I'm not surprised anymore. I used to be...a lot...but those days are long gone. It is clear that the challenge of building and leveraging networks to find talent is the sole responsibility of HR.
Hiring leaders are simply incapable of building a network on their own. They are too scared, too full of excuses, and candidly, enjoy having someone to target when their hiring struggles persist.
Meet Director #1
This person has been a loyal and hard-working part of the organization's leadership team for years. She works hard, tries to support her employees as much as possible, and attends a conference or two each year. She's bright, and keeps her team informed of the latest equipment, clinical practices, and news about the hospital.
Problem: she has been so focused internally that she is useless when it comes time to recruit talent, spread good news about organizational breakthroughs, or to simply tell the story about what it means to be a part of the organization.
Meet Director #2
This person has also been a loyal and hard-working member of the leadership team for a long time. However, in addition to putting a tremendous amount of energy into her staff, she also has worked hard to develop her leader brand.
When it comes time to fill vacancies, she has already differentiated herself pushing out thought leadership, stories about the hospital, and adding some personal touches as well. She has a network she can tap into, and she does.
How About You
Who are the leaders you work with that have such tight organizational blinders on that they're hurting themselves?
Help them see the big picture. Help them understand that the investment they make in their internal and external brand, will make a huge difference.
I'd love to hear from you.
No Excuses.
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The epic battle to find clinical employees in the healthcare industry has never been more intense. The combination of limited talent, retiring talent, old school recruitment approaches and a complete lack of understanding as to how recruitment marketing works has proven lethal to my #HealthcareHR colleagues.
Let's take a look at some of the key components of an effective recruitment marketing strategy in the healthcare industry.
Courage
You may be wondering why this comes first. Well, without the courage to throw away what has always been done in your organizaiton, you will not be successful.
Ever.
Understanding that the number one component of any effective strategy is the #HealthcareHR leader is paramount. Without this piece, the strategy will fail.
Not maybe.
Not probably.
It is guaranteed to fail.
Planning
An effective recruitment marketing plan is built on three important pieces:
- a robust career site
- nonstop new original content
- a comprehensive social media distribution strategy
Let's take a quick look at each part.
Career Sites
Most healthcare career sites list jobs, have a predictable couple of paragraphs of text about their "values" and "wonderful community" and occasionally have a few photos of beautiful people in scrubs that are not employees.
This is an epic fail.
Career sites need to engage, draw people in, re-recruit current employees, and tell the story of the employer brand. (Yes, employer brand. This is a critical part of any healthcare organization's recruitment strategy. You knew that, right?)
Original Content
This piece of the recruitment marketing puzzle often scares HR leaders to death. In fact, it is one of the easiest parts to address! Interviews with your employees, short videos, and a thorough editorial calendar cost little or no money, yet can yield huge results both internally and external.
Social Media Distribution
How are you going to share all of this content and point prospective candidates to your career site if you don't share the goodness? Incorporating multiple social channels (facebook, Linkedin, twitter, snapchat, Instagram, Pinterest, etc.) will position your organization as a contemporary leader in your industry.
Think about it...everyone you will ever hire again is on a social channel. So why in the world wouldn't you make sure your company is there too?
How About You
There is so much more to say about recruitment marketing in the healthcare industry. For now, think about these core pieces and how you might get started. If you get stuck, don't hesitate to reach out. I would love to help you blow away your competition.
I'd love to hear from you.
No Excuses.
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It seems Hollywood is obsessed with making movies about comic book characters. With the help of sophisticated technology the characters fly around and smash things. The kids (and many adults) love it, and the definition of superhero drifts away from real life and lands in fantasy land.
That's okay...I guess.
I Met A Hero...But He Didn't Meet Me
I work at a very special organization that takes care of the most fragile patients in the world. Literally. Some time ago when I was visiting with our amazing team members I met what I would consider a superhero. He didn't wear a cape, or brightly colored tights. He didn't have biceps the size of a truck, or shoot fire from his hands. In fact, he was quite still and small.
You see, he was facing a battle far more epic than a midtown Manhattan taxi throwing clash between fantasy characters. The stakes were much higher.
Team Means Something Different To This Hero
As I visited with the employees and we discussed a variety of issues, they constantly scanned the equipment keeping our hero going. Any slight variation, any seemingly minor change was reacted to instantly. Nothing was ignored...except me...and I was fine with that. They actually apologized for interrupting me so they could jump to our hero's aid.
Even though our team was glad I was there to discuss issues that impact their work life, I was really a secondary priority. Our hero was first...by a mile.
How About You
How do you define superhero? For me, it's much more than someone who can hang upside down from a skyscraper. Sometimes it is someone who is just getting started, yet they can still save the day.
I'd love to hear from you.
No Excuses.
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