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Manager matters: Recruitment and retention: How to get them and how to keep them
ABSTRACT:
 
As a new manager, you find your ever-evolving role and responsibilities hanging over the dangling schedule. Ensuring appropriate staffing is essential for safe and efficient patient care, as well as a healthy work environment. As straightforward as this may sound, the challenging realities of posting a time sheet result in a large amount of time and effort to ensure "holes" in the schedule are filled. These challenges arise from common scenarios, such as: * vacation time * sick time * jury duty * family leave * staff members leaving their positions * injured staff members who are unable to perform their jobs * difficulty filling vacant positions. Part of your ability to handle and respond to challenges such as these is to recognize what you can and can't control. You should also recognize opportunities in areas where you can be proactive. If you direct your attention to these areas, recruitment and retention come to the forefront. For example, you can't control a staff member who's moving out of state to be closer to his or her family. On the other hand, you do have some control in offering learning opportunities for staff and enhancing a healthy work environment by mentoring professional practice. (See Table 1.)Recruitment efforts can be costly, time-consuming, and deliver poor results if the interviewing element isn't well planned. Make the most out of recruitment efforts by developing a packet of interest that can be sent to the prospective hire before the interview date. If you're in a position where you're interviewing people with no advance notice, provide the packet in a room where they can review the material before your meeting. The packet should include the following: * your business card * the organizational mission/vision statement * the job description for the applicant * departmental/team goals (if you have these developed) * an introductory generic letter that highlights your expectations of staff. Your welcoming remarks during the interview should quickly.
 
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