Introducing Part 2 in our Recruiting 101 Series with Alitta Tait, Former Senior Advisor Talent Management Strategies Alberta Health Services. Everything you need to know about finding and connecting with passive & active physician job seekers in Canada!
Spots to go physician hunting in...
Canada: https://ca.cherry.health/resources/canadian-physician-recruiting-101
Alberta: https://ca.cherry.health/resources/physician-recruiting-alberta
B.C: https://ca.cherry.health/resources/physician-recruiting-bc
Ontario: https://ca.cherry.health/resources/physician-recruiting-ontario
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Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cherryhealthinc/
Instagram: @cherry.health
Twitter: @cherryhealthinc
Have questions? We want to hear them!
[Host]: Dr. Jordan Vollrath
[Speaker]: Alitta Tait
Jordan (00:02.13)
What is a recruiting funnel? What should a clinic's recruiting funnel look like?
Alitta (00:23.728)
So a funnel in recruitment terms, oh, it can be a couple of things. The broad sense of a recruitment funnel is how do you get the messages broadly out there as possible, AKA employer branding, and then work up, you know, getting as many leads in as possible, all the way down to making that offer. So for some people, that's a recruitment funnel of how actual individuals flow through that process. It's an internal flow, sort of. From building a recruitment funnel,
in a recruiting sense, otherwise, and this is, I think, probably more important to this audience, it's who do you reach out to first and how do you find these people? And so employer branding, we just talked about, right? What's in it for them? And understanding your organization and what's in it for them. That's the number one step of any recruitment funnel is really knowing that question. Because otherwise, don't even get started because you're gonna have really awkward conversations with people when you do get them on the phone. Or not as meaningful conversations, shall I say.
The next for me, and this is what the most professional recruiters do, is you start as close to home as possible. So I know it sounds a little bit disjointed from what I just said, go broad, go international, all this kind of stuff. But once you're actually, you've sent out the messaging, maybe it's posted multiple places, that kind of thing, then you start closest to you. So the best thing you can do is ask for referrals. Who's in your network already? Who has...
um, worked already at your clinic, who is at your clinic, ask them for referrals, see if they're interested or know anyone else who's interested. So closest to the pin. And I think physician, that is honestly one of the biggest ways that physician recruitment has happened in the past is who you know, right? And, and, and that's, that's really, really important. Then you go broader and broader from there. So it can start with that. Um, yes, who you know, and then who was previously employed with you, whether they might be looking or know anyone.
Alitta (02:44.915)
So that makes it really important to make sure if you have locums, they're having a very good experience. Yeah. Right. And, and eating. Absolutely. But also try it before they tell their friends about it. You know, maybe they want a locum forever, but they have lots of friends who are interested in a, in potentially a more home based clinic to be at. So.
Jordan (02:50.687)
The test drive model, yeah. Get them in to try it before they buy it.
Alitta (03:10.223)
If your locums aren't having a good time with you, if you're not onboarding them well and supporting them well through their term with you, that's something to really worry about right now because that will burn your bridges really quickly with being able to do this, you know, the recruitment funnel. Then it's the networking groups. In Canada, we have plenty of Facebook groups. We have on the Cherry page in the resources some different provincial tools that say some of the different groups
Jordan (03:18.56)
Mm-hmm.
Alitta (03:39.979)
and channels that you can look at. And I think in the Recruiter 101 previous session, we have quite a few of those as well. And so there's Facebook groups, there's professional associations, there's job boards, all this kind of stuff, but that have particular networking groups. Like LinkedIn has very specific groups for physicians in Canada and things like that. So it's getting into those groups and having those conversations. This also includes conferences. And
knowing where physicians are going to be at and potentially representing there. You know, it can seem like a big expense to go to a conference, but if you have done the pre-work of knowing your value proposition, it doesn't have to be a super, super fancy booth and all that kind of stuff for you to have really good conversations and lead to one or another. And then it's the broader landscape of the boards and the...
and all the space from there, but I wouldn't, you know, you need to be on the boards and you need to be trying to catch that top of the funnel. And then you go into the active recruitment of referrals and networking and things like that. Does that make sense? Sort of a little bit.
Jordan (04:45.938)
Yeah, absolutely. Like getting as broad as possible out there so you're like hitting every possible potential person in the market.
Alitta (04:53.647)
Yeah, and I think that's, you know, there is no single place in Canada, or anywhere really, to go to recruit for physicians or healthcare professionals. So you still do need to make sure your message is broad because especially if you only need one or two, you never know who's looking on the CMA page that day. You never know who's looking on Cherry Health. You never know who might be on Indeed. So I do recommend still posting and still getting that message out quite broadly.
But do it well, like do it with some conviction behind why you and why you're a clinic and that kind of stuff. And then be able to kind of narrow it down from there and start asking for those referrals and such.
Jordan (05:38.614)
So we'll post that reference she's talking about with all the different sources to go physician hunting. So that's definitely really helpful. It's got the price breakdown on there too for costs for all these different job postings. What do you need for collateral as part of that recruiting funnel? Like if you're at a conference, I imagine having like a postcard or a business card, so some kind of like printed takeaway. If you're doing it digitally, like should you have a page set up on your website? Is the job...
Alitta (05:49.567)
Yeah.
Alitta (06:07.799)
It depends where you're posting. Yeah, I always say, you know, if you have a website and you're discoverable, having a posting on there is, if you're recruiting is table stakes now. If you're at a conference, yes, have something they can take away so that they'll remember you. They're talking to a million people that day. I would recommend even more from a professional recruitment standpoint, get their info. You follow up with them. Don't wait for anyone to follow up with you ever. This is more than a Yeah, exactly.
Jordan (06:08.206)
posting itself.
Jordan (06:19.32)
Mm-hmm.
Jordan (06:30.262)
Hmm. Okay. Just good business advice in general right there. Yeah. You got to be proactive.
Alitta (06:37.163)
get it and don't wait for them. And then, so I, you know, I wouldn't worry as much about collateral. I think sure, if you're going to have a booth, make sure you have a little something to represent yourselves by. And, and I think one simple stand up, I think there are a hundred bucks or something, Jordan, you order these all the time. But you know, that simple stand up that just talks about your differentiator, those kinds of things. But ultimately, I think conferences and those kinds of things are helpful. But it's, I think, doing direct outreach and, and
asking for referrals and getting into those networks is probably going to be even more meaningful than and more feasible than attending conferences. So I would imagine and I you know from what I know a lot of people are recruiting one or two and probably going to conferences can be a little bit out of sight of their reach let alone time availability.
Jordan (07:29.346)
Yep.
Alitta (07:31.143)
And I think that's probably, yeah, so yeah, and it's pretty, that's where I would say is the biggest gap I see from professional recruiters to someone who is doing this as much as they can off the side of their desk or what have you, is that ability to have those, let's call it cold conversations or ask for the referral and have those, make those types of approaches to find those candidates.
Jordan (07:55.71)
Yeah, those warm, warm leads are going to be like your highest yield, right? The people closest to you and your network, the friends of the people that are already working at your clinic and happy and more than willing to talk about it. Right? So, you know, that's just going to be the path of least resistance versus somebody completely external to the organization through the internet or phone. Yeah.
Alitta (08:06.632)
What?
Alitta (08:15.003)
Yeah, but that burns out, right? That funnel burns out over time, right? If you're recruiting multiple people. And so one, there are a couple tools out there that allow you to actively engage and actively message professionals. And I think one thing, and from a professional recruiter's stance, that's what we do. We don't wait for them to apply. We don't wait, we get out there, we find them, and then we figure out a way to message them and approach them.
Jordan (08:29.751)
Mm-hmm.
Alitta (08:44.824)
that isn't like, hi, I have a job, interested?
Jordan (08:48.61)
How should you start that conversation? I have a really good job. Like, what do you say for that opening?
Alitta (08:52.927)
Yeah, you know what, I think it depends how much information you have on the person. If you know they're actively looking because they posted on, you know, somewhere like actively looking, you can probably start a little bit hotter like that. Like, hey, I know that you're looking for a job. Here's what we're offering. Here's how we stand apart. Would love to talk to you if this aligns with what you're looking for. Or, hey, I saw you're looking for a job. Would love to talk to you about what we're doing. You know, I just get them. The faster you can get people on the phone and having a conversation with you to discover what's meaningful for them.
Jordan (09:04.984)
Mm-hmm.
Alitta (09:23.219)
the more likely you are to be able to interest that person. Because if you start with what you've got, not knowing at all what's of interest to them, there's a potential for a disconnect there and it stops you from also being able to ask for that referral. So every single person that I talk to or that I reach out to, here's how I, here's my take on this. So say I find a profile somewhere, you know,
and I'm able to reach out to them and all it says that this is a physician, family physician in Calgary. I have no idea whether they're looking for work. I have no idea if, you know, what they're, what they're doing. I start every message with hello, da da. We're currently recruiting for family physicians, et cetera, at XYZ clinic or da da. You know, I see that you're practicing in Calgary. I'm not sure if you're looking for a new opportunity right now. However,
I wanted to reach out as perhaps you or maybe someone that you know might be interested in the type of opportunity that we have. And so it's really introducing your organization to them and getting onto their radar and posing yourself not just as a... And they could be recruiting physicians into their own clinic and say, maybe you're recruiting as well, likelihood is they are. Maybe you're recruiting as well. I'm not sure. However, we'd love to connect with you and have a quick conversation. Do you have time? Because...
Maybe they're recruiting into their own clinic. Maybe they're not interested right now, but they might have worked with a locum who's ready to make that shift into full-time. They might have had a learner in their clinic that they couldn't hire, that they really liked, that they can refer to you. Or they themselves might be available. Wouldn't that be just tickety-boo? But it's not super, super common. So going in assuming that you're actually building a network and you're building a bit more of a...
an ecosystem instead of trying to pilfer from each other. I've heard that a lot from administrators like, oh, but if I reach out to that physician, what if they're also trying to recruit? That's okay. A physician who would work out at their clinic is potentially a really different physician than would work out at your clinic. It could be as simple as location. It could be as simple as.
Jordan (11:20.279)
Mm-hmm.
Alitta (11:39.679)
you know, what you offer physicians from a split perspective is something that they're like, you know, we had a great candidate, but they really need XYZ right now, or they value, you know, technology, and we just aren't that type of clinic. You are, hey, yeah, you should talk to them. So, I think it's about building a network and expanding your network using the tools that are currently available to do so.
Jordan (12:03.466)
You don't want to use that initial interaction like it's one impression of an ad space. You really do want to start that conversation, right? And then normal human interaction rules apply at that point, right? Like you really are just trying to ask questions, get to know them. Are you in the market? What are you in the market for? You know, trying to figure out how your clinic solves their problems as opposed to just, here's the link, go look.
Alitta (12:12.479)
That's right.
Alitta (12:31.355)
Yeah. Yeah, and to be honest, I don't even get into what are you looking for in that message. If they identify that they might even be open to a position, I say, let's grab a coffee or let's grab a chat because their ability to drop off really quickly and get too busy and not respond to your messages and then disappear and get scooped up by somebody else are so high that I get them on the phone as soon as possible.
Jordan (12:43.723)
Mm-hmm.
Jordan (12:51.372)
Yeah.
Jordan (12:54.558)
What is phone best? Is video zoom is getting them to come into the clinic? Like what does that next step look like?
Alitta (12:59.263)
I mean, depends where they're located, right? I mean, if it's a very first, hey, you know, we're recruiting for this. I would love to connect with you for a couple of minutes, you know, or this is what we're recruiting for. Do you might, maybe do you know anyone, yourself, or have you had anyone in your clinic who might fit this bill? If they respond and say, no, okay. Maybe you can then ask.
would, you know, if you're also recruiting, would love to know a little bit about what you're recruiting for and then if someone comes through our locum funnel or what have you that might be better fit for your clinic, we're happy to send them your direction. Do you have 10 minutes to chat? I mean that's a much more collaborative type of conversation and if they say, you know what, I am interested, I don't say what are you looking for there, I say let's jump on a call. Now if they're across the country, in that first conversation...
If you want to do video, cool. If it's really set up and it's going to be smooth and easy, but if you want to just pick up the phone and have a quick chat and just start building that relationship with as few barriers of entry as possible in this space right now, that's the way to go.
Jordan (14:05.128)
Yeah.
Jordan (14:08.462)
I like that kind of approach where you're coming towards it like, hey, just want to see if you know anybody, you know, to any of your med school or your colleagues or something. Would they fit the bill? It seems a little less like threatening and direct than I'm trying to recruit you. Come listen to my pitch.
Alitta (14:24.668)
Yeah. And you will get messages back from, because on these platforms, people are there also just trying to recruit a locum to cover for them so they can take some time off. So they might say, actually, I'm recruiting too. You could say, phenomenal, would love to spend 15 minutes chatting with you about what you're looking for, and then you can know what we are. And if that right person comes through, happy to pass them your way. So I think the most successful I've been in recruiting, really, really hard to fill positions.
Jordan (14:34.882)
Mm-hmm.
Alitta (14:51.939)
is getting in with a little network and building those networks. Security within technology is really, really important, to say the least, and really, really difficult to find people, but they all know each other. You know, and so you get into these little pockets by saying, no, I appreciate that you're not looking for a permanent position, but would still love to chat with you for a couple of minutes. They can tell you what people in that...
space are looking for. They can help you maybe build out a better value proposition for your clinic if you're unsure. So there's a lot of different reasons to have quick conversations that are just building relationships within the network that are going to help you build better recruitment funnels and have more success in recruiting. And again, I know that for an administrator right now they're going like, oh my gosh, like I do not have time for that.
And that is part of the challenge. And it is part of a reality of the pain points that recruiting in this type of environment entail.
Jordan (15:42.518)
Yeah.
Jordan (15:50.382)
Who would be a good person to be schmoozing and trying to build that network with? I remember talking to a recruiter a few years ago and he was saying that deals get done on the golf course. He's out there mingling and networking. How do you know who somebody with a big or accessible network would be? What does that person even look like?
Alitta (16:03.326)
My heart.
Alitta (16:13.563)
You know what, sometimes it only takes one. And so it depends what you're looking for. Now, yeah, I mean, so within the clinic identifying, because there's another thing that's really critical here is that once you get a nibble, you have to follow up quickly. Once that person, I mean, and I'm talking within a half hour.
Jordan (16:34.474)
Yeah, okay, like time is that critical.
Alitta (16:36.899)
that critical. If they're getting hundreds of messages of join here, join here, join here, which they are, then your ability to follow up quickly is going to be paramount. So you know,
Jordan (16:48.158)
Yeah, we've seen it. Like somebody makes a post like, hey, looking for a locum this area this month. And like within 24 hours, there's 20, 30 messages piling up.
Alitta (16:57.547)
Exactly. And if they respond to your posting, if they respond to your message, oh my gosh, you are further along than most people, jump on it. You know, go in there. And time is of the essence. And so I think whoever can do that, and sometimes it can be multiple people within the clinic, you know, like if there's a shared email where if that comes in, someone needs to jump on
Jordan (17:08.258)
Yeah.
Alitta (17:27.239)
the recruit who's gonna own this within the clinic is really important and that person is enthusiastic about this and knows enough of the answers to get the ball rolling is really important But if they did that pre-work of like why would you want to come work here? What's in it for you? Why do other people like to work here that usually covers those bases? But whoever's gonna be answering that call whoever's gonna be taking that has to know that and it has to be slightly enthusiastic about it because
Jordan (17:50.756)
Mm-hmm.
Alitta (17:53.787)
a lot of other clinics will be. And there's lots of recruiters out there who are selling opportunities like crazy. And I've talked to innovative clinics that are doing things a lot of different ways. They're actually not gonna have any administrator. You just have like, it's like a hot desk pretty much. You have two rooms, two MOAs and access to the EMR. Other than that, like you're on your own. But that'll take one type versus others who have a full support system and lots of administrators and all this kind of stuff. So...
I don't care whether it's the doctor. Eventually the other doctors should get involved and they want to know who they're going to be working with and stuff and I think that's the best case. But whoever can actually activate it. And then in every clinic, if you're trying to recruit a doctor, everyone should be responsible for it. You can recruit in the classroom. Yeah, if you hear behind you that someone's a doctor and they're like, oh yeah, I'm thinking of changing welcoming, I don't care if you're the most junior administrator who just got there.
Jordan (18:39.891)
get the whole team involved.
Jordan (18:52.566)
jump on it. It's a great time to plug our Cherry recruiting cards. So if you're gonna pack a business cards for your clinic that link back to your profile that your whole team can have in your wallet. And if they come across somebody who might be interested, pull that out. That's slick way to add some style to your funnel.
Alitta (18:52.743)
or is it clean?
No!
Alitta (19:09.427)
That is a really good one. Yeah, totally, totally. Good plug, drone. But yeah, I think it is about just everyone being activated to do it. Not one person, not one poor administrator who's trying to do this off the top side of the desk as well as everything else, but actually everyone within the team.
Jordan (19:29.41)
What do the professionals do differently from the lay person doing it off the side of the desk? We've got minimal time, it's not our full-time job, we're trying to run a clinic, we're trying to get patients through the door. What should we do differently from those pros and what's those highest yield strategies?
Alitta (19:34.803)
Yeah.
Alitta (19:46.647)
Yeah. I think we've covered some of it as in the approach, know your opportunity, be extremely well prepared that you are selling your clinic. So that's what professional recruiters sell the organization, sell the opportunity quite effectively. That's their job. And they, you know, maybe they work for the province, maybe they work for a health, it doesn't matter. But when you're a recruiter trying to attack people and you are your...
Jordan (20:01.418)
Mm-hmm.
Jordan (20:07.458)
Yeah.
Alitta (20:15.631)
success is how many people actually join. You're pretty well prepared with why someone might want to come join you. Or, and you also know if they're not going to come to you, maybe you have some other spots where they can go. And you can say, you know what, this isn't the right opportunity for you. What you're looking for with schools, da-da-da-da-da, you should talk to so-and-so because then you create good favour with that physician and physicians know physicians, you know. And so they're constantly thinking the long game. That's a big, big difference.
Jordan (20:38.875)
Mm-hmm. Yep, build those ties.
Alitta (20:45.551)
And I get that. So they're always thinking the long game of, oh, this person isn't the fit, but I'm still gonna be aware and try and help them a little bit without going above and beyond, like overboard and making your full-time job, sending them in the right direction. Another is speed to respond. I mean, recruiters are on it, like no one's business. They know the market extremely well, and we already talked about that a little bit.
Yeah, and they're just constantly like, you know, it could be, I think most recruiters, it could be the person in the grocery store, it could be anyone that they're talking to. If they hear someone knows a doctor, they're like, oh, what are they up to? They're just, their ears are constantly opened and they're constantly networking to try to fill that position. And something that's really, really important is they're effectively leveraging technology to do recruitment. So.
That's twofold, internal technology sometimes, like if you're recruiting volumes of physicians, being able to manage them as they come in effectively and know who you already talked to, who might not be interested, but being able to touch back with them later, you know. So managing that network is a really, how do you manage the network of locums who have worked with you in the past?
Another little cherry plug, but something that I think is really, really interesting as a recruiter is the ability to have the locums that worked in your clinic, follow your clinic on Cherry, and then any time you have a locum job that's available, you can post it and they automatically get pushed to notification. This is available in different tools as well. I use Cherry as an example, but that ability to communicate with them effectively and not lose track of them. Really, really important. So leveraging technology to manage that network.
Jordan (22:33.129)
Mm-hmm.
Jordan (22:38.354)
I know like personally when I was doing a lot of locums, you know, the clinic manager would send a text, they'd pick their favorite locum. I'm sure I was number 10 in the pile. I wasn't the first one getting that. And then they'd wait like 24 hours, not get a response, just get ghosted or doctors on a beach somewhere with a cell phone signal. The next day they go text their next 11th favorite locum and so on and so forth. But yeah, no, the Cherry system really does make it a lot easier.
to engage all of your locum network in one click. Make sure you're not wasting time getting it out there, individual communications anymore. Let the tech do the work for you.
Alitta (23:14.227)
Yeah. Exactly. Let the tech do the work for you. And that's the case with using the tools that are out there really effectively for getting the message more broadly. And writing a message, writing a posting and a company page that's appealing, professional recruiters are, I mean, they're very aware of brand and the importance of brand when you're attracting in this climate.
Jordan (23:37.88)
Mm-hmm.
Alitta (23:43.071)
And those are some of the big, and one other thing that I want to talk on that I'll get into another time, but it is that once you've had that conversation and you have someone who might be interested, how you work them through those next steps all the way through negotiation and then starting is critically important. There is nothing worse than saying like, yeah, I'd be interested and then you don't hear back for a couple of weeks or, you know, this, that, the other or the process feels really disjointed.
Jordan (23:59.371)
Mm-hmm.
Alitta (24:11.505)
It doesn't instill a ton of confidence.
Jordan (24:13.75)
Mm-hmm. Yeah, the time really is of the essence, right? Because like they're getting just as many inbounds from elsewhere. And like the quicker you're on it, the more likely you are to.
Alitta (24:18.93)
and
Alitta (24:22.095)
Yeah, and effectively on it. So if you set expectations of, this was a phenomenal conversation, our XYZ doctor is gonna be in the, the owner, whoever, is gonna be in the office day after tomorrow, I'm gonna organize a conversation for you and that person. Following through and doing that effectively is going to help this person trust that this is the place that they might wanna work, versus that place is like, okay, perfect, well, I've gotta organize a conversation with you with so-and-so, I'll get back to ya.
And four days later you hear about it. And you're like, oh, I already accepted something else. So yes, speed, but also just building trust along the way that they think, oh, joining this place is gonna make my life easier, is gonna be a good place for me to work. They seem to have their ducks in a row. And then the same is true with onboarding. When you're onboarding someone, from the time you have the conversation and they accept a position up to that first three to six months.
Jordan (25:01.505)
Mm-hmm.
Alitta (25:21.559)
is the highest risk time for them to leave.
Jordan (25:24.591)
What are some of those things you got to avoid in that first three, six months period?
Alitta (25:29.755)
Well, no, onboarding is one thing. I think you've looked before where it's like, welcome to the jungle. You gotta get in there. And it's kind of anarchy. You don't have a ton of support. You're figuring out the systems. Maybe it's a new EMR you've never used, but you have very little support in figuring it out. Maybe it's, hey, welcome. Here's an email inbox of 10,000 messages to deal with. Good luck. How you bring someone on is how they expect their future to go.
Jordan (25:31.646)
Okay, smooth onboarding.
Jordan (25:51.746)
Yeah.
Alitta (25:59.399)
So doing it in a way that's thoughtful, that there's a bit of preparation and diligence done into it, making sure that you've collected the right documents early on and you know what you need. You know, if you don't even know what you need to collect and that kind of thing, it's gonna be really painful where three weeks and you're like, ooh, actually I need a back check for you. You know, that kind of thing. So, anywho, just being well prepared and I don't wanna get into that right now because it's not as much related to kind of head hunting and that kind of thing. It could be that next talk, but.
But being prepared from the first time you talk to them all the way through to onboarding and keeping them is really, really important for being able to bring them in effectively and retain them through the process. They're having multiple conversations. Yeah, they're having multiple conversations. They're testing you. So, you know, rise to the occasion and be a little bit prepared and help them move through the process effectively. And that is actually a differentiator to a lot of us.
Jordan (26:39.45)
Yeah, make sure your sieve isn't leaky even after they're in there.
Alitta (26:56.275)
places right there.
Jordan (26:59.126)
If anybody has any questions in the chat, please do throw those in there. But in the meantime, active versus passive candidates. Could you elaborate on that a little bit?
Alitta (27:09.183)
Sure, so an active candidate is someone who has identified that they are open to work on different platforms. They can do that in different ways, or they're showing up at a career fair with a resume, that kind of thing. So they're actively looking for work. They're applying to positions. You appeal to them with your employer branding, with making sure that you're present and out there in the world, and showing that you are hiring, and by just helping them find you, because they're looking.
Jordan (27:20.875)
Mm-hmm.
Alitta (27:38.203)
which is great, usually earlier career, IMGs, things like that, like those are really active candidates and they're, that's awesome. In a lot of.
Jordan (27:48.098)
Yeah, your new graduates, people moving, IMGs looking for you, the ones that are super motivated, right?
Alitta (27:54.607)
Yeah, exactly. Moving provinces, et cetera. And sometimes it takes a little bit of extra hand holding, but they're really motivated, and so it's worth it. Because it might not feel like helping someone figure out how to move from province to province and helping them through licensure as an administrator is something you wanna do. But I'll tell you, if that person found you and found your posting and applied to it and said, just can you help me figure out how to move from Ontario to Alberta, that's a lot easier than finding a physician who...
you know, out there on your own. So, heck yes. Yes, what can I do to help you, you know, figure out how to move here? Whether it's, you know, helping them figure out how to get, you know, if they're moving to Canada, how to figure out how to get their driver's license and these kinds of things. And there's different organizations out there that can help you with this too, but help them, those active candidates, because active candidates are motivated.
Jordan (28:28.487)
Yeah, yeah.
Jordan (28:49.482)
Well, so on that note, we did get a question. Which platforms have you found the most effective for headhunting and talent recruitment?
Alitta (28:54.619)
I think.
So depending on the skill set, it can be different. So in the health care space, outside of health care space, let's start that way, outside of health care space, the platforms that I found most effective, I mean, most recruiters would tell you that LinkedIn is where they go for most recruitment, outside of health care. And almost every recruiter will tell you. And I know this very, very well.
Jordan (29:18.092)
Mm-hmm.
Alitta (29:26.399)
from having been a part of bringing LinkedIn to previous organizations, it's really not great for most healthcare professionals. So for most healthcare professionals, what we're finding, I mean, Cherry Health, we built a purpose fit for that. So I think Cherry is a great tool for being able to headhunt. Is it perfect? Is there some information? Like you're reaching out a little bit cold sometimes, however you can do it with recruiter tools and different tools like that.
And I think if you take a networking approach, then it's really, really effective. It's also extremely effective for being able to get your message out there. For other professions right now, so as Jordan said, Cherry Health is branching out to other healthcare practitioners. So it's gonna be right across from NPs to dentists to pharmacists, you name it. But we do know as well that doing some posting, like a lot of NPs and stuff do look on Indeed. They do look on their association pages. They do look in these places. So...
I can't, you know, there's, there's going to come a day where we can say that cherry health is the silver bullet and you can find everyone there, that kind of thing. It's, it's coming. Um, but I think still using LinkedIn for some leadership positions, headhunting for board seats, headhunting for executive leadership type positions and stuff like that, I think in healthcare space is still excellent for that. Um, it's, I would still post there. You never know who's looking where, um, you know, using the cherry health networking events.
Facebook groups are still, you know, there is activity there. There's activity in those provincial Facebook groups and in those physician Facebook groups and things like that. And so I wouldn't neglect those at this time. And yeah, so those are some of the big ones.
Jordan (31:10.47)
So I've seen Facebook used a lot. I guess like it comes down to what's the most regionally specific platform for your specific Demographic of interest so if there's a Facebook group for that exact profession in your exact location I would check there if your local primary care network has job listings I would check there all the way up to the city and the provincial level, right? So if there is any of these specific unique niche
type of job boards, I would definitely check in these spots as one of the first places to go. Again, like Lito was mentioning, there just aren't that many doctors on LinkedIn. There has to be some utility to it just based on the number of inbounds and inmails I get on LinkedIn from recruiters trying to headhunt me is very, very high. And so clearly it has to work sometimes on LinkedIn, but we just don't see a lot of doctors on LinkedIn.
Alitta (31:51.957)
I mean, I used it in the past to find physicians, for sure.
Jordan (32:08.17)
If you're looking for one of the bigger social platforms to do recruiting on, my, I would definitely say Facebook.
Alitta (32:13.531)
Yeah, and you mentioned regional and stuff like that. And I do, especially, I think Facebook is good for slightly more active people. If they're in those groups and you say, hey, we're hiring for this, or like we see people post and identify themselves as active candidates. Hey, I'm open. I'd be willing to do this. So yeah, participating in there. But knowing that in the long haul, especially if you're, you know, for those recruiting multiple positions, you need to get the message broad because they're probably.
there's a high potential that they're not coming from your backyard.
Jordan (32:47.418)
Exactly. Another question. With the increased value of admin support, do you think it's worth it for clinics to invest more on that side in order to attract physicians or other staff? Great.
Alitta (32:48.584)
Yeah.
Alitta (32:58.459)
Yes. So it depends. So like I've said, I've heard about a clinic that is gonna do this sort of like hot desk approach where you pay a monthly, there's no split, you pay a monthly fee to have your two rooms, your two MOAs and this. And it's very clearly like that. But they don't have a ton of administrative staff who are running the day-to-day of the clinic. Okay, that's super unique and they will attract a certain type there.
But for your general clinic, yes, I think, and Jordan, you can comment on this too, having gone in and worked in multiple locations when you were locuming, but that things are run well, that the administrative burden is managed, that, and that the admin team can also help support with the technology that's there. I mean, yeah, then yes. I mean, it helps a clinic run much more smoothly when you have supportive.
teams in place to help wrap around the practitioners so they can focus on their task at hand. I think yes. And we can do it for our students.
Jordan (34:02.838)
Yeah, I would say it's definitely, yeah, justifies its value. So the split or the money that you're getting offered upfront, right? Like that's like a shiny little, you know, beacon glimmering with hope, right? But then of course you get into a clinic where they're advertising some very low, you know, uncharacteristically low amount of overhead that you have to pay. And then after
a day, a week, a month, whatever it takes for the cracks to start to show. You start to notice the turnover. You start to see that the staff aren't happy. You start seeing just the inefficiencies piling up. And I don't want to say that's not a viable strategy, going for that really lean, mean, economic and financially incentivized model. But there definitely are a lot of pitfalls with that. It's kind of a high risk, high reward scenario.
Alitta (34:49.647)
Yeah, absolutely. And I think where I've seen that, they are leveraging technology very aggressively. So they have virtual admins, they have EMRs and AI and things like that. So they're investing heavily on the tech side to do a lot of that support. And TBD, whether that works out or not, it's, hey, you know, they're trying something different and kudos on that front, but for most clinics.
You know, I think having a strong admin team and support team. And this also is important with, or is an opportunity with more team-based care. And with having, you know, more professionals within the workplace periods that is not just doctors doing absolutely everything, taking every single type of patient and patient visit and doing all this. If you have a strong admin staff and maybe a bit more of a dynamic team.
of healthcare practitioners, then you're able to also create a really interesting environment. So admin, yes, but also ways of looking at team-based care and different types of care models.
a few different ways to manage it.
Jordan (36:03.186)
Exactly. Awesome. Okay. Well, just being mindful of time, we've come up on our hour. Thank you so much Alita for the insights. If anyone has any other questions, feel free to shoot us a message. Alita.Tate at Cherry.Health or Jordan.Ballrath at Cherry.Health or check out our website www.cherry.health. And thanks everybody for joining and have a good rest of your morning. Take care.
Alitta (36:25.215)
Thanks, everyone.
About the Author
Cherry Health
Canada's Medical Network
About the Author
Cherry Health
Canada's Medical Network
About the Author
Cherry Health
Canada's Medical Network
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