Put Talent Recruiting for Your Urgent Care on Your Daily To-do List

When you’re looking for healthcare providers and higher-end talent to fill open positions at your urgent care, your first instinct may be to reach out to a specialized recruiter. But more often than not, urgent cares are choosing more efficient ways to spend their money and finding the talent they need with targeted human resources recruiting strategies. Effective recruiting begins long before a position is announced and encompasses college recruiting offices to social media networks. In our last blog post in this HR series, we explored 6 Reasons to Hire an HR Manager for Your Urgent Care Clinic. In this blog we’ll talk about how to find the right person for the job.

Eventually, you’ll find yourself looking for someone to fill an open position at your clinic. These tips will help you fill it well and fill it sooner rather than later.

Implement everyday recruiting efforts.

Building a talented staff isn’t something you do only when a position comes open ” it should be a part of your everyday marketing strategy. It’s important to have a clear understanding of your organization’s brand, its culture, and the types of people that thrive in specific positions throughout your clinic before you start recruiting for a particular position. The following is a list of things you can do every day to make sure good candidates want to come work at your urgent care.

• Determine what your organization’s culture is going to mirror and promote it throughout with the understanding that like any culture it will grow, morph, and need to change with the industry over time.
• Build, manage, and maintain your reputation for excellent patient care and patient focus so that general word-of-mouth helps you attract talented care providers in your area
• Participate in community events and speaking opportunities to build awareness of your brand or even your hiring needs.
• Put together an enticing, but practical, job description and benefits package for top-tier healthcare talent.
• Figure out where the people you’re looking for are looking for jobs and plan future recruiting efforts based on what you learn. Some possibilities are employment websites; online search; industry-specific organizations, societies, or associations; and social media.
• Start intern programs that can grow into a full-time position and allow you to woo (and train) promising talent before anyone else.
• Always keep your eyes and ears open in case you unexpectedly meet an ideal hire.

Initiate contact with ideal candidates.

Even with the best brand and reputation, it can be difficult to find the right person to fill a specific job opening. You may have to think beyond traditional human resource strategies and personally reach out to candidates that you’ve identified through research and networking.

Here are some ways to reach out.

• Online research (web crawling or data mining), based on desirable traits and expertise. Search hospital, clinic, or medical practice websites for ideal candidates. Contact job candidates directly to initiate a meeting.
• Direct mail postcards and email blasts to purchased, targeted mailing lists based on your talent wish list including ER doctors, primary care doctors, residency programs and recent graduates across various disciplines.
• For mid-level providers, contact career placement offices or student services at area colleges to list positions, or ask career counselors for recommendations.
• Evaluate whether your current interns are prepared for full-time positions and if they’re still a good fit for your urgent care clinic.

Don’t give up.

You know your market best ” including the talent available nearby. It may be necessary to look outside your area, rethink your requirements, or find a creative way to solve your human resource challenges. Don’t settle for a risky candidate and waste time (and training) on a short-term fix. Take the time and put in the effort necessary to find the right person for the job ” it will pay off in the long run with a better fitting team member, less turnover, and overall, less cost to the organization.

This is the second post in our HR Series. You may also be interested in reading about Employee Retention and Terminating Staff.