By Marjorie Alexander-Vermeulen, MBA, CPRP
Board Member

Has anyone noticed how much higher recruiter turnover is these days? Or employee turnover in general? There are a lot of people “on the move”.  Many of us are reached out to for positions weekly, and sometimes daily. We are all sought after, and we are all burned out. And who knows, the grass might be greener on the other side??

A July 27, 2021, article on LinkedIn Talent Blog stated, “New Data Shows a Soaring Demand for Recruiters and Where You Can Find More of Them”. This Blog quoted that there are 364,970 Recruiter jobs advertised on LinkedIn Worldwide. And for comparison they stated that there are 342,586 Software Engineers roles open on LinkedIn Worldwide.

Recruiters are in VERY high demand across all industries and all over the globe (not just in healthcare in the U.S.), especially since the world has seen some signs of recovery from the pandemic.

What can we, as individuals, do to keep our teams together? As we all know, strong relationships = strong results. As our friend, Philosopher Aristotle said: “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts”. As a well-oiled team we can get much more done than each of us individually.

So how can we keep each other engaged and motivated? We probably can’t stop people from leaving for large pay increases or promotions, so how can we let our teams know that we love working together and that we appreciate them?

I started sending handwritten notes to individuals on the team who I felt could use an encouraging word. And when I say team, I don’t just mean those who are in the same department as me. For me a team consists of all who work together for a common goal! I am fully aware everyone is going above and beyond, and everyone works morning, noon, and night in our industry. I want them to know they are appreciated!

I have also started picking up the phone and letting someone know they have done a great job with this hire in this very difficult market. Under “normal” circumstances I might have sent an email: “great job”. That is just too easy! In this electronic and remote day of age, we need more personal touches. Send something small for a birthday, get some people together on a video call and sing “happy birthday” together. We warn everybody before we do this that they most likely will end up with a headache, but they all absolutely love the fact that we take a few moments and celebrate their special day. Do not lose those personal connections and let’s keep supporting each other now more than ever. And when a new recruiter/sourcer/coordinator/credentialer joins your organization, be extra supportive and remember your first few weeks in a new organization.  We are all in the same business; making sure our patients have world class care. Let’s do this for them; they deserve a strong team!