren’t correlated with an intent to stay, “the logistical difficulties and costs to undergo a full-scale renovation mean that many healthcare spaces haven’t been refreshed in decades,” Beets commented.

Furthermore, ground-up construction and rehabs don’t necessarily reflect what employees need. “Many times, in new construction and renovation projects, employees’ needs are overlooked,” JLL’s Institutional Industries Lead, Project and Development Services Andrew Quirk told Connect CRE. “Programmatically including employees in spaces that will support their work—and eventually clinical outcomes—shouldn’t be overlooked or underestimated from an ROI perspective.”

More Attention to Flexibility

The survey respondents explained that pay/benefits and specific roles were factors in selecting places to work. Flexibility of work-from-home/work hours was also important.

“I was surprised that flexibility ranked higher among older generations and not necessarily caregivers,” Beets said. “But it speaks to the shifting priorities and a desire for more than a paycheck as you advance in your career.”

The survey acknowledged that flexible work arrangements can be difficult in an area requiring in-person presence and care. However, paying attention to work hours and supporting remote work (when possible) could be helpful.

Another key driver involving intent to stay or selecting a workplace was how close that workplace was to home. Beets and Quirk said there are plenty of examples of healthcare systems that partner with developers to build affordable housing for hospital staff near facilities.

For example, Mercy Health in Ohio joined forces with a developer to build 100 apartment units with reduced rent for employees geared toward hospital employees. St. Joseph Hospital in Denver worked with partners to convert a local nursing school dormitory into affordable housing units. At the same time, New Hampshire’s Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center also developed workforce housing near its campus.

Additional Real Estate Improvements

Healthcare employees value a positive workplace culture and are paid commensurate with experience and their roles in helping patients. But physical spaces can also go a long way toward attraction and retention.

For one thing, the JLL survey noted low satisfaction rankings regarding safety and maintenance. “Healthcare property investors and owners should examine their own buildings to make sure safety issues are swiftly addressed, such as lighting in parking lots and access systems,” Beets said. Furthermore, an effective facilities management and tech-savvy maintenance team can also lead to increased tenant (and employee) satisfaction.

And Quirk reiterated that healthcare employees absolutely need to be involved with project designs. “Budgets for projects are often, and should be, centered around revenue-producing services,” he added. “But part of the equation of every program are the caregivers who directly influence patient outcomes.”

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