As hospital managers and administrators you know that human resource responsibilities can take up to 70% of your time and attention on a day-to-day basis. The majority of us are either directly or in-directly in charge of new employee hiring. There is certainly an art to the success of this process. Whether you have done it for 20 years or just started, it is something that probably can never be perfected. After all, we are dealing with people and people can be unpredictable. The vast majority of your hiring decisions, if done right, should minimize many of the wrong hiring decisions.
As you reflect on your process for the years past, you may be able to recall a team member or two where you went against your gut instinct and hired anyway. You may have ignored some red flags, re-interpreted a reference check, or just plain went against common sense and hired somebody anyway just to fill the position.
Maybe there were one or two people that you decided to just take a chance on. It might have been a sparkle of hope in their eyes or maybe it was someone you saw potential in and thought you mentor. By giving them a chance, you were creating an opportunity for them to find future success.
During my 20-plus years of leadership, I can think of five or six individuals that would fit this bill. I can still remember the names and events that took place. A few of these hires still work for us today. Unfortunately for a couple of them, disappointment describes the ending to our working relationship. While it would be inappropriate for me to go into details (I know, no fun right?!?!?!) each of them made choices in the working environment that led to their dismissals. While the decision to let each of them go was obvious, it wasn’t easy. After all, I had taken a chance on these individuals. Anger set in after each of their actions and then resentment. I would say to myself “I won’t make this mistake again!”.
As time has passed, I have been able to reflect on my hiring decisions. While I obviously regret the chances I took that did not pay off...I can say that opportunities for the practice and those individuals I did take a chance on that have worked out have been a great source of pride to me. I am currently hiring again and look forward to the opportunities that will walk through that door tomorrow.
Brian C. Conrad, CVPM
President