by RYAN MILEJCZAK
sponsored by Central Florida Health Care
Today Central Florida Health Care is known for its outreach and prominence in the community, but that’s because it has consciously worked to build a top-tier image and recruit top talent.
CFHC Chief Human Resources Officer Phil Kenney says the company has come a long way, particularly in the past decade.
“When I joined CFHC 9 years ago and started looking to hire talent, I could barely find people to join the company,” he recounts. “I’d go to job fairs and people would say, ‘Wait, who are you? What company is that? We’ve never heard of you before.’ ”
That’s certainly not the case these days.
“Now, when our team goes to those recruiting events, we have people waiting in line to speak to us.”
Staffing and retention might not be the first topic that comes to mind when you think about what propels a healthcare provider to succeed, but in fact, it’s one of the most important factors. Thanks to the initiatives spearheaded by Kenney and the rest of the executive team, CFHC now boasts a full roster of passionate and qualified staff, from the front desks to the examination rooms and beyond.
“If your employees are comfortable in the environment in which they work, they are going to be very loyal and very focused. And that will reduce your turnover, which will help propel your organization. And that will help build customer service, which means patients have a great experience. And that means those patients will want to come back. That’s a recipe for success,” Kenney explains.
CFHC’s approach to creating this environment starts on the very first day of training.
“Many companies will stick you in a room, have you read some documents, and call it a day,” explains Kenney. “But not CFHC.”
For the first three days of onboarding, new hires at CFHC are tasked with simply sitting back and taking in as much information as possible about the organization. This is done through live presentations from every area of the company that show new hires what CFHC is all about. This is followed by a week and a half of job-related training in training areas that mimic a real clinic.
After initial training, CFHC team members receive ongoing training and education to ensure their continuing development. And once they’re a part of the team, CFHC works hard to provide an environment they’ll never want to leave. The organization’s total rewards program — the benefits, compensations, and rewards that employees receive — plays a large part in employee retention.
To ensure a competitive program, CFHC does regular salary survey analyses to ensure they meet or beat the marketplace, as well as providing top-notch benefits as the “gravy on top.”
“I guarantee that, for any organization from Orlando to Tampa, our total rewards program is heads and shoulders above them. This is one of the big reasons that our turnover is less than half the average for our industry,” boasts Kenney.
Of course, it’s not just the rewards package that makes CFHC a great place to work; it’s also the culture.
“We’ve completely changed our approach to the culture in our organization in the last 10 years,” says Kenney. “It’s a very engaged culture. We like to use the term ‘lean forward.’ When we’re recruiting talent, we want people who don’t hit their snooze button in the morning. We want people who will lean into our business and our customer base. We want people who can provide the best customer experience for anybody who walks in through the door.”