In today’s environment of hard to find healthcare staff, many health care companies overlook an obvious source to assist with recruitment efforts of their current team members. Turning to your current staff to make referrals to their friends and colleagues can be a low cost, high impact source for new talent.
Additionally, good people associate themselves with other good people. Not to mention that people who join companies based on the recommendation of a current employee tend to be more committed to the decision, more vested in making a good impression and have the benefit of getting support from the person who recruited them, increasing the likelihood of success that the person will have in the position.
Nurses’ aides, registered nurses and licensed practical nurses all travel in small circles. If you are an Administrator or Director of Nursing of a healthcare facility, take the time to understand your team’s network and encourage them consistently to refer people to you.
Tapping into your employee’s network can also reduce traditional recruitment costs such as advertising and job fairs. Obviously, you should find ways to recognize and reward employees for referrals including referral bonuses, but you can take it to the next level and recognize team members publicly for recommending people and turn it into a healthy competition amongst your team. Initiate a contest with an even bigger prize for the person who refers the most so that your entire team is engaged.
The benefits of your team recommending new employees are many for them as well. First off, filling empty positions eliminates the scenario of working short on shifts, but more importantly it can add to the overall satisfaction of the employee’s experience. People like to work with people they like and know, which makes the workplace more harmonious for everyone. Additionally, a reduction in turnover is another benefit as employees can minimize the burden of constant training and onboarding of new employees who churn in and out.
So, start today. Develop a plan along with other stakeholders at your facility to increase employee referrals. As with many things in business, sometimes the best and most cost-effective ideas are right in front of us.