Employer of Choice Part 2: Find Success with Recruitment

1. Stand Out With Your Compensation & Benefits
2. Find Success with Recruitment
3. Onboarding New Hires and Retaining Your Teams

Continuing our series on becoming an employer of choice, in this post we’re covering how, during what many are calling The Great Resignation, you can level up your recruitment efforts.

It might sound strange, but in today’s market, recruitment happens before you even write a job description. In fact, making your company one that people seek out as an employer is half the battle. Let’s start there.

Set Your Recruitment Process Up for Success

Define your workplace culture

Align your practice around a mission, a vision, and values

Your mission is what you aim for, and your vision is the results you expect from sticking to your mission. Values influence behavior, so if you value basic kindness, you’ll treat people accordingly. Attending to just these three things can go a long way.

Be deliberate in your communication

Don’t write in an email anything you wouldn’t say in person. Conduct annual reviews as a two-way conversation about performance, expectations, growth, and skill development. Recognize value on a personal level.

Meet tomorrow’s needs, not today’s

Job candidates overwhelmingly want to work for a company that prioritizes work-life balance, values outcomes — not output — and offers practical training. In the wake of the pandemic, circumstances might require molding talented employees and prospects, rather than expecting a wealth of experience, in order to stay ahead.

Be a mentor, not a boss

A big factor in retaining employees is your approach to managing people. Employees don’t want a boss — they want a coach. Be a mentor they can respect, trust, and learn from, and they will remain engaged.

Set your practice apart

Determine what’s unique about your practice so you set yourself apart in the eyes of candidates. Have you been in the field for decades? Are you a recognized tinnitus expert? Discuss onboarding as well as career-pathing opportunities.

A lot of audiology programs don’t discuss the private-practice side of audiology, so this is also your chance to tell candidates about the purpose-driven career available at your patient-focused practice.

Finally, work up a pitch for your region, so you can tout what’s special about your area to any candidates who would have to relocate. Help them visualize living in the area and engaging in the community to get them excited.

The Interview Process

The job ad

How much personality do your job ads show? You get one quick glance, so make it stand out, showcase your culture, and grab attention. In addition, develop a careers page for people who are simply checking out your organization. Even if you don’t have a job posted, they can learn a lot about your company. You’ll pique their interest, so when you post a job, they’ll apply for it.

The professional network

Maintain solid relationships in AAA, ASHA, and ASCENT, as well as university programs. Let them know when you’re hiring, because they may know jobseekers, whether recent graduates or seasoned veterans.

Resume selection

You can tell a lot about a resume with a quick scan. Note gaps in work history, a tendency to hop from job to job, discrepancies, and areas where something just doesn’t feel right.

Once you’ve scheduled an interview, keep the lines of communication open. It’s a very competitive market — job seekers are juggling several interviews and ditching employers that don’t hold their interest. Encourage them to be frank with you about their concerns and their thoughts on the opportunity you’re offering.

First impressions

Interviews go two ways, and first impressions are everything. Ensure professionalism in your team and dial in your interview process well in advance: How many interviews do you plan to have before selecting a candidate? Will you have finalists shadow selected personnel in the office — and perhaps have lunch with the team?

The offer letter

Use your offer letter as more than just that last step in the recruitment. It’s a chance to continue the conversation, reiterate next steps, and highlight the soft costs that they’ll benefit from.

Call them and offer them the position personally, then immediately get the written offer in their hands. Invite them to come in and discuss the offer. They’ll see the base pay and incentive plan, but you want them to understand the other ways this offer is worthwhile, such as the PTO, retirement plan, trainings you’ll cover expenses for, association fees, etc.

Discussing the offer letter is a chance to show you value their perspective.  They get to ask questions and mention any misgivings or confusion, and you can explain why this feels like a good fit.

Successful Externships

You might have interest from college students who have no formal exposure to the hearing care space. We encourage you to seriously consider internships for them as well. The more interns you host from other areas of study, the more awareness you create about the field in general.  Plus, a short stint as an intern in the front office could well set them up for a career path in the industry.

The externship timeline

You need to know well in advance that an externship fits into your business goals. For a June starting date, externs used to find out in November or December where they would spend their externship. These days, however, an audiology student usually knows where they’ll be placed a year in advance.

The time commitment

This needs to be treated as what it is — a year of hard training. The time commitment reflects that. You or someone on your team will have to train this person, meet with them regularly to discuss progress, and empower them. Sometime between 90 and 180 days, you should know whether your extern fits with your culture and could be part of your team.

The university

Ensure you know the university’s expectations for the externship, such as whether they need regular updates and how you should handle a termination during the externship, if it comes to that.

Be an Employer of Choice

With just a few important pieces in place, you can establish yourself as an employer of choice in an ever-evolving market. And you don’t have to do it alone. Our HR experts can help you build the team of your dreams.

So don’t wait — reach out to your SBU today, or contact our Membership Development Team to learn more.