Behind the Scenes with a Planner

It is always difficult to imagine exactly what a workforce planner does in a day. Spoiler: there is a lot more to it than simply putting together a schedule. During our visit to Martini Hospital in Groningen, Joey gave us a glimpse into the work of a workforce planner in a large hospital. 

Joey took us through a typical workweek. He explains that every Monday starts with tactical planning meetings, where he prepares with the clinic coordinators for the upcoming week and discusses any special aspects of the schedule. On Tuesday, the planning meetings are finalized and patient appointments are scheduled. The rest of the week is mainly about handling requests, planning ahead, and meeting with doctors to discuss the schedule for the upcoming period. The work is a constant juggling act.

A large part of Joey's tasks fall under stakeholder management. A thorough understanding of the needs of everyone he interacts with is very important. Ultimately, creating the draft schedule for the upcoming period is only a day's work. Most of the work involves good communication with all stakeholders, including clinic coordinators, midwifery planners, doctors, and gynecologists, where he must deal with various skills and responsibilities. "You should not be afraid to pick up the phone and call a doctor, knowing that they are also busy with many other matters besides scheduling issues."

Now that Joey is settled in his work, he is also starting to look ahead to what is possible in the hospital. Joey wants to further develop himself towards capacity management. For example, he mentions a streamlined production line and less variation in waiting times. In the future, he would like to contribute to thinking about this and making as many improvements as possible, in order to, for example, reduce the workload of the healthcare staff.

It is clear that Joey has a real passion for his work. He enjoys bringing together the puzzle pieces of the complex hospital. Joey is far from done learning and is determined not only to solve today's challenges as well as possible, but also to think about the future of the hospital. His determination and dedication make him not only an integral part of the hospital team, but also a very valuable colleague of Kayak Care.