By David Wolfe
“Where there is no vision, the people perish…”
—Proverbs 29:18
The first, and most important part of attraction- based recruiting, is the ten year vision of the company. Where are you going in the next ten years? People will rally behind that, if it’s big enough. If that means you want to grow from serving x number of patients in your community to three times that in ten years, or if you want to grow revenue from y amount to x amount, be specific. Make it a metric, and emphasize how that positively affects the community, the team, the group, the company culture, and all the other areas that people can get behind and support.
The truth is that most organizations do not have a clear vision. If people can’t see the vision, if they can’t see where they’re going, it reduces morale, it reduces motivation, and people don’t really want to join groups like that.
Examples of typical vision statements for a healthcare organization include, “Be recognized as the preferred health system in the county.” Or, “Change the face of healthcare.” Or, “Enhance the delivery of healthcare.” Thee visions are too vague. How does someone know if they are really accomplishing the vision? If it’s not defined—how will you change the face of healthcare?—then how does the group know they are winning?
NPs and other providers are used to seeing these types of visions all the time. My recommendation is to come up with a vision that is measurable and big, and set it for ten years out. That’s something people will get behind and become passionate about. Something like, “We want to serve and treat ten thousand patients in our community in 2028.” Or, “In ten years, we want to go from five locations to fifteen locations and provide healthcare in three counties instead of one, improving the lives of sixty- five thousand people.” Or, “We want our patient satisfaction scores to go from 5.6 to 9.0 by 2028 and to make the people in our community 60 percent healthier.” The goal needs to be a bit of a stretch but big enough to inspire your team to hustle and excite them to come to work every day.
The second most important part of attraction- based recruiting is core values. Those are things that are actually lived out and are alive within a company. That’s how the company operates. What are the three to five biggest values that the company lives by? They are important, because you hire by them, and you retain people by them. These core values need to come to life. Most organizations have mission statements and core values, but they really don’t mean anything to anybody.
Values can include philanthropy, but this is not required; it is just an add-on. For instance, we donate a percentage of our profit to Water Mission. Water Mission provides sustainable clean water across the world. And, for example, if we donated $16,000, we would directly save 533 lives. When we can see this impact, it makes a difference in the work we do. This future workforce is really getting behind that. They want to join companies with a clear vision and strong core values, because it makes them feel like they’re a part of something bigger than themselves.
The core purpose is very important: Why you do what you do? ftis isn’t a mission statement; it is how you are making an impact. The Disney Company’s core purpose is, “We make people happy.” Our core purpose at NP Now is, “We connect people to improve life.”
As a healthcare organization, what is your core purpose? You want your core purpose to be so big that even after somebody retires, they would still come back and volunteer with your organization, because they
You want your core purpose to be so big that even after somebody retires, they would still come back and volunteer with your organization, because they believe in your purpose so much. That’s extremely idealistic. It’s not very probable. But that’s the idea behind creating a strong core purpose, and the future workforce is really looking for that strong core purpose.
Along with telling your story, attraction-based recruiting should focus on why the position is open, and then how the new team member can be a catalyst and make a huge impact in the group. You’ve told the story, so now how do they fit in within your company’s growth story? It’s talking about how this role that you’re recruiting them for is vital to the big picture of the organization. You don’t want to present some sort of big vision and then say, “Hey, you’re only going to be doing this over here, and it doesn’t really matter.” You are clearly explaining, “This is what we’re doing, and this is how this new role is going to make a big impact within the organization. If we select you, here’s how you would make a big impact within the organization.”