# Recruiting and Retaining the Staff You Need
Many organizations experience challenges in recruiting and retaining the staff they need to maintain and increase their organization's capacity. In this chapter, you will find Tools from Ontario Health and OH Toronto Region that can help you plan your health workforce, recruit new graduates, and support internationally trained professionals.
Job Boards
- The Alliance for Healthier Communities has a page for job postings in our sector and related sectors. Alliance members may post jobs for free; other organizations may post for a small fee, subject to approval. If you would like to list job posting on this page, please reach out to communications@allianceon.org for more information.
- HFO Jobs is the Job Board for HealthForceOntario. Register here (for free) to submit a posting or search postings.
Health Workforce and HealthForceOntario (Ontario Health)
- Health Workforce (formerly HealthForceOntario) is operated by Ontario Health. The websites are in the process of being merged; currently, both are active and have different information.
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On the HealthForceOntario site you can find various health workforce planning tools, including:
- Basic information and links to resources for/about each of 30+ health care professions, such as their regulatory bodies, accredited educational programs, and resources for internationally trained professionals (see also these pages on Ontario Health's website).
- Links for employers to sites where they can post jobs, find locum physicians, get help from an HR specialist, or learn about strategies for effective recruitment on campus.
- Physician Recruitment toolkit.
- On the Health Workforce site, you can find information about attracting new PSW graduates to your team. Other resources on this page are currently tailored to Emergency Department and Surgical workers.
- HFOJobs is HealthForceOntario's Job Board. It has been moved to Ontario Health. Find it here.
Other Health Human Resources Tools from Ontario Health and the Ministry of Health
- Health Human Resources (HHR) Recruitment and Retention Programs Available to the Primary Care Sector (Ontario Health, 2024). Ontario Health's Health Workforce Strategy & Implementation team put together this guide to their HHR programs. It contains information on programs to recruit and retain physicians (especially in rural and northern communities), nurses, and physician assistants, as well as travel reimbursement programs to support community assessment visits. A brief description is included for each program, as well as eligibility criteria, key contact information and online resources where additional details are available.
- This page from the Ministry of Health contains links to many more resources to support recruitment and retention of staff for the roles listed above. It is specifically focused on education as well as developing new graduates and supporting internationally educated and repatriated clinical and nursing staff.
- This page inks to information about other regulated professions within the health system. It includes links to the regulatory acts that define scope of practice for many professional roles frequently found in comprehensive primary health care teams.
Workforce Planning Toolkit (OH Toronto)
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The Toronto Region Primary Care Workforce Planning Toolkit (Ontario Health Toronto Region). This collection of resources was developed by Ontario Health, Toronto region to support integrated primary health care workforce planning. It includes:
- An interactive dashboard that provides an overview of the primary care landscape at a neighbourhood level, including demographic data, information about attachment, health system usage, projected service requirements, workforce capacity, and guidance to help you see the "big picture" in all this data (note: this dashboard currently only contains information for Toronto and its suburbs. If you are outside of this area, consider using these Primary Care Data reports from INSPIRE-PHC for information about your community).
- A primer on health workforce planning
- A how-to playbook for planning
# Supporting Staff Wellness
Staff wellness is a key enabler of long-term staff retention. High turnover and burnout can deplete your organization's capacity and reduce its efficiency. Resources and stories in this chapter from Healthcare Excellence Canada (HEC) can help you develop strategies for staff wellness. The case example from the Essex County NPLC describes how they used HEC's workforce resources to to develop and implement staff wellness initiatives that reduced burnout, increased joy in work, and advanced operational efficiency.
Health Workforce Resources & Case Examples from Healthcare Excellence Canada
Two of Healthcare Excellence Canada's (HEC) focus areas are Health workforce retention and support and People in the workforce. Check out both pages for resources that can support your efforts to recruit, support, and retain staff in your organization, including:
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Six strategies for strengthening the Workforce. This one-page guide outlines and describes six key strategies health systems in Canada can use to better support and retain the health workforce. These were identified by a roundtable of more than 50 health system leaders and a review of over 40 documents and 270 activities. They are listed below:
- Fostering physically safe work environments.
- Enhancing sustainable staffing.
- Building flexible work structures.
- Provide equitable and appropriate compensation.
- Ensuring supportive and inclusive workplaces.
- Supporting career advancement.
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Health Workforce Innovation Challenge Awards. Offered by Healthcare Excellence Canada in 2023 to 2024, the Health Workforce Innovation Challenge (“the Challenge”) provided financial awards, coaching, resources and a peer network to nearly 150 healthcare teams interested in taking steps to retain and support their staff. Teams came all sectors and from a diverse mix of communities in every province. The following Alliance members were among the winners.
- Country Roads Community Health Centre
- Langs
- Gateway Community Health Centre
- Essex County Nurse Practitioner-Led Clinic. See their case example in this chapter.
- Guelph Community Health Centre
- Promising practices to strengthen primary care in northern, rural and remote communities.
Case Example: Better Clinician and Staff Wellness Leads to More Efficiency in Care at Essex County NPLC
In 2022, the Essex County Nurse Practitioner—Led Clinic (NPLC) was facing challenges related to staff morale, job satisfaction, and employee retention issues. In response their board and leadership made a commitment to enhanving staff and clinician wellness by providing a safe, inclusive, and respectful workplace; fostering opportunities for learning and teaching; developing positive and collaborative relationships; and promoting work-life balance.
To help them meet this commitment, they joined Health Care Excellence Canada's Health Workforce Innovation Challenge, which helps organizations experiment with innovations to enhance workforce retention and support.
Through in-depth collaboration with staff, they implemented several innovations, including:
- Introducing flexible work schedules
- Implementing remote work options, taking advantage of virtual care and related tools
- Reducing administrative burden with AI tools and other technology tools
- Empowering interprofessional staff to work at their full scope of practice
- Establishing a wellness committee with designated Wellness Champions at each of their sites
- Group activities such as themed lunches, staff walks, and participation in community events.
To evaluate the impact of these changes, they quantified staff satisfaction at baseline and at the end of the challenge, using proxy measures such as sick leave utilization and retention rates as well as staff wellness survey scores. After completion of the challenge, sick time utilization was down; retention rates were up and survey scores were up. The results are showcased in this infographic.
Testimonials from staff and clients have provided further evidence of improved staff engagement, efficiency, and access to care.
Watch this space for more resources to support recruitment and retention staff, including innovation success stories from Alliance members.
Ready to get started? Email QI@AllianceON.org for guidance and coaching support.
5 | Technology tools that can support operational efficiency and improve access to care
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