Six Sigma Solve High Staff Turnover
Six Sigma
Case Study
Reducing Employee Turnover in a Hospital System
The Challenge
A three-facility hospital system was facing a challenge with employee turnover. Statistics showed that almost 50 percent of terminations were employees in the first year of their employment, a number that was more than 20 percent higher than the national average. The hospital system estimated that terminations cost as much as $2.2 million annually, and that reducing terminations could have significant impact on its bottom line by eliminating rework inside the hospital’s HR department. A Six Sigma team was brought together to examine the situation. After deciding this was a top priority for the organization, the team began work on a DMAIC project to see how they could save the company time, money and effort by reducing employee turnover. interviewing techniques, job preview, cultural fit assessment, and HR screening techniques and knowledge of the jobs to be filled. Analysis work indicated a number of key statistical differences in the retention rate between different types of jobs and even between different recruiters. Surveys and interviews indicated to the project team that job shadowing was a practice some departments used to give candidates a realistc picture of the job, and that this practice had a significant impact on reducing job turnover. In the Improve phase, the team made a number of recommendations to improve the hiring process including:
• Modifying HR recruiter performance
Summary
Industry
Health Care
Business Problem
High employee turnover
Methodology
DMAIC
The Process
To scope the Six Sigma project, the team first reviewed the path that the hiring process follows by examining how employees were being interviewed, selected, hired and trained. The goal was to determine where the major problems could be stemming from and what may be the causes. An attribute Gauge R&R study identified that human resources recruiters often considered applicants they
Case Study
Reducing Employee Turnover in a Hospital System
The Challenge
A three-facility hospital system was facing a challenge with employee turnover. Statistics showed that almost 50 percent of terminations were employees in the first year of their employment, a number that was more than 20 percent higher than the national average. The hospital system estimated that terminations cost as much as $2.2 million annually, and that reducing terminations could have significant impact on its bottom line by eliminating rework inside the hospital’s HR department. A Six Sigma team was brought together to examine the situation. After deciding this was a top priority for the organization, the team began work on a DMAIC project to see how they could save the company time, money and effort by reducing employee turnover. interviewing techniques, job preview, cultural fit assessment, and HR screening techniques and knowledge of the jobs to be filled. Analysis work indicated a number of key statistical differences in the retention rate between different types of jobs and even between different recruiters. Surveys and interviews indicated to the project team that job shadowing was a practice some departments used to give candidates a realistc picture of the job, and that this practice had a significant impact on reducing job turnover. In the Improve phase, the team made a number of recommendations to improve the hiring process including:
• Modifying HR recruiter performance
Summary
Industry
Health Care
Business Problem
High employee turnover
Methodology
DMAIC
The Process
To scope the Six Sigma project, the team first reviewed the path that the hiring process follows by examining how employees were being interviewed, selected, hired and trained. The goal was to determine where the major problems could be stemming from and what may be the causes. An attribute Gauge R&R study identified that human resources recruiters often considered applicants they