To build a workforce that can respond to the healthcare industry’s rapid transformation, Scripps Health, in San Diego, accommodates the needs of employees at the beginning, middle, and later stages in their careers. The result is higher morale and impeccable performance. “One-size-fits-all HR practices don’t work when you want a diverse, knowledge-based workforce,” says Victor Buzachero, corporate senior vice president for innovation, human resources, and performance management. “Originally many HR practices were designed primarily to be consistent and to avoid legal issues. Today our focus is on HR practices that engage people and encourage a higher contribution.”
For example, Scripps has implemented daily “huddles,” where workers can offer input and affect decisions—something especially prized by millennial employees. “In the past workers wanted a supervisor who acted like a “boss.” Buzachero say, “Today they want a supervisor who acts like a coach, and we’re educating our supervisors to be strong coaches.”
In one program, seasoned nurses are trained to mentor recent nursing graduates to improve their critical-thinking skills; as a result, the graduates indicate they feel more prepared for their role. Scripps currently offers over 1,870 skills-building, leadership training, and continuing education units.
Scripps also encourages movement across the organization to remain a career destination for talent mid-career. For example, workers in medical surgical units can receive 26 weeks of training to shift into areas where skilled workers are in short supply, such as operating rooms.
Also, traditional retirement packages that max out at age 60 can encourage these experienced workers to leave, even if they want to continue working.
Scripps lets retirement plans continue to grow past age 65, while allowing staged retirement programs such as job sharing. “One of our most successful clinical nursing units is managed by two women who job share,” Buzachero says. “If we didn’t offer that kind of flexibility, they may have gone somewhere else.”

This lifeycle approach creates a diverse workforce able to address the healthcare industry’s mandate to improve outcomes while cutting costs. “As patients ask for more and more from us, we need a workforce with all-encompassing view and innovative approach, Buzachero says. “But we can only build a highly skilled, varied workforce if we satisfy the many career needs of a varied workforce.”

Questions
1. In what ways does the Scripps lifecycle approach lead to a more diverse workforce?
2. Why are managers increasingly being encouraged to act as coaches? Do you see any problems with a manager acting as both a coach and a supervisor?