This post will be a short one because the point of the post does not take a ton of elaborating. So, let me tell you this quick story and get to the point!
I have personally heard these types of comments from hiring managers over the years, but since this same story just occurred the other day with one of our Account Executives, so I thought I would highlight this critical point in our blog post today.
Last week, one of the Account Managers with our firm was talking with a Clinical Applications Director at a multi-hospital health system. This Director has been with the organization for about five months. Two months after being with the organization one of his managers resigned to take a position out of state. This director has been trying to fill this critical role in his department for three months and has no candidates that he considers viable at this time. During this conversation with our Account Manager, he talked about the fact that he is disappointed and concerned that he does not have a potential pool of candidates to select from after the position has been open for three months.
This Director then says, and I am paraphrasing, “you know, I would like to see if I can use your firm to assist us but like I said I have only been with the organization for five months. Since this is the first time I am having this issue, I have to see if I am able to use an outside firm.”
So, let’s first take a look at what he didn’t say. He didn’t say, “We normally don’t use firms so let me see if I can.” He didn’t say, “I don’t have the budget to use an outside firm to help with this position so let me see if I can free up some funds.” What he said was, “I have to see if I am authorized to use an outside firm.”
What surprises me about this comment is this. This is a person who is leading a department. Part of his role is to have a team in place to accomplish the objectives that have been set out for him prior to taking a position. I have heard this type of comment many many times throughout my 20 year career in staffing and what is surprising to me is this….
I think someone in this role would have to assume there will be a certain amount of turnover year to year. So, knowing that positions will have to be filled, I would only assume that someone at this level will inquire during their interview process about the resources that will be available to them to build the necessary team and retain the necessary staff in order to be successful in this role.
I am not saying that a hiring manager has to have the ability to use outside firms when it comes to successful recruiting. The point I am trying to make is that a hiring manager should at the very least know what resources they will have available to them to build and retain a team before taking a new position that will have to rely on a strong team to get results.
