Healthcare workers are looking for flexible working arrangements, a commitment to gender pay equity and modern, up-to-date working spaces when considering where they want to work.
The priorities are outlined in research conducted by employment website SEEK, which surveys employees across all industries to help employers uncover the drivers that will attract candidates to a role.
SEEK’s “laws of attraction” data may be particularly useful for healthcare employers, as the federal agency Jobs and Skills Australia reports 62 per cent of the healthcare and social assistance workforce suffers from staff shortages.
Michelle Aquilina is chief executive of MoleMap Australia and New Zealand, which conducts skin cancer screening, detection and treatment.
Aimee Hutton, SEEK’s APAC marketing strategy head, says flexibility is in the forefront of healthcare workers, who rank many flexible work conditions more highly than the workforce average.
“Forty per cent of healthcare and medical workers have said that the ability to work part-time is a ‘must-have’ when considering their next role, compared with only 27 per cent of the general population,” she says.
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“In fact, it’s their top driver when it comes to specific aspects of work-life balance, which is the thing they value the most, above salary and compensation.”
What healthcare workers want
Indeed, flexible working hours (86 per cent), additional leave (85 per cent) and the ability to work part-time (77 per cent) are the top three work-life balance conditions for healthcare workers.
When it comes to salary and compensation, paid overtime (95 per cent) and a salary review period (88 per cent) are similarly valued by health workers as people across all industries. However, a commitment to gender pay equity (84 per cent) ranks more highly than the all-industry average (75 per cent).
The working environment is also important for healthcare workers, who value a modern and up-to-date working space (77 per cent) ahead of the ability to work in a team (74 per cent) and working autonomously (63 per cent).
MoleMap Australia and New Zealand is one employer that has experienced business success in part because it provides a flexible working environment and additional leave for staff, of which 80 per cent are healthcare professionals.
The attractive conditions are part of its bottom-up approach to being a successful business, where the input of employees inspires the decisions made by company leaders.
“We want individuals to feel like it’s not a nine-to-five job,” says chief executive Michelle Aquilina. “We want individuals to feel they enjoy coming into our office and into their clinics to service patients.
“We recognise the demands on clinicians. Not only are they dedicated to their patients but they also have personal and family commitments.
“Our goal is to support them with innovative solutions that ease their workload while enhancing patient care.
“So, we work with our individual employees on what works best for them within the hours that they can operate in and that certainly has helped our employees to balance their family life with their work life, which we take immense pride in.”
The MoleMap experience
MoleMap Australia and New Zealand is an innovative healthcare technology-enabled skin cancer service provider that conducts melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancer screening and detection, as well as treatment.
Its prevention and detection-focused model uses futuristic mapping technology and artificial intelligence (AI) to support early detection and skin cancer treatment.
MoleMap’s prevention and detection-focused model uses futuristic mapping technology and AI to support early detection and skin cancer treatment.
MoleMap believes employees who have “skin in the game” can help it achieve its purpose helping bring about a world where skin cancer doesn’t cost lives.
By enabling and inspiring its employees to be invested in its work, MoleMap believes it can achieve better outcomes. As part of its flexible approach, and to promote a healthy work-life balance, MoleMap offers employees five extra days’ paid leave to help them manage unexpected demands on them.
It can be used in a range of circumstances such as caring for a pet that has undergone surgery, addressing a family emergency or navigating unexpected travel delays.
MoleMap employees also receive an extra two days’ paid leave each year for volunteering in their communities, on top of providing them with the opportunity to take part in the organisation’s philanthropic initiatives.
Last year, it conducted more than 8000 free skin checks for Australians and New Zealanders who would not otherwise have been able to access them. Staff who provide the checks are paid for their time.
In terms of salary and compensation, MoleMap also has introduced a “same job, same pay” remuneration system. It recognises the healthcare industry is not immune to gender pay gap issues.
“We wanted to create an inclusive opportunity for everyone to put themselves forward and have the best chance to apply, regardless of their ethnic background, potential disabilities or gender,” Aquilina says.
“There are multiple layers to the blind recruitment process until applicants get to the end point.
“As a result of that, we’ve been able to achieve pay equity based on role and responsibilities in the workforce, whether you are male or female or non-binary.”
Aquilina says employees are also empowered to work autonomously and are encouraged to voice their ideas for innovation.
“At a head office level, there’s complete trust in our employees,” she says. “We empower and encourage our employees to make decisions that drive real innovation within our organisation, leading to incredible ideas and progress.”
