How can you tackle staff shortages in mental health care?

Staff shortages in mental health care (ggz) have been nothing new in recent years. Unfortunately, we see demand in this sector rising sharply, while capacity often falls short. Do you want to think about how your organization can tackle staff shortages in mental health care? In this article, we have summarized some concrete tips for you.

Retaining staff

To tackle staff shortages in mental health care, it's first of all important to retain employees. The mental health care CAO works with fixed salary scales and allowances, but you can also motivate and reward employees in other ways. For example, use technology to lower the workload. Talk regularly about the workload and possible improvements. Organize outings with staff to show appreciation. Read our article on supporting mental health care employees well for even more tips.

More attention for (re)training and further training

Some mental health care organizations notice that there are enough candidates, but not enough suitable candidates. After all, not everyone has the right profile for a certain role. Fortunately, there are favorable (tax) rules for employers who invest in training and further training. That way, you can help current employees who want to develop move up. And you may be able to give new, enthusiastic candidates the right training to fill a certain role.

Increasing positive visibility

As an organization, you naturally have to make it clear to candidates that you're actually looking for new staff in mental health care. Post vacancies on the major job sites and make sure your website is a good calling card. Apart from that, it's important to create a positive organizational culture, so word of mouth between staff and potential candidates also works well. When people like working at a mental health care organization, it can boost recruitment. Combine this with the previous tip (training) to attract more staff.

Working with educational institutions

New generations can choose from many study programs that lead to a career in mental health care. As a mental health care organization, it's smart to make the right contacts early, so you can attract students from relevant programs. How do you do that? For example, organize a lecture at school together with the educational institution, or an information day at your company. Hand out brochures and offer internships. In that last case, you can both really find out whether there's a match. Who knows, the intern may want to stay on at the company, and you'll have gained another valuable staff member.

Prevent overstaffing and overwork

As a mental health care organization, it can sometimes be a tough choice: you don't want to put too much on your staff's shoulders, but you also don't want to overwork them. After all, overwork can lead to burnout, which leaves you with even fewer staff. In short, you're looking for the right staffing level, so you can divide the capacity well. How do you approach this? With the Dyflexis Workforce Management System. It includes forecasting software and many other handy tools for efficient staff scheduling. That way, you know how many staff you need at what time, who can work and who wants to be on standby. A tool like this also gives staff more autonomy, for a better atmosphere and more balance on the work floor.

Read more about the Workforce Management System, the benefits of forecasting (predicting the capacity you need) and scheduling staff smartly. Or request the Dyflexis free demo right away if you want to discover the convenience of the tool for yourself.