Big Questions Worksheet
Getting clarity on what matters for your mission, strategies, culture, and values
This worksheet contains a series of questions for you and your team to review as you begin building the foundation of your impact workforce strategy. Consider bringing together staff from multiple areas of human resources (especially talent acquisition) and community engagement departments to brainstorm responses to the questions and reach consensus.
Why?
Why are you embarking on impact workforce strategies? Mission alignment? Long-term business case? Both?
Factors To Consider
- Are you looking at impact workforce strategies to fill a business need and/or resolve specific pressing human resource challenges, such as high turnover and/or low retention? Are there hard-to-fill positions, or positions that are projected to have vacancies in the future you would like to address? Would you like to increase the applicant pool in designated high-volume, high-turnover positions? Are there other business needs you are considering?
- Have unemployment, underemployment or low wages been identified as concerns in your community health needs assessment? Do patient populations you serve struggle with unemployment or underemployment? Would you like to increase opportunities for employment for under-resourced or economically disadvantaged communities in your service area footprint?
- Does your mission identify community health and well-being as a priority? Would you like to improve metrics for social drivers of health in focus zip codes?
- Does your institution participate in any collaborative economic-revitalization efforts? Are there workforce development and hiring initiatives at the city, county, regional, and/or state level?
- Would you like to increase community engagement?
Who?
Who is “community” to your institution? Who is the focus of your outside-in strategy?
Factors To Consider
- How is “community” defined in your mission statement? Your strategic plan? Your community health needs assessment?
- Have you disaggregated employee data on race, ethnicity, gender identity, and geography?
- Are there any specific populations identified in your community health needs assessment as underserved or experiencing health disparities?
- What are the demographics of your surrounding area? How do they compare to the demographics of current staff?
Where?
What does “local” mean to your institution?
Factors To Consider
- Where do your patients live? Where do your patients with the most pressing health needs live?
- Who do local workforce intermediaries currently serve, and what are their service areas? What kinds of training do they offer?
- Are there any economically under-resourced or under-invested zip codes in your service area? Are there any zip codes with significant health disparities?
- How far do employees travel on average to get to work? What modes of transportation are available to get to your institution? Are there any areas that are not accessible? Are there areas that may be further away but easily accessible via public transit?
- Where do most employees currently live? Where do most applicants currently live?
- Have specific geographic areas of need been identified in your strategic plan or community health needs assessment?
- Has “local” been defined in any other area of your institution such as procurement?
- Is there housing that is affordable and accessible to employees? Is there a need to support increasing housing options?