By Allison McCarthy, MBA | amccarthy@barlowmccarthy.com
The holidays are a time for festive events, enjoying friends and family, and maybe even a break from work. But there are ways to do all of this while still keeping the recruitment funnel full. Here are a few tips.
- Don’t presume this is the worst time to call or email target physicians. For certain specialists, the practice pace during this time of year is slower – because patients delay scheduling elective procedures until after the New Year. So, go ahead and reach out to your interventionalist and surgeon targets – they just might be available.
- Consider these same specialists on your medical staff – and ask them to network with potential prospects, residency/fellowship program directors or other contacts that can lead to prospects. Or invite them to participate in an onsite candidate interview to help make a more well-rounded pitch.
- Take advantage of physicians returning home for holiday visits. Maybe it’s an abbreviated site visit, i.e. a single meeting over coffee with key stakeholders or just a casual meal together. It could even replace the telephone screening and facilitate a more personalized introductory conversation.
- Some physicians may “kick off” the New Year with a resolution to search for a new position. Ensuring your practice opportunities are more, rather than less, visible might catch those who have been delaying this decision but are now ready to make the shift.
- Many residents and fellows want to finalize their practice decisions by year end – giving them time to focus their remaining training months on pure learning. Don’t miss out on those ready to close the deal.
- Check in with your most recent recruits – those who started in late summer/early fall and those approaching their year one anniversary. They have been with you long enough to offer a “testimonial” to use on a posting, email push message or direct mail piece.
- For one of our clients, we created a specific holiday direct mail campaign – a “Home for the Holidays” message in a greeting card format – as a way of being distinct from the typical physician recruitment direct mail look.
- Professional athletes use the “offseason” to change their training routine or add new elements to their game. This could be your time to edit postings messages, play with a new tracking system or even work on skill advancement through a class, podcast subscription or book that’s waiting to be read.
It’s easy to assume that recruitment activity will slow down during the holiday season, but if the effort is strategically focused using the right tactics, progress can be made, and results can be achieved. All that is needed is a bit of ingenuity and creative thinking to take advantage of this “wonderful time of the year”.