High Cost of SPD Leadership Turnover—and How to Prevent It

Many healthcare facilities struggle to retain effective leaders, including those in the sterile processing setting. High turnover in this setting can disrupt daily operations, damage team morale and, more importantly, impact patient care quality and outcomes.

Leadership turnover can be incredibly costly, both in terms of financial outlay and organizational stability. Over the past five years, the average hospital turned over 106.6% of its workforce,¹and replacing a leader in an organization can cost between one-half to twice the leader's annual salary, with some positions reaching over 200% of their salary.² This total takes into account direct recruitment and training expenses as well as costs tied to lost productivity and disruption to team dynamics during the transition period.

In sterile processing departments (SPDs), where quality outcomes depend largely on science-based knowledge and a focus on ensuring current standards, guidelines, instructions for use and policies and procedures are consistently followed, it becomes clear how the loss of effective, skilled, knowledgeable, and empathetic leaders has the potential for devastating results—including decreased employee morale, increased staff turnover, and diminished productivity. Put simply, a single effective leader’s departure can trigger a domino effect that impacts the entire team and hospital’s performance.

Strong cultures boost retention

To effectively retain healthcare leaders, organizations must prioritize and maintain positive cultures through open communication, transparency, and direct involvement in decision-making processes. Facility executives must cultivate an environment where leaders feel they are valued and appreciated for their contributions to the organization’s mission and vision. The following approaches are essential for retaining quality leaders:

Facilitate open communication and feedback – Encourage leaders to openly share their thoughts, concerns, and ideas, and actively solicit their feedback through meetings and surveys to demonstrate that their input is valued.
Promote transparency and foster active decision making – Allow and encourage leaders to share relevant information with their direct leadership regarding organizational challenges and opportunities. Doing so allows them to understand the rationale behind decisions, feel more connected to the process, and contribute their expertise and perspective on key issues.
Foster alignment with the facility’s mission, vision, and values – Strong, effective leaders desire to contribute to the organization’s overall purpose and goals. Executive leaders should promote a culture that engages its departmental leaders with a strong sense of purpose and commitment. Working toward a shared mission, vision, and values drives progress by clearly articulating the organization's strategic goals while creating a sense of shared ownership amongst its leaders.
Ensure effective cross-departmental collaboration – Successful, quality-focused organizations do not have cultures where individual departments work in siloes. Instead, they promote interdepartmental teamwork that taps each leader’s knowledge and strengths to build a stronger sense of unity and information sharing that positively impacts operations and patient outcomes.
Provide competitive compensation packages and promote a healthy work-life balance – Compensation goes beyond salaries. Organizations must also consider healthcare benefits, paid time off (PTO), retirement plans, wellness programs, flexible work arrangements (e.g., hybrid schedules), and performance-based bonuses. Supporting professional development through certification and participation in educational conferences can also enhance leaders’ satisfaction and contribute to their retention and value to the organization. Establishing a formal leadership recognition program to celebrate exemplary performance and achievements is another beneficial offering.

Conclusion

Leadership retention contributes to an organization’s growth, positive patient outcomes, reputation, and profitability. By prioritizing recruitment and retention of top-tier sterile processing leaders, organizations will create quality-focused departments and positive cultures that will make them better poised to attract and retain the best employees, all of which will promote safe, efficient, high-quality service and care.