The old adage that “time flies when you’re having fun” really hit home for me this morning. As I was reflecting on the last ten years I’ve spent in the professional working world, I realized that one of the common denominators in each of my positions has been healthcare. 

I began my career on the public relations side, working with healthcare systems and big pharma. That interest has carried over into my role in the recruiting world. In the last four years at Paladin, I’ve worked with nearly 30 healthcare associations, providers, insurers and pharma companies, providing a vast array of talent for marketing, creative, programming, membership, training, event and communications departments.  Working with marketers and creatives in this space has allowed me the opportunity to stay abreast of trends, pressures, challenges and nuances in the field.

To get an even deeper understanding of these trends, I launched a survey of my healthcare association clients last month. The goal was to better understand the marketing, membership and staffing trends within these organizations.  I think you’ll find the survey results interesting.

A few key findings:

- The healthcare association world is a “healthy” one, despite the turbulent U.S. economy. The majority of respondents noted that their overall membership base in continuing to grow and that from an organizational perspective, they plan to continue expanding in other markets.

- As with many organizations, healthcare associations are embracing the new social media movement and offering new online and interactive forums to help their members and employees communicate. Facebook and Linked-In are becoming the top social media tools in the communications arsenal of these organizations.

- In order to remain competitive, healthcare associations are expanding their product and service offerings in 2009, including e-learning programs, online conferences, and social  media tools.

I encourage you to review the full survey findings in the hope that you’ll be able to leverage them as you continue to build marketing and communications campaigns and products for your members this year.

http://www.paladinstaff.com/promo/survey-results/

I also welcome your insights and hope you will help create a larger dialogue on this topic.  Feel free to comment here, or to contact me off-line with questions, ideas, suggestions, requests or additional resources: elise@paladinstaff.com.

Our economy has created a stir of anxiety and fear lately. We are asking ourselves questions: Is my company going to have major layoffs?  Why are there so many closed door meetings lately?  What am I going to do if I lose my job?

Even top performers and producers are worried and anxious about their job security.

What can you do to stay calm and enhance your chances of staying employed until things shift their way around? Here are a few tips and food for thought:

Go beyond the call of duty: Exceed expectations and volunteer to complete extra projects outside of your day to day responsibilities.

Make yourself visible: If you’ve been hiding behind your cubicle the last 6 months, chances are, you haven’t been noticed. Make the effort to say hello to people every day. Have a positive, upbeat attitude that will make the executives remember you.

Be punctual: Always arrive to work early or on time. If you have been strolling in 10-15 minutes late each day. Stop. Co-workers, including your boss, notice and so should you.

Don’t gossip and remain positive: Maintaining an upbeat attitude at work is essential during times like these. Office gossip tends to explode during an economic downturn. Always be professional and find helpful and creative ways to be the example.

Be prepared: There are some things you have no control over, no matter how proactive and professional you are. Update your resume and professional references, beef up your skills. Sign yourself up to social networking sites.

I just received this article from BLR’s:  “HR Strange but True Newsletter” and wondered if you wanted to share your “Biggest Turkey” ever hire story in honor of Turkey Day next week…

A recent survey asked hiring managers to describe the “biggest turkey” they ever hired. The responses should leave no doubt as to why they considered the employee a dud.

While hiring is a rarer bird these days due to downsizing, employers still seeking talent find hiring new people to be more daunting than ever.  “Turkeys” are still lurking in the applicant pool, according to a recent survey by Caliper, an international management consulting firm.

The October 2008 survey of 190 hiring managers found that 69 percent of respondents find it easier to work with “the devil they know” in poorly performing employees rather than taking a chance on an “unknown” new hire. Just 31 percent of those queried find it harder to manage the people they have than to select new employees.

For some employers, these hiring concerns have proven to be well founded. With Thanksgiving fast approaching, Caliper asked managers to describe the “biggest turkey you ever hired.” Among the responses:

• “A fellow who, after 1 week on the job, asked to go to Florida. We said no, so he called in sick for a week and then came back with a tan!”
• “We hired someone who could barely do a single task.”
• “We hired a woman and the second day on the job, we found her taking a nap in the office of the CEO.”
• “One gentleman came in late, left early, then told me, ‘I’m going to be sick tomorrow, so I won’t be in’.”

“In difficult economic environments, people are a company’s most powerful competitive advantage,” said Herb Greenberg, Caliper’s founder, president, and CEO. “Every new hire provides a precious opportunity that employers don’t want to squander. This adds to the pressure to ‘work smarter’ in the hiring process and to avoid the costs of a poor decision.”

1. Be strategic (or “Keep your cool even if everyone else is losing theirs”).

What matters most to your organization? Your job is to figure out your “secret sauce,” and make sure that that is the last place where cuts are made.

2. Know what you can and can’t affect (or, “Don’t tilt at windmills”).

Realize that there is no way that you alone, can materially impact the overall economic cycle or the march of technology. On the other hand, you can affect how you manage your expenses and how you learn about and react to changes. Worrying about the future is inevitable, but don’t let it immobilize you.

3. Move quickly and decisively (or “Fish; don’t just cut bait”).

Businesses have to make money (even nonprofits need operating surpluses to maintain operations). If you look at your budgets and you’re at a deficit, you’ve got two choices: Act quickly to fix it so you can be ready and able to go on, or act slowly and prolong the pain. The latter may seem more palatable as you first survey the scene, but it rarely works.

4. Keep your personal life under control (or, “No one ever died thinking they hadn’t spent enough time worrying”).

This is very stressful stuff. You have a lot to do; you have to do it quickly; and you often have to hurt good people whom you value. But that’s the easy part. The hard part is dealing with the feeling that you aren’t in control. Events are driving the train. You are just an unhappy, unwilling passenger.

The feeling that you are not in control is what causes the stress. (You may think it’s all the work you’ve got, but consider: You’d be just as stressed if the world was collapsing and you had nothing to do.)