The Blonde Lady with the Bling!

Interviewer: Claudia Cotarelo, Atlantic Health System
Interviewee: Susan Erickson, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences

At my first IMAGE conference, I recall noticing a fellow NAHCR member and remember calling her “the blonde lady with the bling.” Little did I know, this “blonde lady” would be my mentor on NAHCR’s Board of Directors.

Susan Erickson is someone whom you don’t easily forget – she came across as friendly, vivacious, passionate, caring and then some!  Sue and I served on the board for one year. She was my mentor and was all that I thought she would be!

Over the last few years, we’ve become friends and stay in touch whether during a conference call or seeing each other at IMAGE.

So when it was time for me to write my first NAHCR blog, I was excited to write about Susan Erickson and her “recruitment journey.” In doing so, I found out a few things I didn’t know about her.

How did you get to this point?

During the early 90s when “replacement by attrition” was popular, Susan found herself being asked to pick up an additional department. The selection would either be Staff Education or Nurse Recruitment. We all know she picked “B,” Nurse Recruitment, but little did she know that this career selection would turn into her passion.

Where to start?

Being who she is, she was quick to reach out to colleagues in the community. She found out about NAHCR; next thing she knew, her ticket was booked to the IMAGE Conference in Orlando, Fla., only 14 years ago! She has never missed a conference since.

Where do I begin?

Susan attended our two-day recruiter pre-conference workshop. She thought, “Why not? This should help me,” even though she was excited and overwhelmed by everything she “didn’t” know. Since her work place did not have a nurse recruitment plan, she had to start from scratch.

During the conference, the first thing she noticed from fellow NAHCR members was the warm reception she received – she went to IMAGE not knowing anyone. That same reception she received during her first IMAGE conference is what gave her the drive to get started on her recruitment journey. She also remembers coming home and connecting with other members through the membership directory. She reached out to as many people as she could, searching for subject/project experts.  

She finds her NAHCR membership invaluable to her success and to her organization’s success. The ability to reach out to membership and to ask a question is priceless. She has implemented so many basic programs from sign-on to referral bonuses, 60-day post hires to exit interviews, and recently onboarding specific to her facility while learning so much from other NAHCR members.  

It’s easy for members to share when they are just as passionate about what they do!

So I asked her …

Would you have chosen “B” all over again?

“Of course,” she said. She likes what she does, and she loves the networking and resources provided by NAHCR members. She also likes to give back and be of service to others.

These days she’s not only involved at the national level but also at the state level – again giving back, serving others.

Full Circle…

This past July, Susan received NAHCR’s Distinguished Member Award – an award given to an individual for outstanding service to NAHCR and contributions to health care recruitment at national, state or local levels. You can IMAGE imagine her surprise … someone who chose “B” was given an award for everything that she’s done. She was speechless. Anyone who knows Susan knows that she is someone who’s never at a loss for words.  She was overwhelmed with emotion; she didn’t get her graduate degree in recruitment.

“How can this happen to me?  I love my job, should I be rewarded for loving what I do?”

Yes, you should!

She talks about her “Warm Fuzzy” board” in her office.  

This board includes pictures from most of the past 14 IMAGE conferences; it brings a smile to her face. So many great memories. When she needs a boost, she looks at her board. She finds it inspirational to keep on moving forward to effect positive change for her department, work place and state. Good to know that after all these years, Susan still finds her friends at NAHCR inspirational!  

Good job my friend and mentor, the blonde lady with the bling!

 

Bullhorn Report: LinkedIn Most Popular Site for Social Recruiting

If you’re beginning to think every one is using LinkedIn to source candidates, you’re close to right.

Nearly every survey on source of hire or use of social media by recruiters shows LinkedIn to be a key part of the mix; often it leads all the listed social media sites. The company itself reported adding 2,400 customers in just the last quarter of 2012, bringing the total to 16,400 organizations under contract.

Now comes a Bullhorn survey to report that of the 160,000 registered users on Bullhorn Reach, 97% use LinkedIn to source candidates. That’s not as surprising as it might seem at first glance.

To read the entire article by John Zappe at ERE click here.

Great Meetings, Great Conversations & Great Outcomes!

It was cold!  The NAHCR board met last week in cold Minneapolis…. I can’t wait until the summer.

 

We met at the site of the next Image Conference, Hyatt Regency Minneapolis. What a beautiful hotel.   When I first walked in, my eyes went directly to the beautiful fireplace.  The fireplace is almost the width of the lobby.  Before checking in I met up with a fellow board member, Derek Cunningham.  Glad to see a familiar face in a strange city!

I checked in- without a problem.  The staff was helpful and friendly.  My room was on the 24th floor- the views were amazing, ( I wished the weather was clearer so I could see better!).  The board met for two days; great meetings both days; great conversations and great outcomes!  I can’t wait to see what the future has in store for NAHCR.

I had an opportunity to visit the downtown area,  which is full of restaurants, small eclectic shops, coffee shops, book stores, large stores (Target and Macy’s ) –there’s even “Hell’s Kitchen”.   I took a stroll on Saturday afternoon me myself and I; found myself in Target ( one of my favorite stores)….. not just any Target- this store was HUGE!  It’s in a corner building – it has at least 3 floors and more importantly a Starbucks!  I was surprised to see their shopping carts had their own escalator- yes- that’s correct; they had an escalator.  I’ve never seen that before.  As I  sat and enjoyed my coffee… I enjoyed city views – this Starbucks had huge windows overlooking Nicollet Mall. 

I look forward every year to Image – I get to visit a new city and meet new friends and catch up with old ones!  I really enjoyed our board meeting and enjoyed Minneapolis. I hope to see you there in July!

Claudia Cotarelo

NE Regional Chair

How to Create a Sourcing Strategy

While confusion seems to reign among recruiting leaders on how to build effective sourcing strategies, Donna Quintal at Sears Holdings Corporation has been able to craft a powerful set of analytics over the past few years to help predict where hiring will occur before the requisitions appear and what sorts of candidate communities should be cultivated to meet expected needs.

What Donna has done anyone can do — she started small, made a business case for what she did, and because of her practical and business-focused approach was able to get additional resources and expand the usefulness of her analytics.

It is not necessary to have sophisticated analytic tools or exceptional expertise. These are useful, but they are not necessary to get started. Even simple data can be powerful, and is often more useful in the beginning because it is easier to see the connection between the data and the results that business leaders respect.

Donna started with simple tools — just an Excel spreadsheet and Survey Monkey. She gathered basic data from surveys created in Survey Monkey. She gathered data about the needs and issues the hiring managers had, especially from areas where there were problems. Once she had this data, she was able to look for common issues and target areas for improvement. This was then shared with recruiters and HR for action.

To read the full article by Kevin Wheeler at ERE, click here.

6 Key Characteristics of a Kick-A** Recruiter

True or false? Recruiters sit around waiting for the right resumes to fall in their laps.

True or false? While attending candidate-focused events, good recruiters chat only with coworkers and passively watch as candidates stroll by.

True or false? Top-performing recruiters only work active applications in their company’s applicant tracking systems.

Answers: False. False. And false!

Yet, at countless job fairs, within global companies and on HR teams across the country, poorly trained, unapproachable and lackluster recruiters are tasked with finding their companies’ next top talent. Don’t let yourself be one of them!


Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/6-key-characteristics-of-a-kick-a-recruiter-2013-2

Ethical and Legal Recruitment Considerations

As a trainer in behavioral interviewing techniques at our organization, I am still continuously surprised by the inappropriate questions that we catch managers asking candidates.  Often times, they have rationalized why a question is relevant to a position without true consideration of the legal and ethical implications.  In order to spark discussion during class, I usually assign pre-reading of the following USATODAY article. 

http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/careers/resources/interviewillegal.htm

Part Two of the NAHCR Recruiter’s Handbook Legal and Ethical Issues for the Recruiter is also a valuable reference resource.  This includes chapters on the hiring process, federal employment laws, and immigration laws.  You can order a copy at http://www.nahcr.com/Documents/Recruiter%20Handbook%20Order%20Form_0612.pdf.

While the majority of the time these illegal questions that pop up are unintentionally asked, they can still place a company or organization at risk of a claim with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.  What resources do you use in your organization to educate hiring managers regarding legal interview questioning?  Have you seen any recent publications on this topic that you think would be helpful to share?

 

Melissa Marrero RN-BC, BSN

Loving, and “Hating”, Your Vendor Relationships

In the spirit of Valentine’s Day, which is a holiday to celebrate relationships of all kinds, a pertinent topic to cover is relationships between recruitment and vendors.  As an internal recruiter in health care there is always the “purple squirrel” to be chased.  While “purple squirrel” is a staffing term, it is applicable to recruiters across every specialty area.  These “purple squirrels” are your tough-to-fill positions, be that due to lack of candidate pool (such as experienced physical therapists) or a tough hiring manager who requires a specific amount of experience or a specialized skillset that is tough to find.  Regardless of the reason, as an internal recruiter you will eventually employ a vendor to help you hunt your “purple squirrel.”

Relationships with staffing firms, headhunters, placement agencies, etc. are typically difficult to build.  This is due, in no small part, to the sheer number of companies that are trying to earn your business.  As with any plumber or landscaper you hire – there are the good, the bad, and the excellent. 

With any courtship, the relationship should start with the agency asking you a lot of questions.  They should want to know your “story” – the picture you paint for your candidates to generate interest in your positions.  They should want to know your company culture, your obstacles, your hiring managers’ preferences, and anything else pertinent to your healthcare organization as a whole, eventually getting down to the brass tacks. 

This early part of the relationship requires some investment on your part.  You must invest some time and energy into providing your vendors, or potential vendors, this backstory in order to give them the benefit of having the full story when sourcing candidates to you.  If you are unwilling to invest this time, imagine how little time your vendors will spend finding talent for your organization.

Obviously if a vendor comes at you with a “save the world” mentality and they are not willing to ask questions, they are likely not the vendor for you.  You may receive many candidates, and some may even be candidates you hire; however, when you throw spaghetti at the wall – some will always stick.  Having a recruitment firm that presents YOUR message to the candidate is invaluable.  They have done the initial prescreening for you to ensure the candidate’s interest in a company like yours, and you then have the opportunity to close the deal.

Expectations.  The ugly word that is brought into every relationship – budding or long-term.  Make sure you manage expectations on both sides with your vendors.  If you would prefer they not call you unless there is an “emergency,” let them know.  If you prefer only phone communication and strictly on Tuesday mornings, let them know that as well.  Give your service provider the opportunity to treat you how you would like to be treated as a customer.  If they cannot provide you the service you are looking for, we are all aware of the countless other providers out there.  That being said, expectations work both ways.  As internal recruiters we do not always receive the feedback we would like from our hiring managers, in the timeframe we would like to receive this feedback.  Check in with your vendor in a specified amount of time, even if you do not have additional information.  This will garner their trust as well, and you will likely stop receiving calls in the middle of your busy Monday mornings to “just follow up.”

Overall the purpose of this blog is to serve as a reminder that in the vendor/employer relationship there is a service level commitment and a positive relationship can most definitely be fostered.  Once you have your trusted team of firms to source candidates to you, you will always have this pool to draw from.  As with any service, if your landscaper starts skipping half your yard or sending someone else in his stead, you are free to shop for vendors again.  By investing the time on the front end to research a proper provider, you will reduce the time you spend replacing your vendors or working with too many on the back end.   Having someone to call in your time of “purple squirrel” hunting that can deliver a quality product is truly priceless.