It is not easy to recruit well-qualified healthcare professionals.  Physician groups, hospitals, ambulatory centers, laboratories and other healthcare organizations all struggle with the best way to find the finest people for their open positions.

Because of this, many facilities try to establish in-house recruiting departments. Whether they are looking to streamline costs or create value, many HR executives think that their HR professionals can best manage this process in-house – in addition to all the other required human resource-related duties.

This may not be the case.  No matter how efficient, aligned or inclusive your HR department is as a recruiting organization, it is extremely difficult to handle everything. When you cannot handle everything, you are not creating value.

Time

Recruiting is time-intensive.  If an internal department is trying to cull through hundreds of résumés while still managing daily responsibilities, the process can take weeks or months. This is a long time for a position to remain vacant.  In addition, candidates must be carefully screened to make sure that they have the proper education, experience as well as the right certifications and credentials.  This also takes a significant amount of time.

Recruiting as a specialty

Recruiting is, in many ways, a soft skill.  The internal HR professional must be able to not only locate a candidate but engage that person as well.  Effectively expressing all the reasons to accept the position, overcoming objections, compromising, negotiating and closing the candidate are all inherent skills found in the best recruiters.  Effective, focused recruiting requires specialized expertise and a distinct set of “soft skills” that may not be found among your current HR professionals.

Multiple “clients”

Depending on the facility’s size and needs, a HR department that tries to handle everything is more than likely torn between filling administrative jobs, clinical jobs, IT jobs or even executive positions.  Usually, the HR professional ends up working with the unit that “communicates” the loudest….not with the unit that has the most urgent need.

Focusing simply on hard dollar savings by trying to manage the entire recruiting process in-house can backfire. No one (whether it is a specific person or department) can do everything. Therefore, you can rely on Snelling Medical Professionals to help.  We know where to find suitable candidates, and we can quickly narrow this list to a small and manageable group.  Recruiting is what we do.  We know how to engage a candidate and match his/her needs and desires to your specific work environment and other intangible benefits.   If you are a healthcare organization that needs to fill your open positions quickly or map your future talent pool, contact Snelling Medical Professionals today.

By Christiane Soto, Snelling.com

I love my smartphone…..everyone, I think, loves their smartphones. This little device has given me more flexibility than any other invention created during my lifetime.  It has become ubiquitous to our way of life, used to communicate, conduct research and stay in touch with old friends.  We can even apply for jobs with it.

However, during the job hunt, your smartphone can become your worst enemy.

During this time, you must present yourself as professionally as possible.  With all the effort you have put into creating a professional résumé, cover letter, and wardrobe, it would be an absolute shame if your smartphone represented you in a unprofessional or inappropriate way…and then cost you a job offer.

Ringback tones and notification tones

Using bits of music, dialog, or inappropriate sounds as a ringtone or notification tone is a huge mistake. The goal is to appear professional – not to annoy or offend. Remember, you do not know the person sitting in front of you; everyone is different with different tastes and opinions.  We find different things funny; we find different things offensive.   Not everyone thinks Eminem’s lyrics are literary masterpieces, and you must always assume that using a woman’s scream as a notification for a new text/email/Instagram comment/Facebook “like” will offend.   Read the rest of this entry »

We spend the majority of our day at work, with our co-workers.  With this much time spent together, conflict is inevitable. This is not necessarily a bad thing.  Conflict is a normal part of the work environment, and no one is immune to workplace tensions. When we come together to resolve conflict is when we solve some of our greatest problems and when we create some of our greatest solutions.

Handling and resolving conflicts is one of the biggest challenges that managers and their employees face, because it is (well) hard.  The way to handle this is not to ignore the situation or pretend that nothing is wrong.  The way to handle conflict is to have – what many people call – the “difficult conversation”.

Here are 5 tips to make your next difficult conversation as productive and stress-free as possible:

• Don’t procrastinate.  In order to reach a productive outcome, you must first have the conversation.  When we have to do something that is outside our comfort zone, it is very tempting to simply put it off until “later”.  However, if you are waiting for the perfect time, that time will never come.  Perfection is something you make – not something you find. Stop procrastinating and talk. If it helps, set an appointment; they are harder to wiggle out off. Read the rest of this entry »

The perfect job.  It is what everyone dreams of, but the path to finding it can be tough.  From stringent hiring requirements to difficult interviews to the second-guessing that consumes any attempt at follow-up, the process can be challenging.

But there are choices when it comes to the path that you should follow.  Not all people find their “best-fit” job through online advertisements, or job fairs, or even newspaper ads.

At Snelling, we focus on finding you your best-fit job – the job that, right now, fits your needs, your lifestyle and your standards. This focus is summed up in our People + tagline.  With Snelling’s People + you know that you are able to leverage a resource that focuses on who you are and what you can offer.  We work hard every day getting quality workers into quality jobs at quality companies. When you work with Snelling, you get:

People + Opportunity

We help people get to work – in the way they want to work.  We can do that for you, too.  Whether you are testing the waters with a temporary or a temp-to-hire position or are looking for full-time employment, Snelling can help.         Read the rest of this entry »

As the CEO of Snelling, I have seen this industry grow and change phenomenally over the last several years.  Rising labor costs, especially those associated with workers’ compensation insurance, health benefits and unemployment taxes, as well as uncertainty around the Affordable Care Act, have led to an increased use of temporary and contingent workers.

With this growth comes a choice, as workforce management firms compete for your business. Promises of competitive advantages, higher quality workers and lower costs permeate the landscape.  Snelling comes to the table with these same promises and much more.  We have been an industry leader for years, and that knowledge is summed up in our People + tagline.  With Snelling’s People + you know that you are getting a quality workforce management partner – one who not only says all the right things, but can prove it.  At Snelling, we are:

People + Proven Results

For over 60 years, Snelling has provided complete workforce solutions to their clients….whether it be a temporary team of workers to help with demand fluctuations or the perfect candidate for a full-time position. In every office across this country, we apply our experience and knowledge to provide you with the unique solution designed to meet your specific need.      Read the rest of this entry »

By Christiane Soto, Snelling Medical Professionals

The term “soft skills” is used to describe an employee’s non-technical skills and abilities and is known by many other names, including interpersonal skills, emotional intelligence or “people skills”. Soft skills include (for example) problem-solving skills, working well on teams, showing up on time, and the ability to effectively communicate.

Technical skills can be taught.  Medical workers go to school to learn the hard skills needed to work in the medical profession.  Soft skills are influenced by who we are as a person.  There is no substitute for a person who has the natural ability to communicate well, provide exemplary patient care, and work well with others.

Because of this, soft skills have gained more importance among employers.  In the medical field, the following intangible skills are ranked very highly:

• Empathy
• The ability to lead
• Work well in teams
• Communication and listening skills

However, if you are searching for a job in the medical field, soft skills are hard to highlight. You cannot simply list the number of days you had no arguments with co-workers, or the number of fights you resolved, or the number of days you arrived on time for your shift.      Read the rest of this entry »

It is a fact.  Businesses are more profitable with engaged, satisfied employees.  Unmotivated, burnt-out (or burning out) employees hurt your business – in both tangible and intangible terms. In order to maximize profits, improve your employer brand, and become a best-in-class employer, you need to help your burnt out employees.

What is burnout?

Employee burnout described a worker who is disengaged from his job. There are some primary causes of burnout, including stress, overload, boredom, and/or poor working conditions.

In many ways, employee burnout is a nationwide epidemic. Companies (of all shapes and sizes) have been trying to do more with less for years. Promotions have ground to a standstill. Recognition programs were cut to the bone. Stresses of all different types raised the issue of workplace bullying and hostile work environments.

The working wounded are everywhere…..in every company.     Read the rest of this entry »

By Christiane Soto, Snelling Medical Professionals

Leadership is an art, something to be learned over time, not simply by reading books.  Leadership is more tribal than scientific, more a weaving of relationships than an amassing of information… (Max DePree)

But with the growing complexity of the healthcare system, a new type of physician is gaining prominence- the physician leader.  Now, in some respects, all physicians are leaders…in the operating room, in the emergency room, in the examination room.  However, a physician leader combines clinical care knowledge with administrative duties in an attempt to take a “good” medical facility or group and make it a “great” medical facility or group.  He/she is changing the face of medicine – realizing that change must occur – and is combining clinical knowledge with administrative leadership to do so.  The problem is leadership does not come naturally to many.

Creating a vision, sharing it, and then seeing it through to fruition does not come inherently to many physicians.  They are trained to identify a problem / situation / condition and then take the steps necessary to fix it.  They cannot grow into something that they do not understand, are skeptical about, or shy away from due to societal misperceptions (Alec Baldwin’s “I am God” speech from Malice, for example).

Many of today’s physicians have never received formal leadership training.  They are not born leaders, but they can learn to become great leaders.  Everyone can learn new skills, and the same goes for doctors.  Leadership is a skill, and (as such) it can be learned.      Read the rest of this entry »

By Christiane Soto, Snelling.com

Is it possible to turn a seasonal job into a full-time position?  Absolutely.  Is it easy? Not always…not every seasonal (summer or holiday) worker can transition to a full-time employee.  Remember, if the company could hire everyone, they would not have needed to bring on a seasonal staff. However, there are definite things that you can do to better ensure your chances of being the person who makes that successful transition.

The key is you.  You will not be handed a full-time work gig simply because you are “present”.  You need to show management that you are a “high value” employee.  You need to do this because (in today’s business environment) management emphasizes value when deciding who makes the transition from seasonal worker to full-time employee.  Now, this judgment is based on perception – it is subjective to a certain degree, but there are 5 things that you can do every day to increase your value and therefore your chances:      Read the rest of this entry »

There is a strong relationship between a company’s profitability and its employees’ engagement levels.  Profitability – especially during a small window of time – is of extreme importance to seasonal businesses.  A lot of money has to be made during the peak sales period in order to survive the “valley” of low sales.

Because of this, employing quality seasonal employees and keeping them engaged is of upmost importance.  If you do not focus on them and their level of job satisfaction, you could easily isolate your customers, lose business and (therefore) lose money.

In many ways, you must focus on their satisfaction levels in the same way as your full-time (year-round) employees.

For example, you must:      Read the rest of this entry »