You can create the best job in the world, but you won’t recruit anyone if they don’t notice.
The problem all practices face is how to attract the best doctors and nurses with limited funding. And that is where Marketing comes in. Marketing lets you communicate what you can offer clinicians and why they should apply.
Marketing is about showing people the value they will get from working with you (what’s in it for them) and it works at 3 levels:
Features – what the job entails.
Benefits – what the job gives in return. This includes the wages but also the working environment and opportunities for training and promotion.
Needs – how their needs will be met. These are different for everyone and as well as income can include things like flexibility, predictability, gaining skills, novelty, supportiveness, creativity, and purpose.
Key Tip: Needs are the reason people apply for jobs. Features and Benefits are irrelevant if they don’t meet Needs.
Most practices just list the Features and the income of their jobs, cross their fingers, and hope. So, what should you do instead?
1) Find out the Needs of the people you want to recruit. Talk to them. Talk to people like them. Ask around.
2) Find out what Needs you meet for your existing staff. Both to make sure you continue to meet them and also to uncover hidden gems.
3) Find out what changes you can make to meet more Needs within your budget.
[Note: Find out not guess, imagine, suppose, or presume. This is about discovering truth, not wishful thinking.]
4) Get the word out. Start building your advertising around how your Features and Benefits can meet their Needs.
5) Keep getting the word out. People move jobs, not because of a great advert, but because their current job isn’t meeting their Needs. Build your reputation so that they think about you when they are looking to change.