With Gen Z already comprising 8% of the system’s workforce, Ekta Vyas, PhD, chief human resources officer, Keck Medicine of USC, connected with Becker’s to share how the system uses targeted social media outreach and specialized training programs in tailoring its approach to meet the needs of younger employees.
Editor’s note: Responses have been lightly edited for clarity and length.
Q: How is Keck Medicine of USC adapting its recruitment strategies to attract and retain Gen Z talent in 2025?
Dr. Ekta Vyas: Knowing that Gen Z is highly connected and tech-savvy, Keck Medicine uses a multichannel approach to promote open positions on social media like LinkedIn, Facebook, X, Instagram, et cetera, while regularly updating its profiles and responding to reviews on employer review sites such as Glassdoor and Indeed. We are also actively pursuing a select group of top RN new grads to participate in specialized training programs in both our inpatient and perioperative services units
At present, Gen Z is approximately 8% of our total workforce in all entities, with USC Arcadia and Las Vegas each having the highest concentration of Gen Z at 11.4% and 11.9% of their [respective] employee population.
Gen Z accounted for 9% of promotions and 16% of transfers of the last six months of 2024, as well as 21% of all new hires from July to December.
At Keck Medicine, we solicit feedback from our employees at major stages of the employee lifecycle. Our first-year feedback surveys at 30, 90, [and]180 days and then at the completion of the first year of service, along with feedback from the exit surveys, helps us gain insight into specific generational needs if those are called out. Similarly, we review generational analysis and feedback from our engagement surveys to identify generation-specific feedback.
Q: What innovative investments in employee well-being do you believe will have the greatest impact on retention in the coming years?
EV: [O]ur Care for the Caregiver program is a core program to address employee well-being. This is a high-impact program addressing our employee well-being. Offerings include programs for yoga, Zumba, meditation, mental well-being, relaxation therapy, family support resources, support groups and workshops [to help employees with] stress management, wellness and resiliency, communication strategies and building supportive team environments.
Q: How do you balance offering competitive compensation with fostering a culture that prioritizes purpose and growth, especially for younger employees?
EV: Market competitive total rewards — compensation and benefits — are key to Keck Medicine’s competitive positioning in the industry. Our internal brand is anchored in “trust” as part of the culture of growth that feeds into retention and what makes us stand out. We are quite proactive in crafting growth strategies for the younger generation and talent fresh out of college, or near completion of their degree programs. Keck Medicine of USC offers a diverse range of entry-level healthcare positions, including admitting representatives, medical assistants and environmental service workers, with competitive benefits such as tuition assistance programs. While some markets require at least one year of experience, Keck Medicine of USC has broadened the threshold to under one year of experience for certain roles, prioritizing skills and job knowledge. These roles provide excellent pathways for career advancement within the organization, with over 400 promotions filled internally each year. Additionally, internship opportunities extend beyond nursing new grad programs to include IT and pharmacy internships, offering valuable hands-on experience across technical and professional fields.
These programs create an entry point for the younger generation that wouldn’t normally exist until much later in their career. All of our regular RN positions require minimum one year of experience and often with a specialty experience more common in experienced RNs. These programs allow new nurses to join a world-class, high-acuity environment at the start of their career, while obtaining training and specialty experience that enables them to ultimately join permanently. For Keck, it gives us access to more of the Gen Z talent pool, rather than waiting for them to obtain training and experience somewhere else.
I want to call out the Healthcare Horizons program, as it addresses the purpose and growth alignment with efforts at the local community level for the younger generation. Our diversity, equity and inclusion office invites local high school and college students from the communities to tour the facilities twice per year. [We] work with staff volunteers across various departments to organize interactive activities like using ultrasound machines, birth simulations, applying casts and splints, how to stop a bleed, and attend health education seminars [on areas like] diabetes, radiology, [as well as] tour cancer hospital nursing and career development seminars [to learn] how to apply to jobs and [conduct] college program introductions.
Q: What roles do you see flexible work options and technology playing in shaping the future of recruitment and employee engagement at Keck Medicine of USC?
EV: Flexible work options and maturity of technology are intertwined in their impact for shaping the future of work in healthcare. At Keck Medicine, we have continued to receive very positive feedback on work-life balance from our engagement surveys. Much of this is accomplished through our flexible work offerings, wellness programs and integration of technology in the delivery of employee and patient offerings. The growth we are seeing in virtual healthcare will continue to reshape our IT landscape for better employee and patience experience, both from access and service perspective. Although physical presence will always be a requirement for delivering in-person care in hospital settings, hybrid work models are already well established in many parts of our organization and [are] working quite well. We will continue to look for ways to upskill our workforce in better use of technology, and keep enhancing our communication and collaboration platforms to enhance our care coordination and streamline our workflows for enhanced employee engagement.
