Oak Valley Health's HR chief on finding flexibility in health care

After almost 20 years’ working in HR in hospitals in Canada, Marie Nunziata has seen the rules of recruitment flipped on their head.  

Now, as VP, CHRO at Oak Valley Health, overseeing some 4,000 employees spread over two hospitals and a variety of clinics, Nunziata and her team are having to dig deep to find ways to retain talent with new expectations of work. 

“I worked for a community hospital early on in my career, we'd get thousands of applicants for one role. That was very common,” she says.  

“Now, people have more choices, and the amount of folks that are coming out is different and smaller … we've had to sharpen our pencils and be a lot more strategic about ‘How do we get people to think about us as an employer? How do we get people, especially young people, like in their hearts and minds, come work for us?’” 

Flexibility as a cornerstone 

One of the biggest shifts (and challenges) that Nunziata has seen is the growing demand for flexibility. Today’s candidates, especially younger ones, want more than just a job, Nunziata says — they want a workplace that fits their lives: “It's about ‘Do I want to be here? I'm committing, are there good people that I can work with?’” 

The old model of career trajectories doesn’t necessarily apply anymore. Rather than starting at the entry level and working up, employees want to see a clear path to their future – and fast. 

“When we lose people, it's because we weren't able to offer them a full-time job fast enough,” she says.  

“Especially when they're students, they’re first-year nursing, and it's that competitive market. ‘They were able to offer me something before your hospital did’ is one common thing that we hear.” 

Working in a hospital means there are employees that have been there since the beginning, mingling with early career professionals who have different ideals and expectations. Juggling this dichotomy of experiences is a constant challenge, Nunziata says, explaining that those who started at the hospital 35 years ago saw working in the suburbs as an opportunity for financial freedom. 

“The value stream is different now for new folks that are coming in, and we have to think about all of those things in the employee value proposition,” she says. 

“[They’re thinking:] ’I'm a nurse, I can write my ticket, there's all kinds of opportunities that are available to me. What is going to be important for me, and why should I go and work and see value in a career in a community hospital?’” 

Strategies for flexibility and retention 

This non-negotiable employee desire for flexibility poses special challenges in the health care sphere, Nunziata explains – as well-meaning as an HR leader may be, there is only so much flexibility possible when 24-7 care is on the table. 

 Rather than defaulting to “no” when it comes to flexibility for employees at Oak Valley Health, she sees it as a moment to innovate and goes into problem solving mode instead. 

“We have to give care 24-7 to our patients. How do we do that? And in a system that is very structured,” says Nunziata.  

“So, what are the ways that we can shift to meet the needs, the changing needs of our staff, coming in a post-COVID type of world that’s normal now — how do we edge and be different on the things that we can offer to staff?” 

For her team at the hospitals, flexibility must go outside of just letting people work from home, which will always be difficult with health care work schedules. They look at things like giving wiggle room to start and end times, compressed work weeks, and letting staff self-schedule. 

The hospital has even rolled out new tech to make things easier such as mobile-friendly scheduling and employee direct messaging. To Nunziata, it’s all about making life simpler for staff and managers, and giving people more control over their work lives: “Making it more consumable for leaders and peers to be communicating with each other.” 

Health care HR as values-infused work  

Nunziata’s passion for health care HR is clear, and it’s deeply personal – for her, work and personal life are not separate, and this is why health care is the only field she can see herself working in. It’s not just a job; it’s an expression of her core values.  

This connection to values is something she looks for in candidates as well.  

“You can have a great resume, loads of experience, but I think it takes certain types of people to choose to work in the public sector,” says Nunziata. 

“In the private sector, you can make a lot more money. It is not about that. It's about ‘This is work I'm connected to. I'm able to express myself and show up every day in a way for our hospital that aligns with my values.’”