Guest Blogger Mindi M. Derry, owner Lessons Learned
- Enough time in the day to effectively skill market that great candidate you current have nothing to offer that has been sitting on your desk for far too long.
I know that when I ran an agency it always seemed that everything you wanted to do today rarely got completed to satisfy the perfectionist in me. I found that the distractions, and everything else this industry throws at you, just seemed to take control of most of my days or most of the day. I had all the best intentions and then you name it would happen and off in that direction I would go. It was always something worthy of my time and attention but it sure didn’t make it easy to make a to do list and feel confident I had given everything on that list my best effort.
- Knowing you have done everything possible to get those phones ringing, applications coming and shifts/ contracts being filled.
There always seemed to be something else I could have done to fill an order, find the perfect job or contact the new candidates applying thru the website and every other avenue we were offering at the moment. My measure of success wasn’t always the number of shifts or new starts per week, sometimes it was everything you did to try to make these things happen. I think we have all had those weeks or days when you try everything and it still doesn’t make a connection, and then you head to lunch or on your way home and think I should have called so and so or I should have used this approach. Even though you have a checklist for everything, most times you have delayed 20/20 vision and figure out how to make it work. Often after someone else has made it work and not in your favor. Its okay, it happens, it truly is the game we all wake up to play day after day…
- Personal 24 hour chauffeur for the candidates that just can’t seem to get to work on time or at all.
How many times have you said do I really need to drive on over to your house and drop you off at the facilities front door. How can the bus be late 30 minutes every day? You know you need gas to get to work, make sure you get enough to get through the week, so you can earn more money to pay for next week’s gas. It happens so often that it doesn’t seem to bother many of us anymore. We all just shrug and say what do you expect from BLANK BLANK. And those are the nicer words that come out of your mouth not the words spinning around in your brain. If I only had a chauffeur to get these people to work, it would be a more pleasant day.
- Current Decision Makers contact info and the confidence that the services you offer and the talent available are being kept fresh in their minds.
Have you ever been leaving a message for someone you were told was just the person you needed to speak with. After many attempts you finally reach this person only to be told, I have no idea why someone would tell you to speak to me. “I have nothing to do with that” or “that is no longer my responsibility so and so is who you need to speak to now”. Did you ever just wonder why no one ever bothers to tell you this the first time you tried. Or how hard is it to pass the message along to the person responsible for that task so that your message got to the person who might need to know what you have to say. What about the employee whose answer is I left her a message last week and she never got back to me. Is this employee really saying this to me with all sincerity? “Yes”, I said,” one (1) message a week ago and she is still waiting for a response” How about the other 5 or so ways of contacting this person. E-mail, hand written note, call and see if she answers this time (you don’t have to leave a message every time you call). Try stopping by or having someone associated with you stop by and mention how much you would like to speak to him/her. What about a fax that says
Dear Kathy,
Please call me as soon as you get a minute. I have to tell you about- whatever it is that you need to discuss with her.
Sincerely,
Mindi Derry
One phone message and then wait – is this employee silently taunting me, truly begging me to allow her to go work for the competition or anywhere, just not here.
- Experienced additional staff available on a PRN basis.
This one takes the cake – why doesn’t anyone offer temps for the temp industry. We need extra help; maternity coverage, vacation coverage, extra man power on certain days or times of the week / month. The very service we offer is not available to us in return. How many times have you thought that if only you could have someone step in and assist the existing staff to get everything done before the end of the day? We have growing pains just like every one of our illustrious clients. Our mission carries some importance and has added value at the end of every patient’s day. Where is our temp for the day/ week? I know everyone of you reading this has had this same thought, why hasn’t anyone done anything to remedy this obviously too close to home lack of service. Is it just that, too close to home – no one could possibly step up to the plate and hit a homer for the team of day? Well that just defeats everything we tell our clients on a daily basis. Why can we have Nurses making life and death decisions just waltz onto an ICU floor and get the job done effortlessly, like she has been doing this her whole life? And internally believe no one could possibly help or offer assistance to your team without many hours of training or constant supervision. It just isn’t humanly possible. I had to learn the hard way that recruitment and marketing are not brain surgery. We who have had experience in our chosen field can just sit at a desk and get the job done effortlessly. It is not brain surgery or caring for a person after brain surgery.
Do you believe in fairy god mothers or fair temp workers? Holiday Miracles? There is now a company offering 4 out of 5 solutions to the issues mentioned above. Sorry, we are not offering personal chauffeur service at this time, but who knows what we will offer next.
Lessons-Learned offers temporary staffing to the healthcare staffing industry. Experienced healthcare staffing recruiters and marketing sales professionals available to assist you on an hourly or project basis.If you find yourself wishing or being troubled by any of the remaining 4, give us a call and lets build a solution together.
For more information regarding the services offered by Lessons Learned visit our web site at www.lessons-learned.co or call us anytime you finally have a minute to talk at 615-590-7892.