Three Tips for conducting Mid-year Reviews

June 27th, 2016

It is important to keep your staff in the loop regarding their performance and progress towards reaching any personal goals as well as those of your medical office. Giving employee reviews only on an annual basis isn’t sufficient for this purpose. Mid-year reviews provide another chance to give valuable feedback to ensure your team stays on the right track throughout the year.

Here are three tips for conducting mid-year reviews. Hopefully, they help your team meet or exceed your hopes for a top notch healthcare establishment. Let’s check them out.

Keep your Top Performers Engaged for the Entire Year

The shining stars in your office need to be constantly challenged to maintain their high-performance levels. When a mid-year review identifies someone who exceeded the goals you set for them, up the ante by giving them a variety of new stretch assignments to put them on a path to career advancement.

This helps keeps the employee in question properly engaged, so they won’t become bored and lose interest in their daily duties. When uninspired, they may look elsewhere for a more challenging position. This is a case where mid-year reviews help in employee retention.

Tailor Improvement Plans for any Problem Employees

On the other hand, mid-year performance reviews help to single out any staff members struggling to pull their weight in the office. This gives you a chance to develop a plan of action to get that employee on the right track before the end of the year. Try to set reachable goals for the next six months, so the worker gains confidence.

If you wait until an end of year review to help get workers back on track, it allows too much time for problems to fester, which may adversely impact employee morale in the office.

Use the Opportunity for a Meaningful Manager-Employee Conversation

Mid-year reviews provide a great opportunity to meet one-on-one with your entire staff. Encourage your employees to speak frankly about their own performance in addition to giving their opinions on the office as a whole. Make it a point to listen attentively to any new ideas to improve the efficiency of your operations.

In short, leverage the mid-year review to keep your medical office on a path towards continuous improvement.

When you need additional insights on teambuilding in the healthcare industry, talk to the experts at Pinnacle Workforce. As one of the nation’s leading medical staffing agencies, we offer the great candidates able to make valued contribution to your staff. Contact our staffing experts today.

Three Summer Teambuilding Exercises for a Medical Staff

June 20th, 2016

Developing teamwork at the office plays a big role in optimizing your operational efficiency. This is especially important in the healthcare industry where patient care is the prime directive. Trying to keep a group of disparate personalities focused on a common goal can be difficult at times.

Summertime gives managers the chance to leverage the good weather for a variety of teambuilding exercises. With a smooth running medical office staff in mind, here are three activities to help your employees truly become a team.

Spend a Day Outdoors doing Activities requiring Teamwork

The summer season allows for a variety of outdoor tasks sure to help build camaraderie amongst your staff. If a body of water is convenient to your office, a lesson in operating a sailboat is one example of a fun activity requiring everyone to work together. Simply spending some time in the woods on a hiking trip lets everyone get a chance to recharge in a natural setting.

A variety of corporate or business retreats typically offers more formal team building exercises suitable for a medical office staff. Research any options nearby to see if something makes sense for your team. At the minimum, a picnic with everyone’s families is something simple to generate goodwill between your team members.

A Volunteer Outing is a Great Idea

A group outing spent volunteering at a local soup kitchen or even Habitat for Humanity is worthy of consideration. Empathy is vital in the medical industry, and an exercise like this develops teamwork while also helping individual employees build their empathic character. A little extra publicity for your medical office never hurts as well.

Professional Development Seminars and Motivational Speakers

Holding a professional development seminar for your medical office staff makes sense at any time of the year, and summertime is no exception. Scheduling a motivational speaker specializing in building teamwork is another great idea. Consider hosting the speaker at an outdoor event in a local park to combine team building with a day spent in nature.

Holding teambuilding exercises based on any one (or even all three!) of these suggestions will help get your staff working together better than ever before. Don’t let the summer pass without giving these ideas a shot!

When you need additional insight on developing a top-notch medical team, talk to the experts at Pinnacle Workforce. As one of the country’s leading healthcare staffing agencies, we offer great candidates able to add value to your staff. Schedule a meeting with us at your earliest convenience.

How to address a Previous Firing in an Interview

June 14th, 2016

Even in a medical career filled with progressively greater professional accomplishments, you may have been fired from a previous position. This fact needn’t dissuade you from trying to better yourself by finding a new job with another company. There remains a lot of turnover in the healthcare industry and most companies won’t disqualify a candidate for a misstep earlier in their career.

The important thing is to properly address a previous firing during the job interview. This post offers a few tips on how best to answer when asked about a dismissal in your work history.

Prepare and Practice your Answer before the Interview

Probably the most important tip is to be sure you prepare your answer to this question beforehand. About the worst thing you can do is fumble over your answer while seeming unsure on how to respond. This comes off as being less than honest, which may end up disqualifying your candidacy.

Answering in a forthright, honest manner is vital. Practice the question with a friend or even your recruiter to ensure your interview performance — especially when it comes to this question — is top notch.

An Honest Answer without Blaming Others is the Best Route

A truthful answer, when asked about a previous firing, is always the best approach. Speak about the incident in a straightforward way with a clear voice while making natural eye contact with the interviewer. Never lie or try to hide the real reason for your firing behind falsehoods and half-truths.

Don’t try to make excuses or blame others for the situation leading to your firing. This also puts you in a bad light which may adversely affect your chances at a job offer more than the firing itself. It is important to frame the issue in an objective manner.

Show you’ve grown because of your Firing

Take the opportunity to display how you’ve learned from being fired and that you’ve grown in your career as a result. This gives your potential new employer some reassurances you would be a good choice for a job offer. If this is your first round of interviews after being fired, describe how you won’t make a new company feel sorry for giving you a second chance.

If you need additional insight on how to handle a previous firing in a job search, talk to the experts at Pinnacle Workforce. As one of the country’s top medical staffing agencies, our recruiters know the healthcare industry inside and out and can help you and your career. Contact us at your earliest convenience.

Three Ways to Follow-up after a Medical Interview

June 5th, 2016

Congratulations are in order for earning a job interview with one of the top medical companies in the area. Whether you are hoping for a position with a hospital, medical office, or some other healthcare company, your interview performance needs to be top notch. That doesn’t mean you can skimp on the post-interview follow-up, as it also plays an important role in your overall candidacy.

With earning a great job offer as your goal, here are three things you need to do when following-up after a medical interview. Good luck in your efforts!

Follow-up using a Friendly and Professional Email

When you get home after the interview, shoot off a quick email to the interviewer. Be sure to thank them for the opportunity to talk about the open position and how your skill set matches their needs. You don’t need to go overboard with selling yourself for the job — the interview itself is where that needed to happen — just focus on a quick and professional statement.

If you haven’t heard back after a week or so, consider sending another email with a polite request on the status of the interview process. This additional email should suffice, as you don’t want to be perceived as a pest.

Don’t forget to send a Thank You Note

Another follow-up note using venerable snail mail doesn’t have to seem old-fashioned in today’s hiring landscape. In fact, it is a nice touch that truly illustrates your interest in the open position. Use a business letter outline and professional stationery for the note; expressing your appreciation of the chance to become a valued employee of their firm.

Connect with the Interviewer on LinkedIn

As the preeminent social network for professionals, a LinkedIn account is a must when working in the healthcare industry. After the interview, send a connection request to the interviewer. Beforehand, give your profile a once over, making sure the information on it matches your résumé, as any discrepancies won’t bode well for your chances at a job offer.

Consider endorsing some of the interviewer’s skills to curry a measure of favor before the hiring decision is made, but don’t go overboard. Hopefully, following these three steps helps you earn that valued job offer.

If you need any assistance in finding work in the healthcare industry, talk to the experts at Pinnacle Workforce. As one of the country’s top medical staffing agencies, we can help take your career to the next level. Contact us to schedule some time with us as soon as possible!

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