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S P R I N G 2 0 2 3 / W O R K F O R M E 25 H o w t o Possibly no other industry has been under as much stress in recent years than health care industry and hospitals. Ongoing efforts are addressing the shortage of nurses, but more help is needed. S p o n s o r e d P r o f i l e s 30 MaineGeneral Enhancing the health of patients, every day 31 MaineHealth Creating rewarding career paths 32 Northern Light Health Going beyond providing care S TA RT I N G O N T H E N E X T PAG E » 2 6 Jobs for life Maine's health care industry steps up effort to recruit and retain workers H E A LT H C A R E rewarding tasks to be completed. Challenges and rewards lead to empowerment on the job. 4. Improve access: Employers need to iden- tify top performers who want more and more. Once we do, then it's important to give them more, including access to mem- bers of the leadership team, key clients and broader opportunities that make them feel special on the job. You should never put high achievers in a box or silo, where they feel trapped. Those achievers need to have a sense of "ownership." Access to influential decision-makers allows employees to own their work and keep excelling at it. 5. Create upward mobility: In the end, em- ployees need to know that they are building toward something — whether it is higher pay, a promotion, or just greater fulfillment at work. Workers seek upward mobility. People want to climb the career ladder, so let them! Again, your employees cannot be locked out of career progression in a box or silo; they need to climb the ladder on a regular basis. "Onwards and upwards" is a saying for a reason. 6. Foster diversity: Today's America is a di- verse America, and your workforce should reflect that diversity. Employers can build a robust, healthy workplace culture by promot- ing the differences in cultural backgrounds and personal characteristics. Similarly, they can value the diversity of ideas, allowing people to think outside the box and bring unique perspectives to the table. From in- person interactions to social media posts, employees should feel free to express their own opinions, as long as you establish rules for what they can and cannot say about the company. Social media, for example, can give people freedom and bring workplaces together, as long as the discourse is positive. Positive discourse attracts job-seekers too. 7. Offer constructive criticism: Let's face it: Employees will mess up. No job-seeker is perfect either. Sometimes, the boss needs to criticize workers to trigger better perfor- mance in the future, and that's fine—as long as you do it constructively. Feedback should be geared toward allowing people to learn and grow on the job, enabling them to gain new skills based on new experiences. It isn't about tearing people down. Constructive criticism is what builds expertise over time. n

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