October 3, 2023 •Level Ten Healthcare Advisors
Though the HR team largely operates behind the scenes of every organization, they play a vital strategic role in determining the quality of your organizational culture.
With every decision they make, the HR team is slowly but surely determining what your health system’s reputation will be, what level of quality can be expected, how innovative you’ll become, the amount of attentiveness and compassion that will be found in patient care, and if both patients and employees alike will have a pleasant experience and wish to continue interacting with your organization, or—due to a bad experience—will seek services, care, and employment with your competitors.
Despite their best efforts, even the most capable HR leaders can unknowingly have a negative effect on their organizational culture, but with some intentionality and strategy refinements, they can easily get back on track.
Here are 5 common mistakes that HR leaders are making and what you can do instead:
Mistake #1: Bad Filter vs. Attracting the Right People to Your Team
One of the primary mistakes the HR team can make is operating without a clearly defined employer brand.
An employer brand distills the essence of who you are as an employer, what you have to offer, and what employees will experience when they interact with your organization.
When recruiting new talent to your health system, you’ll want to be sure you’re deploying your employer brand through every means of communication so that you’re attracting ideal candidates who will thrive within your organizational culture and fully represent your organization’s values, while also deterring those candidates who will not fit well within your organization and threaten to pull your culture down.
GETTING IT RIGHT: When you’ve dialed in your messaging and communications with a strong employer brand, you’ll stop overspending on ads that aren’t connecting and you’ll decrease turnover from losing less-than ideal candidates. Instead, you’ll begin attracting top-tier recruits who are sold out for your mission, an ideal fit for your organization, in it for the long haul, and who can make a big impact by delivering a transformational patient experience.
Mistake #2: Bad SYSTEM vs. Simplifying the Application Process
Another common mistake we see HR teams make is failing to understand the candidate experience and not reducing friction and barriers within the application process.
All too often, our health systems are utilizing outdated technologies and relying on requisition software that causes undue burden to applicants. Candidates are forced to spend extra time and energy fighting with bad tech or repeating their efforts to get connected to the right role.
And, if they can wrestle their way through the ATS, candidates may still fall away with improper communication and follow-up from our team about the status of their application or suitability for an alternate role.
We need to get back to basics and map the hiring process from start to finish, then redesign each touchpoint by providing the right care, attention, content, and tools to support potential recruits in their quest.
GETTING IT RIGHT: When we’ve thoughtfully designed each stage of the process and built solutions to common pitfalls, we’ll lock in the best candidates at the peak of their motivation and interest, fill our positions more effectively, and ensure exceptional talent joins our team.
Mistake #3: Bad STRATEGY vs. Effectively Filling Key Vacancies
Relying on an old, outdated, or ineffective strategy is another big mistake HR leaders make. Some organizations are even attempting to recruit talent without any strategy in place.
Without a comprehensive recruitment and retention plan that’s designed to meet the needs of today’s new marketplace—by selling your organization’s culture and speaking to the needs of the employee—you’ll continue working too hard for every lead, overspending across tactics that deliver no ROI, stalling out and gaining no traction, and failing to fill essential positions.
The longer we wait to get key vacancies filled by great talent, the more burden and stress we place on our existing team. In our failure to find new recruits, we’ll risk losing the qualified employees we’ve already invested in and trained.
GETTING IT RIGHT: When we’ve redesigned our recruitment strategy around our employer brand; mapped our tactics for key positions; improved our comms in every stage of the candidate journey; and built brand awareness, increased engagement, enhanced our reputation, and driven growth (BERG); we’ll have a veritable recruitment machine in motion that helps keep our talent pipeline full, decreases cost and time per hire, and saves time, effort, and energy since we won’t have to re-lay the groundwork for every new recruit.
Mistake #4: Bad Delegation vs. Freeing Your Time for What Matters Most
Attempting to make order from the chaos and constant fires, HR leaders will try delegating tasks to lighten their load. But, delegating ineffectively can prevent them from being freed up for what matters most.
When the boss’s son is making your graphics or an Executive Search firm not intimately familiar with your messaging and brand is trying to make your ads, you’ll fail to connect with the right candidates and make progress toward your goals.
While you may think you’re saving time and money, in reality, not fielding the right team will cost you dearly. Instead of being freed up for bigger initiatives, you’ll be left continually hitting the same roadblocks and tying up your time on frustrations and issues that aren’t the best use of your skills.
GETTING IT RIGHT: When you’re outsourcing your needs strategically—and teaming with branding and communication experts and strategists who have masterfully crafted your employer brand—you’ll be freed up to begin transforming the culture of your organization, developing your employees as leaders, and achieving long-term, life-changing impact.
Mistake #5: Bad Communication + Follow-Up vs. Planting Seeds for a Culture of Excellence
HR leaders are pivotal not just in sourcing and selecting the right talent, but in setting the expectations for new employees through orientation and onboarding. Unfortunately, even after sourcing a great recruit, HR Leaders can fail to maximize their influence and impact at this key stage of the employee journey.
The first 30, 60, and 90 days of an employee’s tenure are vital for setting the tone, making them feel welcome, helping them deeply integrate into the culture, and building engagement and loyalty through belonging.
Too often, we miss marking these key milestones and risk losing great employees who never feel fully assimilated into our teams, or we fail to fully communicate what’s expected and our attempts to build a healthy, strong, and vibrant culture begin to slowly erode.
GETTING IT RIGHT: When we’re clear from day one about the level of excellence, kindness, and collaboration needed to succeed, we can rebuild our culture one new recruit at a time. And, when we’re diligent about coaching, mentoring, and communicating during key milestones, we can ensure new employees feel deeply connected, committed to our mission, and highly motivated to stay.
The Bottom Line
HARD TRUTH #1: The Longer You Wait, the Harder it is to Get Back on Track
In the recruitment game, failing to master your messaging and update your strategy and approach will only compound your health system's employment struggles and challenges.
HARD TRUTH #2: Small Problems Not Resolved Create Exponential Impact
When you're attracting the wrong employees, your stream of bad recruits will continue to be a management nightmare and pollute your organizational culture.
When you're slow to fill essential vacancies, your staff becomes even more overworked and overstressed from bearing the burden of open positions.
When you're overspending on ineffective approaches and strategies, you're bleeding vital resources that could be better spent developing your employees into exceptional leaders who can better serve their customers and provide a transformational patient experience.
It Doesn't Have to Be This Way. Imagine...
- Streamlining Your Efforts to Save Time and Money
Simplify the Recruitment game with Employer Brand templates and messaging guides built around your EVP— cutting turnaround time in half and doubling your impact - Unburdening Your Team from Constant Firefighting
Give your team the power of clarity and focus with a well-planned, strategic approach, preventing last-minute emergencies and impromptu requests from the squeaky wheel - Cutting Key Metrics in Half with Long-Term Strategies
Decrease cost and time per hire when you've built steady awareness, engagement, reputation, and growth through your Employer Brand and Strategic Recruitment Marketing Plan - Charting Your Legacy and Transforming Your Culture
Make a bigger contribution, improve your health system, and impact the entire industry by freeing up time to devote improving engagement, experience, and innovation
You Have the Power to Transform Your Organizational Culture
HR leaders are immensely powerful and are uniquely positioned to have a significant impact on the health of your organizational culture. To free you up to focus on vital transformation initiatives, you must first be sure your recruitment machine is operating efficiently.
Get back on track by attracting A-players to your team with Employer Brand and Strategic Recruitment. Once you’ve laid the groundwork, you can take your efforts to the next level and create a comprehensive plan to strategically build employee engagement, develop your employees to be great leaders, and transform your organization through innovation and offering greater levels of patient care and service.
STEP 1: Build Your Recruitment Machine
Craft a well-defined Employer Brand and Strategic Recruitment Marketing Plan to ensure you’re maximizing your efforts and resources and attracting the best talent to your team.
STEP 2: Craft a Meaningful Employee Experience
Improve your culture, build loyalty and engagement, and increase employee retention by redesigning the employee experience through each of the Seven Stages of Employee Engagement.
STEP 3: Transform Your Leaders to Innovate and Serve
Launch a Leadership Development initiative that equips your employees to increase employee engagement, improve the patient experience, and inspire operational innovation.
You Can Win with Recruitment + Retention. We can Help.
Level Ten Healthcare Advisors is a strategic advisory consulting firm that helps healthcare executives create a custom roadmap for success, build powerfully engaged teams, and stay relevant and competitive in the marketplace by embracing innovation.
We understand the challenges you face as a healthcare leader—including how difficult it is to step outside of the daily chaos to prioritize organizational transformation—but know all too well that if you aren't actively transforming your organization, you are losing ground.
We are passionate about working with your team, hand in hand, to help you navigate the challenges at your health system, live out your brand values, and create a culture where patients are deeply cared for and employees can truly thrive.
Get back on track and start making a bigger impact:
- Connect with our team by scheduling a free, 30 minute call
- Collaborate with us to determine your organization’s needs
- Transform your organization with a strategic partner by your side
