This is the final article in an ongoing series summarizing the findings in a recent white paper published by the President of Jackson Physician Search, Tony Stajduhar. To read “Physician Recruitment: The Cost to Hire and Return on Investment” in its entirety, find it here.
The physician shortage is our current reality across the healthcare industry. Treating it as anything less than an urgent situation is a step closer to a financial cliff. Your key consideration in all of this is how well your recruiting and hiring process is working. If your recruitment process is broken and your time to fill rates are lagging, then the chances are you are going to end up with a bad hire anyway. The time to invest in the implementation of key best practices to improve your hiring process and create success in the recruitment process is now. Here are a few ways you can close your physician recruitment gaps, improve your hiring process, and see a better return on investment.
- Continuous Recruiting – Just because you have identified a group of candidates and scheduled interviews, don’t stop recruiting. It is important to continue the process until you have a signed contract in hand. Why you ask? First, at any point in the process, you may find yourself back at square one due to unforeseen circumstances. Second, you need to maintain your leverage throughout the negotiating process and keep your potential candidates engaged. Lastly, it is important to create a memorable experience for the candidates you meet to keep your referral pipeline full and also keep them engaged for future needs.
- Don’t Get Stuck on Cost per Hire – While the cost per hire is an important metric, viewing your recruitment process in its entirety allows you to measure whether or not you have made a good hire in the long run. The quality of hire impacts your return on investment because of turnover, loss of patient loyalty, quality of care, and other issues.
- Strategic Partnerships Can Improve ROI – Sometimes finding the right strategic partner is the key to improving your recruitment process. Smaller systems or community health centers may not be equipped to cast a wide enough net to attract the right candidate to a position. Finding a partner that can manage the digital tools available and has a trusted reputation in the industry will allow your key internal leaders to focus on creating a quality interview process and keeping the process on track.
- Paint a Better Picture – As a candidate goes through the recruitment process, there are many considerations that they are internally processing. For example, is the community a place that is a good fit for their family? They are going to be assessing your workplace culture and whether or not they can envision themselves fitting in and contributing. Far too often, the process gets bogged down by paperwork and non-human considerations. Instead, create an onboarding process that caters to them as a person and their family as a whole. Highlight the community, the schools, and the things that will engage them in the longer term. Focusing on the person first creates an environment that builds trust, rapport, and retention, not to mention word of mouth that benefits your referral pipeline.
If your organization is suffering from a lackluster recruitment process or is saddled by too many bad hires, we can help. Jackson Physician Search has the experience, nation-wide reach, and industry knowledge to help you streamline your recruitment, hiring, and retention process. Contact our team today and find out how we can be the strategic partner you need.
