Needs & Desires

Implementing a 'customer-centric' nurse recruitment program

By Marietta Parenti & Les Stern

Much has been written about the challenges facing healthcare providers in recruiting and retaining high-quality nurses at a time when the demand for nurses far exceeds the supply and "quick fixes," such as signing bonuses and other perks, are easily matched by competing employers. While it always is possible to learn from the experiences of others in similar situations, the best way to ensure recruitment success is by having a clear answer to a fundamental question: Given the shortage, what do we need to do to make sure we can recruit the nurses we need today and then keep them over the long term?

This question essentially is a marketing one. In the last 10 years, healthcare providers have come a long way in adopting marketing principles to attract and retain customers (patients). They have done this first by conducting market research to understand what their customers want and need. They then use that knowledge to develop and implement the services and experience their customers want and then promote their unique benefits at every opportunity.

Healthcare providers need to view prospective nurse employees (as well as nurses already on staff) as customers as well. The only difference between your nurse customers and patient customers is the product you are selling. To patients, you are selling your organization's clinical services and the benefit of "getting better." To nurses, you are selling your organization as a great place to work.

The Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago (RIC) has adopted this type of customer-centric philosophy to attract and retain the most qualified nurses. This effort has yielded positive results for the organization.

Understanding 'Customer' Needs

The first step in RIC's recruitment plan involved understanding what nurses were looking for from prospective employers. RIC was particularly interested in learning:

• what employment environment and benefits appeal to nurses;

• what types of messages would appeal to them; and

• where nurses seek potential job information.

Just as hospitals might conduct consumer focus groups before launching a new service line or initiating a new advertising strategy, RIC conducted focus groups among nurses in its primary market to get at this information with the help of a marketing and market research consultancy.

Six focus groups were held — two each with three different nursing segments: nurses with 5 years or less of experience, nurses with more than 5 years of experience and nursing students. One group per segment was conducted in Chicago; one group per segment was conducted in the city's suburbs.

This segmented approach was taken for a few reasons. First, it was believed these three segments would each have different perspectives and needs based on varying life stages and experiences. Also, it was deemed important to have two groups per segment to avoid any bias that might come through with only one group, and to gain the perspectives of city and suburban nurses.

The groups yielded a tremendous amount of useful information. While some of that knowledge reinforced the organization's existing perceptions of nurses, such as their pursuit of their profession to help people, there also were several interesting and unexpected insights.

There are several factors that motivate nurses to accept given positions, according to the groups interviewed. Some nurses are motivated to take jobs based on compensation (though not necessarily salary). Others are motivated by schedule, with the desired schedule frequently based upon stage of life. Still others are driven by location.

• Nurses will rely heavily on the word of other nurses in deciding where to apply for a job.

• Even in the face of offers of higher compensation, better schedule and/or better location, a positive, supportive, collegial work environment provides a powerful incentive to stay with an employer.

• It was found that while RIC had an excellent reputation, there were some negative perceptions about rehabilitation nursing that would need to be addressed.

Translating Needs Into Action

The research led to the development and implementation of a plan to enhance nurse employment offerings and recruitment efforts.

The first step was to tailor different employment options to appeal to the different needs and desires of new graduates, less-experienced nurses and more-experienced nurses.

As a result, nurses can now be hired and placed based not only upon their experience and desires, but also to fit the level of care in which they want to work (i.e., inpatient, day rehabilitation or outpatient), the desired patient population (i.e., pediatrics, orthopedics, brain injury), location preferences and scheduling requirements.

Additionally, options for resource pools were expanded to get and keep more nurses actively engaged with RIC.

Next, a multimedia promotional campaign was created to deliver the appropriate key messages to the target segments. Image ads were placed in selected professional publications. A public relations effort led to bylined and other stories placed in several publications. Additionally, the career pages on RIC's Web site were expanded to include a special section for nursing that more comprehensively describes the benefits and details of being a nurse at RIC. A new brochure also was created to communicate those benefits and details.

Finally, because nurses rely heavily upon the opinions and recommendations of other nurses when looking for jobs, RIC enhanced its referral bonus program.

Actions Lead to Positive Results

RIC's efforts at understanding the needs and desires of its nurse "customers" and then developing strategies and tactics based on these items have paid off.

• There has been a significant increase in referrals from existing staff.

• Recruitment has been much more effective.

• There has been a significant reduction in vacancy rates.

• There has been a significant reduction in the time it takes to fill positions.

Additionally, because this initiative was so successful, RIC applied the same process of market research, planning and implementation to recruit allied health professionals such as speech-language pathologists and physical and occupational therapists and assistants to RIC.

Lessons Learned

RIC learned the following lessons from this project.

• The research phase is critical. The reason RIC's efforts were successful was because of the information and insight obtained through market research of the target audiences. Without this type of research, healthcare providers would only be guessing at how their organization is perceived by prospective employees.

• One size does not fit all. Just as different factors motivate consumers in their decisions to select a specific healthcare provider, different factors motivate nurses when choosing an employer. Therefore, employment options help to appeal to the different needs of different segments of the market. Messages must be tailored to those needs and delivered through media preferred by the various segments.

• The results will be different for every healthcare provider. Through the research, RIC learned things specific to rehabilitation nursing in general and its organization in particular that contributed to the success of the employment options, messages and media. However, nurses will most likely have different perspectives on your organization and the types of nursing vacancies you are looking to fill.

So, be sure to ask questions specifically directed toward their perceptions of your organization and what would be required to entice them to work for you.

Marietta Parenti is vice president, marketing and public relations, Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago. Les Stern is president of L. Stern & Associates.