Leading global employee research and consulting firm ISR has announced the findings of an employee opinion study revealing that U.S. healthcare companies are facing the need to drastically improve leadership and employee supervision.

The findings, gathered from more than 200,000 U.S. employees surveyed, reveal that healthcare companies may be responsible for an increasingly poor work-life balance for employees, even as sectors of the U.S. healthcare market face shortfalls in talent. Through June 2006, the health services sector has the highest job openings rate among all major U.S. industries at 3.7 percent, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

When comparing the strength of U.S. healthcare companies' leadership and staff supervision to both the U.S. National Norm, and to ISR's Global High Performance Companies Norm (which comprises survey scores from companies that both perform financially at the highest levels for their industry and demonstrate excellent people practices), there was a statistically significant decline.

Leadership effectiveness was rated at 57% at U.S. healthcare companies, compared to the 69% ISR’s Global High Performance Companies Norm, and to the 61% U.S. National Norm.  Also, healthcare companies scored 68% for favorable staff supervision compared to the ISR Global High Performance Companies Norm of 76%.

"Strong leadership is a critical success factor for the healthcare market, affecting everything from financial performance to patient care," said ISR Executive Director Soni Basi. "In order to achieve sustained success, leadership teams must address problematic communication gaps between mid- and senior-level managers that will help maintain quality while improving employee satisfaction."

"Senior healthcare leaders responsible for establishing strategic directions and overseeing operations need to focus on building cultures that support all employees," said ISR Senior Project Manager Kelly Harkcom. "And mid-level managers need assistance, perhaps facilitated by an impartial outsider, in order to help them to understand how to best manage the cultural disconnects that exist between managers and healthcare providers."

According to Basi, today's healthcare industry leaders can improve retention rates, which can help minimize labor shortages, by addressing a number of issues for current employees, such as standardizing management practices, ensuring clear job roles and creating patient-centered environments.