Key Tactics to Close Your Recruitment Gap and Finish the Year Strong

By: Mitzi Kent, RN, BSN | mkent@barlowmccarthy.com

When everything is pumpkin spice and sweater weather it means it’s that time of year when we all suddenly realize a need to have an accelerate focus and make the most of the time we have before the year ends. This is a good time in recruitment to conduct a gap analysis of what you had hoped to achieve this year and where you are. The analysis prepares you to finish the year strong.

Here are a five key tactics to help you create that end-of-the-year action plan:

1. Create a new habit: “Map out Mondays” – At the beginning of your week, invest 15 minutes checking your week’s activities – time devoted to sourcing, or follow-up on clicks to emails, or updating job postings. Ensure you are prepared for your week ahead. Then check the upcoming weeks for the same items so you can stay on top of your recruitment pipeline.
2. Associate daily activities – When we group related activities on certain days, we can accelerate productivity. Think through tasks that have to happen weekly, bi-weekly, and monthly then look at your calendar and schedule marketing Mondays, cold call Tuesdays, etc. Working this tactic with your planning for the week allows you to strategically look at different recruitment tactics that can give you the extra push to fill those openings.
3. Work backwards – Not literally, but with many of you who have attended virtual career fairs throughout the year, you might have a pool of candidates who need a little nudge forward. Many of these career fairs are great opportunities to stay connected to candidates who may not be actively searching multiple job boards online regularly but are still in the market if the right opportunity comes along. These fairs provide exhibitors with attendee lists containing contact information for all the physicians who attended. Now is the time to go back and do that one last email blast, reminding them of your opportunities within your organization. Start with that end in mind.
4. Lean on your partnerships – Sometimes, when you need to finish strong, you need a boost from your trusted partners. Smaller health systems or physician practices may not be equipped to cast a wide enough net to attract the right candidate for the position. Aligning with the right partner could be the key to improving your process. A trusted partner with a proven reputation can help manage the heavy lifting with your digital tools or sourcing for candidates that creates space to allow you to focus on creating a quality interview and keeping the recruitment process on track.
5. Boost your presence on the web – This is the time to look at those job postings and begin to update and refresh content with an eye to creating differentiation for your organization. Review postings and correct them to align with best practices. Additionally, because this is the time of year when many healthcare organizations use professional job boards to find their end-of-the-year candidates, it’s the best time to boost your presence and ensure candidates see your opportunities first.

These strategies will help create great systems, increase your productivity and assist you to finish your year strong!

Assessments and recruitment strategies are our specialty. If you want to discuss your team and approach send me an email and we can do a complimentary call. Reach me at mkent@barlowmccarthy.com.