HR Pulse - Summer 2008 - (Page 57)

“There is urgency to the model This urgency impels the change and allows a new agenda to unfold. It is no longer telling someone how to do it; it is doing it. That is what makes the difference.” of sourcing and advertising. During this phase, the three-member team was onsite and did its initial assessment in conjunction with the director of recruitment and the VP of HR. This collaboration involved frequent meetings with nursing leadership, HR, and all key players to elicit views of obstacles to recruitment and to devise speciﬁc goals. A speciﬁc timely response model to nursing inquiries was introduced during these meetings. The support-services team, initially acting in the role of recruiters, was responsible for the implementation of this model, for the overall recruitment process, and for tracking each nurse applicant. The initial screening goal was to identify potential qualiﬁed candidates and to eliminate those who were unqualiﬁed. Qualiﬁed candidates were deﬁned as those who met both the minimum qualiﬁcations as stated in job descriptions and those who also possessed unitspeciﬁc qualities of both clinical acumen and character. Such candidates were presented to the respective hiring managers, who were urged to respond promptly to the recruiter’s request for an interview. Hiring managers also were asked to be readily available to the recruiters for follow-up. Perceived obstacles to timely hiring decisions were discussed before any conﬂicts arose. Following the initial 30-day assessment, the support service team brought in a permanent team of specially trained nurse recruiters who were educated in the timely response model and supporting procedures. These recruiters functioned as if they were actual facility employees whose sole function was to focus on nurse recruitment. The team of recruiters presented accurate reports to the facility’s nursing and HR leadership at weekly or bi-weekly meetings. It was immediately apparent that efﬁcient pre-screening of qualiﬁed candidates saved time for the managers, because it increased the interview-to-hire ratio. In addition, leaders were surprised to ﬁnd a robust pool of applicants that was thought not to exist prior to the implementation of this program. The result? Vacancy rate was reduced to 3.27 percent after six months. To assure satisfaction, identify any remaining obstacles, and improve performance where needed, quality assurance assessments were done in the following areas: compliance with this model of nurse recruitment done at 90 days and six months, new-hire surveys completed after 45 days of employment, and customer satisfaction surveys of nursing leadership after six months. Findings were shared in leadership meetings. “This focused approach allowed for change to ﬁnally occur,” said Keane when initial results were achieved. “There is urgency to the model This urgency impels the change and allows a new agenda to unfold. It is no longer telling someone how to do it; it is doing it. That is what makes the difference.” Subsequently, CentraState will implement a second phase of the program to evaluate both allied health and ancillary recruiting with the aim of putting the template for nurse recruitment in place for all areas of recruitment. It will involve training for their ancillary and allied health recruitment team who were not involved in the nurse-recruitment model. The program will be evaluated after six months to see if that model can be successfully transferred to the other areas. With projected vacancy rates as high as 36 percent by 2020¹, nurse recruiting and retention will remain critical. It has been said that the ﬁrst step to retention begins with the nurse’s ﬁrst encounter in the organization. If hospitals do not change the way they handle nurse recruitment, those potential nurses could be lost to their organizations, and possibly to the profession, before they ever begin. ¹ Health Resource Service Administration report, What is Behind HRSA’s Projected Supply, Demand and Shortage of Registered Nurses?, September 2004, accessed on the American Association of Colleges of Nurses October 2007 fact sheet. Sharon I. Kushner, RN, BSN, MSN is a professional development and quality specialist at Recruitment Specialists Incorporated in Towson, Md. 57 HR Pulse Summer 2008

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of HR Pulse - Summer 2008

HR Pulse - Summer 2008 Contents Pulse Points Executive Director's Letter President's Message HR Leader Profile: Carol Bank, SPHR Special Report: Building a Thriving Workforce Creating A Best Place to Work Employee Morale Don't Set Up Your Managers to Fail From Tedious Task to Strategic Process Employer-Assisted Housing Changing the Paradigm of Nurse Recruitment Workforce Recognition: Simple Gestures Go a Long way Advertisers' Index

HR Pulse - Summer 2008

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