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Recruiting Strategies: Speaking from Personal Experience

I have been absent these last couple of weeks due to a family illness. It so happened that I was privileged to be with my sister who was in her final days of hospice care. She opted to be in a facility, which is a wing of the local hospital. In my two weeks there, I was able to observe, up close and personal, the tender hands of the hospice team who made it appear to us, that Carol was their only patient.

In my 24 years of recruiting, I don't think I have ever seen so clearly, the fruits of good recruiting work as I did in this situation. The many avenues of expertise required to perform in this delicate profession came to life for me. Going down the list of essentials of basic interviewing is fundamental in the process of identifying the right person for a particular position. But when you are hiring for a position in home health or hospice, the intangible character traits are imperative in placing the right hearts in these important jobs.

The patient as well as the family members needs to be confident that the healthcare professionals be medically competent, but also love their work and truly care about the hearts of their patients. I watched the nurses put their faces down next to my sister's and whisper their plans to reposition her, so as not to startle or confuse her. The endearing names they used when addressing her....the warm morning greetings....the constant compliments of her beauty...convinced us that our loved one was in the right hands of those who were sure not to abuse her. Personally, I was incredibly grateful that this facility had identified such a skilled team of loving hands for this delicate task.

As we proceed in developing concrete interviewing and hiring practices, let us be ever mindful of the compassionate nature which must be present in these new hires.