Healthcare is in the midst of so many changes and the shifts happening in the industry aren’t just impacting patients—they’re also impacting healthcare professionals.

We often forget the role healthcare professionals play in this whole complicated relationship between patients, insurers, the government, businesses and all of the other stakeholders involved in the process.

It’s been a difficult road for many healthcare professionals in recent years with demands increasing and rewards seeming to decrease, but there are some companies that are incorporating their talent management strategies into their overall business objectives.

One such company that can serve to an example to others is Carolinas HealthCare System. This company earns extremely high ratings from the people who know best—the employees.

According to statistics on the employment information site Greatrated.com, 94 percent of employees rate Carolinas HealthCare Systems as providing great challenges, 95 percent say it has a great atmosphere, 92 percent say the bosses are great and 97 percent say they take great pride in working for this organization.

So what makes this business unique when we’re frequently hearing stories of healthcare workers who feel overworked, underpaid and generally unappreciated?

How Carolinas HealthCare Systems Describes Their Work Environment

The overarching theme behind talent management at Carolinas HealthCare is all about teamwork and collaboration. They describe everyone who works for them as “One Team—a collaborative community of medical professionals with one goal: transforming the delivery of healthcare to provide a superior patient experience.”

Building on this team and collaborative concept is no easy challenge considering just how expansive Carolinas HealthCare really is—the company has a total of about 32,000 employees and 900 different locations which include primary and managed enterprises.

Quick Stats

While the entire talent management strategy and approach of Carolinas HealthCare is complex, there are some statistics that really resonate when looking at what they’re doing differently from the competition:

• One benefit of working for the company is the availability of college tuition reimbursement—a great draw particularly for Millennials and young people saddled with the burden of student loan debt.
• Training isn’t optional and it’s not just reserved for full-time employees. Full-time salaried employees receive nearly 40 hours of training a year and not far behind are part-time hourly employees who receive 32 hours on average, per year.
• Carolinas HealthCare remains dedicated to providing opportunities for both personal and professional growth and development. They utilize PeopleLink@CHS, which is a talent management suite with full integration. Human resources also includes within the department an organizational development and learning sector. This arm of HR works to create onboarding classes, leadership development opportunities, coaching and more.

A Whole-Employee Approach

Healthcare can be an incredibly challenging and even emotionally draining career path, and CHS really works to help employees in every way possible by offering everything from social events and team-building programs to an employee assistance program where free and confidential counseling is offered to employees on-demand.

Other fun or interesting perks for employees include complimentary beverages, fitness classes and walking trails, the availability of Weight Watchers meetings and even vegetable gardens operated and maintained by employees.

As far as helping employees achieve that coveted work-life balance—flexible scheduling and compressed work weeks are available, as is telecommuting, but a very small percentage of CHS employees actually utilize these offerings.

On the other hand, 25 days of vacation and holiday time are given after one year of employment and 60 additional days of maternity leave are offered beyond what’s legally required.

There are just a few of the many unique elements that come with working for CHS. Beyond these concepts comes the importance of honesty and respectful treatment by managers, and also the sense employees have that they’re given a great deal of responsibility and trusted by their leaders.

CHS certainly has some standout work environment features that make it a leader in the healthcare industry in terms of talent management.

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