Healthcare workers face unique challenges in their demanding, high-stress roles. Long hours, emotional strain, and inflexible benefits structures often contribute to burnout and turnover in the industry.
PTO liabilities are immense and tend to weigh down the balance sheets of healthcare organizations of all sizes. Healthcare organizations need to find benefit programs that are both high-impact and low-cost.
Organizations are increasingly adopting innovative solutions to combat these challenges. One such solution is convertible PTO—a flexible benefits program that allows employees to exchange unused PTO for other forms of value, such as retirement savings, student loan repayments, or even cash.
With convertible PTO, organizations can structure their program to create cost savings, improve their credit rating, and offset the cost of other benefits programs and/or premiums for their employees.
How convertible PTO benefits healthcare workers
Convertible PTO can help organizations reduce that liability before year-over-year salary increases cause that liability to expand naturally. And beyond that, finance departments can leverage convertible PTO as a way to put much-needed funds back into the bottom-line.
There are several benefits to offering a convertible PTO program to healthcare workers, including:
Increased employee attraction and retention
Convertible PTO empowers employees to design personalized benefits packages that align with their individual needs. This innovative approach not only increases loyalty among current staff but also positions your organization as a top choice for prospective talent—particularly in competitive industries like healthcare.
Improved employee satisfaction
When employees have access to flexible benefits, they feel genuinely valued and supported by their employers. This heightened satisfaction boosts morale and engagement and, for healthcare workers, directly correlates to enhanced patient care and organizational reputation.
Reduced turnover rates
Organizations leveraging convertible PTO solutions consistently see significantly lower turnover rates. For example, healthcare companies using PTO Exchange report turnover rates as low as 5.78%, compared to the industry average of 13.96% among non-users.
Replacement cost savings
Reducing turnover translates directly into financial savings. By minimizing employee exits, healthcare organizations partnering with PTO Exchange save an average of $4.4 million annually in replacement costs—funds that can be reinvested into patient care or workforce development.
Case Study: Large hospital system creates a flexible solution for front-line workers
After struggling with $40M worth of accrued PTO due to burnout and labor shortages, a large Arizona-based healthcare system implemented PTO Exchange to allow its 11,000 employees to convert a portion of their unused PTO.
Within the first eight weeks of the program’s inception, employees exchanged $4.26 million worth of PTO, equating to 87,457 hours (42 years) of PTO. This resulted in increased employee satisfaction and increased participation in financial wellness incentives.
And at the same time, the HR team was able to create a stream of revenue through the PTO Exchange program that went on to fund other benefits in future years.
A flexible solution for front-line workers
PTO Exchange is helping healthcare providers across the country leverage a benefit they are already offering to provide their staff with flexibility to meet their unique needs. Labor shortages, burnout, and high turnover rates have created an “all hands on deck” approach where healthcare workers have not been able to use their time off to meet the demands of the job, leading to inflated PTO balances and frustrated employees.
Download our ebook, “Retention Rx: The Power of Convertible PTO in Healthcare” to learn how a convertible PTO program benefits healthcare workers.
Published on Nov 07, 2024 by Sam Lieberman
