So, you have found out the Needs of the people you want to attract. What do you do next? How do you get them to notice you?
1) What is special about your Practice? What do you have that others don’t? How does that special thing meet the Needs of your staff?
2) What things could you do differently that would make you special? This is not about making things up. If there isn’t an obvious attractive difference to your Practice, could you make one?
Top Tip: The best way to improve recruitment is to make a really enjoyable place to work. Sorry, there is no short cut to this so if things aren’t great, it will take time to fix. But as the saying goes: “The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second-best time is now.”
3) Distil down your key message. Look at other GP adverts and leave out all the boring stuff that everyone says. Concentrate on what makes you special and how it meets their Needs. Be ruthless about only including what is absolutely necessary.
4) Be open and honest. People know when you are embellishing the truth, and it puts them off. And this is another way you can stand out from the other glossy too-good-to-be-true adverts.
5) Tell your stories. Since forever, people have communicated by telling stories. Greek mythology is not full of bullet points and cost/benefit analysis. Who are you? How did you come to be here? Why did you join? What matters to you? Where are you going?
People make decisions with their feelings and then use logic to explain their choices. As they listen to your stories, they will taste the idea of joining you and whether it feels right to them.
6) And finally, Get out there and spread the word. Use NHS Jobs, use email, use social media, use word of mouth. Don’t be embarrassed. Talk about your Practice. Keep going. No one ever got married after a first date (well maybe someone did but it’s rare). And you will probably need to recruit next year too so play the long game.