From the time a qualified candidate is identified to the day they start work, KurzSolutions has identified twelve potential events, or episodes that may require the candidate in question to be “sold” yet again. The story does not end when the candidate is identified, qualified, and approved by the MTF for hire - the adventure has just begun….
During this “shepherding” phase of the process, it is essential for recruiters or “sales savvy” individuals to stay involved directly with providers. Too many of our clients have a tendency to turn on-boarding over to compliance or Human Resources personnel without the necessary sales skills to deal with the trolls, elves, giant spiders, goblins, and Gollums that will be encountered along the journey. What follows is affectionately referred to at KurzSolutions as THE TWELVE - twelve additional sales events from identification of a candidate to their actual start at the MTF.
What follows is affectionately referred to at KurzSolutions as THE TWELVE - twelve additional sales events from identification of a candidate to their actual start at the MTF.
These might be likened to the Twelve Labors of Hercules that involved twelve monsters of various sizes and shapes. The monsters are violent, even lethal. Not one is friendly. If Hercules does not kill them or beat them into submission, he will die. They test his strength and intelligence and his ability to vanquish them determines whether he is worthy of the gods. The following TWELVE will test your status as a recruiting hero.
1. Buyers Remorse - Fall-out that occurs in the first 24 hours as a result of poor candidate qualification, family push-back, or consideration of the consequences such as facing a current employer with the bad news or the specter of relocation. Change is scary.
2. Information Adverseness - Unwillingness to provide personal information to total strangers, e.g. Authorization Forms, DOB, SS#. For most people this is an odd situation where everything is virtual and virtually nothing is done face to face. Providers often wonder out loud if this is a real job or a scam.
3. No Interview Skittishness - Put off by the untraditional, unique hiring process where you may not even “be allowed” to interview, many simply cannot fathom taking a job sight unseen. See Rachel Botsman on “Trust, the Currency of the New Economy” - http://bit.ly/2tOGOdj
4. Paperwork Prostration - The credentialing process is daunting to most and, just when they think they have turned everything in, they receive yet another form or checklist! Many are busy, others are simply disorganized.
5. Contract Sticker Shock - Employment agreements are frightening, the terms are not spelled out as they expect, the benefit package may cost more than they thought. Often the “non-compete” or “at will” language cause significant pause.
6. Counter or Competing Offers - Since we work largely with substandard salaries in a very competitive environment exacerbated by protracted timelines, this is a common occurrence. Competing concerns (offers and recruiters) must be surfaced and providers must be equipped to deal with counter offers and aggressive recruiting entities. A physician candidate who is on the market will, on average, receive 3-7 offers at the same time. The best sales professional (recruiter) wins.
7. Immunization/Certification Reluctance - Health providers are notoriously non-compliant with immunization and certification requirements. Some are afraid of needles, others are broke and cannot afford the expense, some are simply disorganized. All have to be talked off the ledge and into the BLS course or Minute Clinic.
8. Credentialing Distress - In the fifth stage of the credentialing process some simply want to throw in the towel and say “enough is enough.” At KurzSolutions we have encapsulated this experience in a handout - “The Seven Stages of Credentialing Grief” - a spoof on Elisabeth Kubler-Ross’s “Death & Dying” research.
9. Protracted Timelines - Some military treatment facilities take 60-75 days to privilege and security clear a candidate. The worst take up to 120 days. Since enthusiasm for a new position lasts 72 hours, this is a significant and chronic hurdle to success!
10.Relocation Costs - Often these exceed what is provided and the bank account of the candidate, making the process stressful and sometimes causing a candidate to bail. Many do not have enough credit or savings to finance a move.
11.Relocation Impediments - These include breaking a lease, selling a home, family or financial issues. We have even experienced situations where a provider was unable to receive delivery of her household goods without making an impossible COD payment on the day of move in!
12.Other Miscellaneous Issues - Emergent issues often arise in the eleventh hour such as falling in love, unexpected pregnancy, sudden diagnosis of terminal illness, discovery that the provider did not take the time to pack, etc…
A recruiter in the government space is more like an Adventure Guide or Trip Leader on a rafting expedition - helping candidates to avoid being eaten or becoming capsized on the way to the ever-illusive start date. What kind of recruiting HERO are you?
