2026 Georgia Society for Healthcare Human Resources Administration (GSHHRA) Annual Conference-GHA HR Planning for Workforce Development

GHA HR Planning for Workforce Development

Pdf Summary

The document presents a strategic workforce planning framework for healthcare organizations to move from reactive staffing (crisis hiring, poor fit, burnout/turnover, and higher costs) to a proactive, sustainable approach. It defines strategic planning as understanding current reality through data, clarifying goals, building systems to achieve them, and continuously learning and adjusting.

The core model is the DSPE Framework: <strong>Data, Strategy, Planning, Evaluation</strong>. Step 1 (**Data**) focuses on assessing the current workforce and future needs by analyzing internal metrics (turnover, retention, skills, demographics, engagement, retirement risk, and roles with critical knowledge) and external factors (labor market conditions, community health needs assessments, and regulatory/accreditation requirements such as certifications and staffing ratios). Organizations are prompted to identify what workforce data they have, what they lack (e.g., skills inventories or engagement baselines), and what it would take to obtain it.

Step 2 (**Strategy**) translates insights into a “Here to There” plan: define the current state, desired future state, 2–3 key actions to bridge the gap, and specific success metrics. An example targets first-year nurse retention by improving onboarding, manager training, and mentoring. Strategies must match available time, budget, people, and stakeholder support, with clear ownership and accountability.

Step 3 (**Planning**) operationalizes strategy by building talent pipelines, retention and onboarding systems, career development, compensation transparency, shift flexibility, succession planning, and partnerships with schools, workforce boards, and peer organizations. Plans should specify actions, owners, timelines, resources, and measures.

Step 4 (**Evaluation**) emphasizes continuous improvement through regular review of metrics, adapting to changing conditions, and setting near-term checkpoints (30/90 days). The document ends with prompts to choose a concrete next action within 30 days (e.g., gather turnover data, map demographics, assess succession risks).

Keywords

strategic workforce planning

healthcare staffing

DSPE Framework

workforce data analytics

nurse retention

onboarding and mentoring

talent pipeline development

succession planning

labor market analysis

continuous evaluation and improvement