The Hire Connection: Connect and Capture!

Recruiting a physician is possibly one of the most difficult challenges a CEO faces as strategies and projections are implemented from the top down. Until one has gone through a recruitment you can’t possibly appreciate the mental anguish that is created waiting for the right physician to come along and want to plant roots in your community. If it is a replacement to someone who has retired or relocated then there are issues of retaining the patient base of that physician while a new one is recruited. This obviously takes time and the longer it takes the more quickly the patient base you are attempting to keep in tact erodes. The patients are going to go somewhere and your biggest fear is they begin to utilize the services of a physician whose loyalty is with your competition in town. Many sleepless nights are spent trying to plug the holes while you search for the replacement. The unfortunate thing is there is nothing you can do until you get a replacement.

The other scenario is recruiting a physician because you are adding a new service. If the service does not require a lot of capital outlay you may not get worked up to much but if you have gone to the board and begged and pleaded for $8,000,000.00 to add cardiology services then you may get some heartburn if you have to wait to long for the physician. Especially if you have already built the new heart catheritization lab. Now you need someone in the cath lab seeing patients and generating revenue so you can pay the note. You have built in some lag time to get the physician there but most times not enough. In either of the scenario you feel under the gun and your job depends on the success of your recruitment.

Everyone hates recruiting but it has to be done if you are going to accomplish and fulfill the vision of your facility. All of the dreams, visions, mission statements, strategies, forecasts are meaningless if you can’t recruit the physician that is going to take you to the promise land.

So why do we pay thousands of dollars to recruitment agencies, fully expecting them to get the job done, but not give it the priority it deserves. There are many reasons why this happens. First of all we have been recruiting physicians for years and we have to go through the same dog and pony show, most times wiping out our precious weekends where you have a standing t-time that is once again going to get bumped for ANOTHER interview. An interview where there are no guarantees he/she is going to accept an opportunity. That is a difficult proposition. We jump through all the hoops to put together a solid itinerary, addressing every need you feel is important to the candidate and spouse only to learn that once again they are not interested because the town was not what they expected.

Here are the realities. People move to locations and accept opportunities for a variety of reasons. Compensation, politics, expansions, equipment, amenities in community, quality of schools, are just a few but the main reason why anyone would move to your community and it is the great equalizer if there are some deficiencies in the above reasons and that is your ability to connect. So what does it mean to connect and capture.

Here is one of the greatest simple truths in life that if fully understood will take you to heights you have never been before. Life is not about you, it is about the other person. That other person can be your spouse, close friend, significant other, or it could be the candidate sitting in front of you at a dinner table that just wiped out another weekend because of the interview. When you grasp this concept and take it to the next level you begin to understand what connecting is about. Once you get the connecting down the capture is simply a natural progression.

So how does one connect with someone. Remember it is not about you. We love talking about ourselves because first of all that is where our comfort level is. We know ourselves and therefore; it is easy to speak for hours about that subject. We are also very passionate about ourselves, most times, and therefore; we can add a lot of emotion and dynamics to the monologue. The problem is a candidate doesn’t care about you, they want you to care about them. So if you truly want to connect, express a genuine interest in someone by getting them talking about themselves. Don’t ask close-ended questions where you get one word answers. Ex. How many children do you have? How many years have you been married? Where are you from? All of these questions make you the center of the discussion because you are asking questions and he/she is giving you one word answers. How about taking the same questions and turning them into open-ended questions. Ex. So can you tell me about your children. How did you meet you wife? What was your childhood like?

These questions and many more will get the person talking about something they are very comfortable with and are very passionate about. This also shifts the attention from you to them. Remember, it is about them, not you. If you want to connect with someone you have to express genuine interest in the person, be attentive, don’t interrupt, look them in the eye, and let your body language reflect what they are saying.

A candidate can determine if they can make a living in a hospital or practice very quickly. They can also determine if they will like the community or if the community has the amenities the family need very quickly. They can typically get that information off the chamber of commerce website. What they can’t determine by looking at websites, mailers, speaking with recruiters, etc., is weather they can connect with someone in your community. There are a lot of reasons why someone would reconsider relocating but the number one reason is going to be you and anyone else that is part of the process. You have to be able to connect or that amazing piece of equipment you just purchased won’t amount to a hill of beans.

When you connect your odds of capturing a candidate go through the roof. So if you want to free up some weekends and get back to your standing tee time then eliminate 3-4 interviews to get one candidate and start connecting with the candidate and spouse. At The Hire Connection, we know how to connect and capture your perfect candidate. Give us a call so we can help you!

Let the Hire Connection help you find the Right person, for the Right place, for the Right time who will stay with you!

The Hire Connection offers its clients the industry's most comprehensive range of recruitment services. Coupling technology, expertise and accountability, The Hire Connection services are designed to source, screen, qualify, present and place the RIGHT providers to satisfy recruitment goals and improve provider retention. Give us a call today!

SUBSCRIBE TODAY!

The Hire Connection Team

Let's Connect!

Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/thehireconnection

Twitter @HireConnection

https://twitter.com/hireconnection

Google+

https://plus.google.com/+TheHireConnectionOsageBeach

LinkedIn

https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-hire-connection-llc

YouTube