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1. The struggle against COVID-19 is far from over. But we are now at the stage where we can
begin to re lect on the lessons learned from the crisis, and consider what should be changed
and improved. As a healthcare provider, how you respond will not only have an important
bearing on the quality of care you offer, but also your ability to attract and retain talent.
Drawing on interviews with doctors, nurses, and other healthcare employees in more than
30 countries, the Randstad Employer Brand Research provides valuable insights into what
sector employees want from their employers, what concerns them, and what motivates them
to stay in or switch jobs. This year’s research includes speci ic questions about employees’
experiences of working through the COVID-19 pandemic.
Priorities for action
From analysis of the indings and their implications, four priorities for action stand out:
1/ tackle stress through active engagement, and a readiness to
respond to concerns
The pandemic has highlighted the resilience and resourcefulness of healthcare workers in
the face of seemingly impossible demands. As the Randstad Employer Brand Research
underlines, what employees want in return is full support from their employers – active
engagement, open dialogue, and a readiness to respond to concerns.
Encouragingly, most healthcare organizations would appear to have got this right – 67% of
healthcare employees now feel more loyal to their employers as a result of the support
they’ve received during the pandemic. However, it’s clear that support and resulting loyalty
are much lower in some regions than others, notably Europe (47%) and the CIS region (22%).
Without the necessary support, an inherently stressful environment can turn into a toxic one.
This will in turn exacerbate the already unsustainable levels of burnout within the sector. The
mental health pressures could encourage many professionals to leave their jobs or abandon
the sector altogether.
employer branding
coming out of crisis: what do healthcare workers want?
07 June 2021
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2. 2/ create a compelling working environment and work-life balance
For the doctors, nurses, and most other healthcare professionals we interviewed, attractive
pay and bene its is the most important attribute when choosing an employer. But work-life
balance is just behind, and pleasant work atmosphere just below that.
While the shift patterns within healthcare can limit lexibility to some extent, there is still
room to lex hours, while encouraging employees to work in more agile ways. Nearly three in
ten healthcare employees are attracted to organizations offering remote working – video
connectivity means that this can include frontline medical practitioners as well as
administrative staff. In turn, work low systems and greater use of contingent talent could
help to meet peaks in demand without overloading permanent employees.
Where the working environment and work-life balance come together is in support for
wellbeing and mental health. The strains of the pandemic have highlighted the importance
of monitoring individual stress levels, encouraging people to talk about their concerns, and
intervening early. The past year has also underlined the value of being able to step away
from the stresses of work. Employers can support this through training, wellbeing programs,
and clear boundaries in areas such as email response.
3/ help anxious workers to feel more secure about their jobs
Perhaps unsurprisingly, a signi icant proportion of the healthcare employees we interviewed
(14%) report working longer hours than normal. What we didn’t expect to see were such high
levels of job insecurity. One in ive employees who’ve continued to work as normal during
the pandemic are anxious about losing their jobs in 2021. This is a reminder that contract
terms within healthcare can often be loose and uncertain, especially further down the pay
scale. As the Randstad Employer Brand Research shows, these less quali ied and lower paid
health workers are also among those most likely to prize job security when choosing an
employer. The need to boost security is heightened by the fact that the fearful workers are
nearly three times more likely to plan to change jobs over the next six months than more
secure colleagues.
4/ promote the benefits of technology to win workforce buy-in
Technology can play a key role is helping to make workloads more sustainable. Over the past
year, HealthTech has highlighted its potential by enabling general practice and outpatient
consultations to keep running. It’s also helped to reduce the backlog building up in non-
COVID-19 referral and treatment. Emerging opportunities include ‘digital front doors’ that
open the way to remote screening and consultation.
Yet use of the latest technology is near the bottom of what makes an employer attractive
among virtually all the different types of healthcare worker we interviewed. It’s therefore
important to explain the bene its of technology more effectively. This includes how it could

3. help take care of the routine work and enable employees to make more productive use of
their time.
The next important focus
Commenting on the indings, Tania De Decker, Randstad’s managing director enterprise
clients, highlighted the importance of building on the lessons learned: “During the
pandemic, the physical protection of both permanent and temporary workers has been a top
priority for our healthcare clients. This especially applies to people who have to work onsite
and cannot do their job remotely. However, we all underestimated the impact on mental
wellbeing, and I see this as the next important focus moving forward."
To ind out more about what healthcare talent wants and how to attract them, download the
Randstad 2021 global healthcare professions report.
tags: attractive company, employee satisfaction, employee value proposition, future of
work, hr trends, talent acquisition, talent management, webinar, employer branding
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