This is a simple and easy concept for both employers and job seekers. The hiring transaction is all about brand management.
On the part of the employer, having a solid company "brand" to teach and share with potential new hires is crucial. Candidates are looking to every member of the interview panel/team as an example and resource about what the job and your company is all about. Your company's success with hiring on a large scale may well depend on how well your interviewers represent their experience, enthusiasm and passion for the vision, mission and values of your company. They are the animate representatives of the success of your business. Be sure that each and every one of them represents your hospital or practice; company or start up with the candor and decorum that infuses candidates with the culture, esprit and opportunity of working there.
If you are a candidate your entire career and how you have conducted yourself is your personal "brand". More and more you are responsible for representing yourself by your products (years of service; roles served; people managed; budgets balanced; new products developed; patients etc...) to others outside of the resume. The resume is a nice tool to support your brand, but you want to be sure you can speak to each and every accomplishment. Your professional life and how you've lived it is the product and how you promote it and "brand" it is the secret to your success.
Happy and healthy hiring.
Lynden
Monday, October 31, 2005
Sunday, October 23, 2005
Shock & Awe - Client Advice Post
Once upon a time, when I was a medical center executive, it was my night on call. Usually the administrator on call means nothing. No reason to do anything outside have a usually lovely evening with my family. One night sticks painfully in my memory. I was the administrator on call. The phone rang at 3:40 am. I woke and took the call. It was from the top night nursing representative. She said, "I've never had to do this before, but I'm calling the administrative representative on call - our air ambulance has dropped from radar. They can't be raised by radio. I don't know what to do."
I'm not always the calmest in a storm, but in this situation I think that I was still partially asleep and my brain wasn't ticking yet. "Thanks for the call. I will contact other administrative representatives and the hospital CEO. We will be in immediately and help you take it from here."
I arrived at work that morning at 5:30 and the rest of the day was a blur as we all tried to cope with the anguish of losing a team of paramedics; the pilot who was exceptional; and the patient. As the day drew on the details became clear. They were trying to transport a heart patient out of one of the smaller regional communities to our facility. There was a wicked snow storm happening and apparently ice took control of the wings during the flight. The plane was finally found. There were no survivors.
What does that story have to do with hiring in healthcare? It reminds us of our humanity. It teaches us that some days when a candidate shows up for a panel interview and bombs it, that perhaps there was some personal "bomb" happening in their lives - or in the lives of the people on the panel. As healthcare executives, we deal with the precariousness of life on a daily basis. We don't often pause to shift the focus of our schedules when things get really tough - perhaps we should.
Next time you have an interview and the candidate seems off, or if you've "had one of those days" perhaps the best thing to do is to be direct about your stresses and how they might be taking a toll on your ability to be an exceptional interviewer. It might be a greater and tougher day than most. Food for thought.
Happy and healthy hiring.
Lynden
I'm not always the calmest in a storm, but in this situation I think that I was still partially asleep and my brain wasn't ticking yet. "Thanks for the call. I will contact other administrative representatives and the hospital CEO. We will be in immediately and help you take it from here."
I arrived at work that morning at 5:30 and the rest of the day was a blur as we all tried to cope with the anguish of losing a team of paramedics; the pilot who was exceptional; and the patient. As the day drew on the details became clear. They were trying to transport a heart patient out of one of the smaller regional communities to our facility. There was a wicked snow storm happening and apparently ice took control of the wings during the flight. The plane was finally found. There were no survivors.
What does that story have to do with hiring in healthcare? It reminds us of our humanity. It teaches us that some days when a candidate shows up for a panel interview and bombs it, that perhaps there was some personal "bomb" happening in their lives - or in the lives of the people on the panel. As healthcare executives, we deal with the precariousness of life on a daily basis. We don't often pause to shift the focus of our schedules when things get really tough - perhaps we should.
Next time you have an interview and the candidate seems off, or if you've "had one of those days" perhaps the best thing to do is to be direct about your stresses and how they might be taking a toll on your ability to be an exceptional interviewer. It might be a greater and tougher day than most. Food for thought.
Happy and healthy hiring.
Lynden
Saturday, October 08, 2005
Elegant Negotiations - The Secret to Enthusiastic Onboarding
I recently had the pleasure of facilitating a new hire for a major medical center. The medical center had been recruiting for this position for a number of months and was convinced that bringing on someone in this specialty was going to make a huge difference to the bottom line and to the health and well being of a significant number of patients in the community.
It is often easy when in the nitty gritty of negotiating to get sidetracked by any number of things. However, employers who are clear about why they are hiring, recognize that getting lost in the minutiae of negotiation serves no one. My client however, did a masterful job of listening carefully to the expressed needs of the soon to be new employee. Her diligence and thoughtfulness, assured that we arrived at the other side of the negotiation with all parties feeling optimistic about the transaction and enthusiastic about the long term potential of working together to accomplish some really neat things once the new hire arrives to begin work.
The take away from this is simple – for the new hire expectations are personal; for the employer the stakes are relative. Even when seemingly deal breaker obstacles in negotiation surface, there is always a careful and purposeful way to assure both sides feel heard and that accommodations are made that meet the needs of both parties. In the situation with my client, the client merely kept the ultimate gain at the top of mind and the details took care of themselves.
Note, that over and over again, I’ve seen the power and finesse of the facilitated negotiation led by a sharp recruiter/search consultant. With the search executive as the go between, there is a buffer between enthusiastic expectations of the soon to be new hire and the reality of the prospective employer’s benefit package. The most significant contribution is that the search executive enables both parties to work out their issues conceptually in a safe space – within the conversation with between search executive and candidate/client. Then edges are smoothed for both parties as the negotiation proceeds. Most importantly, the recruiter can help prevent candidate “fall off” by testing the candidate’s expectations well in advance of the actual negotiation. With the up front known expectations of the candidate, the vision of the new hire’s contribution and the reality of the hiring company’s employment offering – the end product was a successful negotiation – both parties looking forward to a mutually successful future.
Happy & healthy hiring.
It is often easy when in the nitty gritty of negotiating to get sidetracked by any number of things. However, employers who are clear about why they are hiring, recognize that getting lost in the minutiae of negotiation serves no one. My client however, did a masterful job of listening carefully to the expressed needs of the soon to be new employee. Her diligence and thoughtfulness, assured that we arrived at the other side of the negotiation with all parties feeling optimistic about the transaction and enthusiastic about the long term potential of working together to accomplish some really neat things once the new hire arrives to begin work.
The take away from this is simple – for the new hire expectations are personal; for the employer the stakes are relative. Even when seemingly deal breaker obstacles in negotiation surface, there is always a careful and purposeful way to assure both sides feel heard and that accommodations are made that meet the needs of both parties. In the situation with my client, the client merely kept the ultimate gain at the top of mind and the details took care of themselves.
Note, that over and over again, I’ve seen the power and finesse of the facilitated negotiation led by a sharp recruiter/search consultant. With the search executive as the go between, there is a buffer between enthusiastic expectations of the soon to be new hire and the reality of the prospective employer’s benefit package. The most significant contribution is that the search executive enables both parties to work out their issues conceptually in a safe space – within the conversation with between search executive and candidate/client. Then edges are smoothed for both parties as the negotiation proceeds. Most importantly, the recruiter can help prevent candidate “fall off” by testing the candidate’s expectations well in advance of the actual negotiation. With the up front known expectations of the candidate, the vision of the new hire’s contribution and the reality of the hiring company’s employment offering – the end product was a successful negotiation – both parties looking forward to a mutually successful future.
Happy & healthy hiring.
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