Jill Schwieters, president of Cielo Healthcare, and Marcia Miller Telthorster, VP of Human Resources of Princeton HealthCare Systems spoke about their accomplishments together at Princeton Healthcare during the 6th Annual Becker's Hospital Review Meeting.
The Princeton HealthCare system is a comprehensive integrated system in central New Jersey, with a new facility with over one thousand physicians and three thousand employees.
In terms of thinking strategically, you have the 'where are we going,' and the 'where are we today.' Daily operations are a prioritization of energy and the strategic priorities of Princeton HealthCare system is to be the focal point of a comprehensive community health system that serves the area's residents.
Ms. Miller also redesigned the HR department into two phases; client services and operations. "HR became the customer service arm of the operation. I got out quarterly and ask each VP to meet with me as a customer-service check-in. I don't want HR to be a block," said Ms. Miller. "By changing the model from a strict structure to a customer-focused delivery system, we have been pretty successful and changed the way the organization looks at service in general."
The HR function before Ms. Miller stepped in was very functionary and more a mouse-in-the-wheel; now it is a true strategic partner, said Ms. Schwieters.
The HR team also wanted exceptional staff and sought an experienced talent acquisition team as part of HR's client services.
Cielo Healthcare then partnered with Princeton HealthCare System to establish credibility and confidence with leadership, which allowed the HR function to have greater strategic focus, known as recruitment process outsourcing.
Today, you do not hire the best people just by looking at resumes or hiring the first person who interviews; Cielo designed a customized a process to make it easy for candidates and hiring managers to move great candidates through a scalable process.
"When we sat down as an executive steering committee we talked about the promise we were going to do to one another… Having the right tools and technology to make sure the recruiters had the right tools to make sure candidates could easily find Princeton," said Ms. Schwieters.
The other partnership promises included:
1. Be proactive and deliberate about identifying critical top talent; develop a pipeline of active and passive candidates.
2. Consistently track and communicate accurate metrics and reporting to make data-based decisions.
3. Utilize the latest best practices in recruitment, while reducing overall costs and improving
results.
4. Maximize investment in candidate assessment tools through execution of a consistent process.
Key performance indicators were listed during the presentation as well, with a baseline hiring manager satisfaction of 62 percent, which hit 87 percent in 2009. New hire satisfaction had a baseline of 89 percent, which hit 99 percent in 2014.
"Whether you work with Cielo or not, your HR team should provide you with performance indicators and then figure out what it costs for various turnovers… be sure you are working with HR teams to understand key HR performance metrics, how they impact the bottom line and how they impact quality," said Ms. Miller.
Princeton is not claiming to solve the nursing shortage, but the RPO partnership will do everything they can to make sure nurses think of Princeton first; using things such as search engine optimization and keeping track of positive impressions to reach audiences in a way that audiences want to be reached.
In areas such as behavioral health, the time to fill was driven down for Princeton House by having expert recruiters and HR teams to drive positive metrics and results as jobs are filled faster with quality people who stay.
Some tactics that are critical today include using data and talent intelligence to find what you are looking for. For example, estimate how many physical therapists are in New Jersey, and finding specific skill combinations to help a hiring manager find specific best fit for your organization. If the position is needed urgently, you can use the data to understand whether that's possible. It is the science behind recruitment efforts to help them understand where to focus.
Communication is also another important tool after you use technology. How one communicates is really important, said the speakers. The hiring manager should be able to communicate and relate to the four generations that are in the workforce today.