HR Pulse - Winter 2007 - (Page 14) [HR LEADER] Growing an Organization Elder Care Alliance is a nonprofit, faith-centered organization that provides residential care, assisted living, dementia special care and skilled nursing in six communities in California. The alliance is cosponsored by the Sisters of Mercy, Regional Community of Burlingame and the Sierra Pacific Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Goad got on board in 1997 when the alliance was first formed and consisted of two communities; one of his first tasks was to recruit the chief financial officer and other members of the executive team. Since then, Elder Care Alliance has grown to encompass six communities. “It’s pretty exciting to get to develop an HR department from the ground up for a new company—putting in the entire HR structure, policies and procedures from scratch,” says Goad. “That’s not an opportunity that comes along every day.” Watching Elder Care Alliance expand has been particularly rewarding, according to Goad. “Seeing a new community develop from infancy and watching it grow is very exciting. We work with a variety of partners—religious organizations, hospitals, municipalities—to make it happen. From seeing the groundbreaking and construction process to staffing, opening the doors and watching residents move in, it really is wonderful.” He says he likes being an HR generalist. “I’m happy being a jack-of-alltrades,” Goad reports. “I find satisfaction in all of it—strategic planning, recruitment, benefits administration. I probably enjoy the employee relations part of the job most of all.” HR? Why Not? While Goad says that he was “destined” to be in the HR field, that realization was something that he discovered pretty much by accident. The profession came on his radar screen because his college roommate was majoring in industrial relations/personnel management. When Goad was forced to choose a major, he signed up for the same thing because it sounded interesting. “It was my good luck to have fallen into it,” he says. When you talk to Goad, you probably wouldn’t guess from his easy-going demeanor that he served as a drill sergeant in the Army reserve in the late 1960s and early 1970s. He says it was great training for an HR professional. “I got to work with so many diverse people,” he explains. “It really helped me learn about the most effective ways to train people and how to reward and encourage them. People always think of drill sergeants as yelling and screaming in an effort to motivate people. I saw that method as de-motivating to most people and that it worked against you in trying to accomplish your goals. I took a very different approach.” n We Teach You to Fish. Outsource Nurse Recruitment Proverb: “If you give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. Teach him to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.” 14 HR Pulse Winter 2007 The same holds true for nurse recruitment. Just about any company can help you recruit a nurse or two or ten. But only when you learn and adopt new methods for recruitment, can you lure an experienced nursing workforce for a lifetime. Trust nurse recruitment outsourcing solutions from RSI OnSite. Let us teach you how to fish. Contact RSI OnSite today & ask about our complimentary one-half day OnSite recruitment analysis. 800.787.9669 info@rsionsite.com www.rsionsite.com 348378_Recruitment.indd 1 9/17/07 8:56:43 PM http://www.rsirecruit.com
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