Table 4 Recruitment and Retention Strategies with Medium or Low Importance and Feasibility

Focus on sense of empowerment by involving rehab professionals in the development of strategies that promote healthy work environments.

Develop positive relationships between staff by way of team-work and team-building exercises.

Develop participatory decision-making systems. This could include: adopting team-models of work; flattening organizational hierarchies; and decentralizing authority.

Improve working conditions for rural rehab professionals. Examples could include: providing a coordinated solution to assist with coverage for leave and continuing education; and reducing unreasonable caseload and travel expectations.

Recognize balance between the employee's work and family demands. Examples could include: liberal and flexible vacation and time-off policies; and employee requests for change in work schedules to enable personal commitments to be met.

Create an environment where all staff are valued for their knowledge skills and personal qualities. Examples could include: developing effective staff involvement activities; and providing opportunities for all staff to develop personally improve their skills gain relevant qualifications to progress.

Enhance opportunities for professionals to work to optimal scope of practice. This will ensure the system's capacity to meet local patient and population health needs.

Provide flexible work-management autonomy. Examples could include: giving employees the independence (and accountability) to implement what they feel are the best solutions to the challenges they face; enabling staff to work with a variety of clients in diverse settings; and changing caseload if appropriate.

Professional liability protection organizations, government regulators and patient safety organizations should resolve concerns about liability and accountability in collaborative practices. This will enhance patient safety risk management and teamwork in collaborative practice environments.

Recruit overseas trained rehab professionals.

Develop a junior rotational scheme giving staff the opportunity to work in different settings (i.e. acute and community).

Provide competitive compensation packages for benefits. Examples could include: providing comprehensive benefits packages; increasing contribution by the employer to benefit packages for longer-term employees; and offering the same benefits to all staff regardless of employment terms.

Accelerate the shift to provider payment schemes that stimulate interprofessional teamwork.

Improve and maintain the health of rehab professionals by employing strategies to address absenteeism. Examples could include: providing assistance with childcare and eldercare; offering life and career counseling sabbaticals or temporary leaves; and access to recreation facilities and other mechanisms for stress reduction.

Develop staff recognition programs/initiatives. Examples could include: developing long-term service awards and/or achievement awards; and providing social outings annual BBQs and holiday parties.

Develop a Provincial Health Professional Recruitment position (i.e. act as a provincial representative at job fairs implement a provincial web-site for recruitment develop marketing tools etc.)

Network with other agencies professional groups business associations and chamber of commerce to advertise jobs find recruits via word-of-mouth references and identify human resources that can be shared.

Create bursary programs and retention bonuses to target difficult to recruit rehab professionals in locations throughout the province.

Investigate rotating exchange employment opportunities in workplaces where there is little opportunity for change (permit health professionals opportunity to work in an alternative setting for a selected time period).

Improve and maintain the health of rehab professionals by developing innovative health promotion strategies. For example provide facilities and counseling to rehab professionals to assist with their healthy lifestyles.

Present an interactive conference/workshop on the concept of retention management featuring innovative retention practices. This conference should identify best practices and research-based strategies on organizational programs and policies that can increase hospital retention rates.

Evaluate the 80–20 staffing model for rehab professionals over age 55 in hospitals (i.e. Spend 20% of their time on learning new skills and training others and 80% doing clinical work).

Improve and maintain the health of rehab professionals by conducting research regarding their work environments and lifestyles and their effect on the physical and mental health status.

Use professional recruitment agencies especially during periods of high turnover.

Provide recruitment bonuses for employees who recommend people who subsequently get hired by the agency.