Leadership Support for Physician RecruitmentBy: Allison McCarthy, MBA

One of the themes we heard at the recent ASPR (Association of Staff Physician Recruiters) Annual Conference was the challenge in getting leadership to fully understand the complexity and resource intensive nature of physician recruitment. Too many searches to fulfill and limited people power was clearly a struggle for many who are working hard to be successful.

The reality is that we will never win leadership’s support by focusing on the tactical details. And just telling them that recruitment is “important” will likely not do it either.  To gain leadership buy-in we must help them to see “how” it is important to the organization’s strategy.

Your first reaction might be “But I don’t know what that is – they don’t share that with me.” Now, more than ever, you have to insert yourself into top-level conversations.  Ask if you can attend a meeting to listen and learn.  During weekly meetings with your manager, ask questions that will uncover where the organization is heading and why.  Then outline how the recruitment effort will help to fulfill that global strategy.  By building this into your reports, email communication and other internal conversations, you can place yourself at that critical intersection between vision and results.  By connecting those dots you should begin to see leadership support begin to grow.  Once it’s there, you can then share how they can best support the recruiting mission.

Because we need leadership to:

  • Ÿ Act as a compass for direction and be a market guide
  • Ÿ Articulate the internal response and expectations for the recruitment plan
  • Ÿ Hold departments and staff accountable for defined responsibilities
  • Ÿ Provide needed resources and additional personnel
  • Ÿ Be available and responsive during the crucial points in the process

By helping “higher-ups” see how recruiting relates to strategy and that hiring the right talent is a competitive advantage, you can inspire leaders to take a more active role in the recruiting and selection process.