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The best way to recruit top talent to your organization and, yes, health care is, in my perspective– but, I think, anywhere– is to take great care of your employees. There is no better way to recruit other employees but to have a reputation for being a great employer.
We listen. We are fair. We take care of people. We provide development opportunities. We treat people as individuals. We’re empathetic. We listen. We learn, creating that culture that you asked me about before.
Great cultures, great leaders attract other great employees. And you often hear about a really great leader who leaves one organization and goes to another. When people follow, that’s an example of a great leader because people are saying, hey, I want to work for him or her again.
But I think that’s the best way to attract talent. I also think just understanding what talent needs today. So I do think people want leadership. People want to work somewhere where there is a plan. What are we doing? How are we going to get there? What are our mission? What’s our values?
So all of those things that make up the culture but can be easily articulated. We’re here to provide quality care. We’re here to be the best in our community. We’re here to make sure there’s access for all. But having a clear plan, somebody who can articulate it, and then they live it out in the hallways of the organization that they serve.
Of course, I think referral programs are then the best way to recruit additional people because if you have great people working in your workforce, you want them to go invite their friends, their buddies, they went to school with, the people that they know about. So I think referral programs are another great way to attract great talent.
I also think that health care organizations, whether they’re inpatient or outpatient or clinics, they have amazing stories to tell. And so telling the stories of the great things that we do together, I think, are important. I believe people want to be a part of a winning team. People want to be a part of an organization that’s doing remarkable things.
And so letting our staff, letting our employees tell some of those stories– of course, not breaching any confidentiality, although oftentimes, patients want to share the story– but telling the stories of the miraculous things that happen every day in our organizations. I think that’s another great way to do it. But having a strong recruitment background, which I’ve had in my entire career.
I also know that there is no silver bullet, as they say. You have to be willing to do a number of multiple things in order to attract great talent. And then as people come to you, you have to know what great talent looks like. And that’s not easy. You don’t want just every nurse that shows up to the door or every nurse or doctor that applies.
You want to understand, what are those qualities, what are those competencies, what are those characteristics that we want to hire because we’re one of the best and because patient care is important to us. So it really is all of those things together– developing a great culture, taking great care of your people, igniting your people or engaging your people in the mission to bring more really passionate, competent people to the table, and then understanding how to choose them because you don’t want every nurse that applies to work.
You don’t want every housekeeper that applies to serve with us. We want the ones that reflect our mission, our values, and are going to provide exceptional care because everyone provides exceptional care. It’s just done at a different level, depending on what your role is.
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