How can we combat future labor shortage in the healthcare sector? – Analyses of factors related to high staff turnover and how organisations address future skill supply

Research problem and specific questionsA poor work environment, work-related ill-health and high staff turnover are factors that threaten the entire healthcare sector. The overall research question is therefore how to better retain care staff in the future. We aim to address this by investigating: How has the turnover problem developed over time?

Who leaves to where and for what reasons? What is the importance of organisational and contextual drivers of turnover in healthcare occupations?

How do HR departments, given their important role supporting line management at strategic and operational level, approach the problem?Data and methodThe project has a mixed-methods design based on longitudinal data from the SLOSH cohort, exit survey data from the Region Västra Götaland (VGR), and interviews with HR-staff from regional healthcare organisations.Quantitative analyses will be used to investigate:the development of the turnover problem and exit destinationsexit reasons related to work environment factors for employees who have terminated their employmentthe specific importance of emotional demands, illegitimate tasks, and quality of work for turnover, taking well-established factors into consideration.

Qualitative analyses of open-end responses in VGR survey data will be used to contextualize the quantitative findings.Interview data will be analysed through the lens of enacted Psychosocial Safety Climate practices to understand the role of HR departments in supporting the line organisation to combat staff turnover.Plan for project realizationThe project will be conducted in collaboration between researchers from the Centre for Work Life and Evaluation studies at Malmö University, the Institute of Stress Medicine in Gothenburg and the Stress Research Institute at Stockholm University.

In total, 65% of project costs cover salaries (PI 47% and co-applicants 50% time over 3-years), 22% go to indirect costs (OH), while 13% cover running costs for data collection and access, collaboration with stakeholders, conferences, project meetings and premises.RelevanceSecuring skill supply for healthcare services is among the most pertinent problems for the coming decade, making it important to retain existing staff and their skills in the organisations.

This project will generate important insights for strategic human resource management in public healthcare organisations, as well as for occupational health services, authorities, and policy makers.