Doing a Spring cleaning at your residence is one thing, but what about performing the same ritual on the workspace at your medical office. Some healthcare companies have specialized departments to handle this responsibility, but many small offices can’t afford this extra janitorial luxury. Given the importance of patient safety, you need to take the steps to ensure your office remains clean, virus-free, and protected from germs and other airborne bacteria.

Here are some tips for keeping your medical office clean. Remember, if you have a department or an employee responsible for cleaning, let the professionals handle some of these duties. Still, it is important to keep your personal space germ free to prevent the spread of sickness.

Your Workspace is a High Germ Zone

Any office cubicle offers a welcoming environment for germs of all types. This problem becomes exacerbated when considering the typical visitor to a medical office, no matter what ailments they are carrying. A study by the UK sanitary services company, the Cleaning Services Group, revealed that 80 percent of illnesses are transmitted by contact with an infected surface — not from sneezing or coughing. Office telephones are a notorious high germ zone.

Workers at a medical office need to go the extra mile to ensure their workplace stays spic and span. While some patients will bring their germs into the office, you also need to ensure your staff doesn’t add to the problem by spreading their own contagions. Patient safety remains paramount, plus you don’t want your office’s efficiency to suffer due to extra sick days.

Tips for a Clean Medical Office

Since a work desk is 100 times less hygienic than a typical kitchen table, don’t let your staff eat at their desk. Make it a point to keep your office kitchen extra clean and inviting so your employees enjoy using it for their lunches. Give the area a thorough cleaning each night to ensure the bacteria count is kept to a minimum.

Spend a little extra out of the office budget for sanitary wipes to be placed at each employee’s desk. Encourage their use on a daily basis. Frankly, the concept of Spring cleaning should be foreign to any medical office, as the entire office — desks, cubicles, greeting area, examination rooms, and kitchen — needs to be fully cleaned and sanitized each and every day.

If your organization needs insight on building a top notch medical staff, talk to the experts at Pinnacle Workforce. As one of the top staffing agencies in the healthcare industry, we offer the vetted candidates to make a difference for your firm. Talk with us as soon as possible!

The medical industry can be very competitive when it comes to hiring and retaining the top talent. Remember the world of healthcare tends to be more immune to economic downturns than other business sectors, so the best employees are always in demand. You need to ensure your top workers feel appreciated, lest they start wondering if the grass is greener somewhere else.

Taking the steps to reward your best employees is a must if you want a successful medical practice. In the hopes of retaining the stars on your staff, here are three strategies for showing how you appreciate their efforts.

Be Generous with Comp Time

Giving your staff enough time to recharge their batteries is a must in the stressful world of healthcare. In addition to their normal PTO allotment, consider awarding a day or two of comp time to your best performers on a quarterly basis. If your top talent worked extra hours over the last few weeks, some extra time off each month would definitely be appreciated.

This offers two benefits. Your best workers are able to refresh themselves, while offering the understanding you are thankful for their work and also care about their well-being.

Develop an Award System

Create an award system at your medical office to inspire all your employees to step up their efforts. A simple “Employee of the Month” award with the added benefit of a gift card at a local restaurant, special parking privileges, or even a day of PTO does wonders for team morale. Host a special award lunch each month, to allow your entire staff some time to decompress and celebrate their coworker’s efforts.

Don’t forget about Financial Benefits

Most of the time, it comes down to a generous salary or other financial considerations to truly gain the loyalty of the most talented members on your team. Develop a bonus structure that recognizes and rewards your best performers over the previous year. This helps to both reward the top workers and incent the rest of your staff to strive for their best.

Additionally, a robust benefits package with tuition reimbursement helps to encourage your team to improve their medical education and practical skills. Having a policy requiring an employee to stay with your firm for a period after receiving tuition reimbursement also helps you retain your best.

If you need additional advice for building a winning team at your medical office, talk to the experts at Pinnacle Workforce. One of the top staffing agencies in the healthcare industry, we offer the vetted candidates able to make a positive difference for your patients. Talk with us today!

Onboarding new hires remains an important process for businesses in all industries, but it is especially relevant in the world of healthcare. Since patient care is your most important directive, getting new medical employees productive and contributing quickly is a must. Don’t expect to be able to accomplish this task without developing and executing a plan to get fresh workers up to speed.

With a successful onboarding process in mind, here are some ideas for creating a 30-day plan for new hires. Remember, this is something that goes beyond filling out insurance and payroll forms on their first day.

Speaking of Paperwork — Automate the Process

The more time spent dealing with new employee paperwork is less time spent meeting their new coworkers and learning your medical office’s processes and procedures. Consider sending out any insurance and payroll forms with your formal offer letter and ask the employee to fill them out before their first day. With the right technology, you are able to automate this process and handle things electronically.

The employee handbook and other portions of your company’s culture are also able to be delivered electronically, either through email or by providing the new hire access to the company Intranet. The same logic applies to any medical software manuals or other important information they’ll need to perform their job roles. Once again, accomplishing this before their start date leaves more time for hands-on training.

On the New Employee’s First Day

Inform everyone in your office about the new hire through email before their start date. On their first day, make it a point to have their supervisor introduce them to everyone, while ensuring their employment card and computer workstation — if relevant — is ready to go. They should also understand the chain of command at the office and who is available for answering questions.

Set 30-Day Goals and Follow-Up on their Progress

Create a set of 30-day goals for the new hire; 60 and 90-day goals are also a good idea depending on the level of planning at your office. This gives the new employee a sense of your expectations, which helps them feel comfortable and get up to speed more quickly. Encourage them to exceed those goals as they grow in confidence.

In addition to the ideas presented here, ensure your HR team and managers all have input to any orientation plan for new hires. Document the process while keeping the door open for improvements as things mature.

If your company needs help in building a winning team in the healthcare industry, talk to the experts at Pinnacle Workforce. As one of the country’s top medical staffing agencies, we offer great insight — and great candidates. Meet with us at your earliest convenience.

Keeping your office staff operating at its highest efficiency is a must, especially in the somewhat stressful world of healthcare. Sometimes, there’s a fine line between your employees working with their utmost effort and suffering from workplace burnout. It is up to you and your managerial team to recognize the signs of employee burnout, so you are able to solve the problem before it adversely impacts patient care.

Here are a few ideas to help you better understand employee burnout and ensure your medical team doesn’t suffer from its effects.

Watch for a Loss of Spark or Enthusiasm

If you or any of your managers notice employees who seem to be going through the motions — a loss of enthusiasm for their work — make it a point to hold a one-on-one meeting with them. Absenteeism is another sign that something might be up. So pay attention to anyone on your staff arriving late or taking an unusual amount of sick days.

Be Proactive with Stress in the Medical Workplace

Additionally, encourage your staff to reach out to their managers or yourself if they feel things are getting out of hand. It is better to nip things in the bud before they grow to become performance issues. Dedicate a portion of your employee manual to work-related stress issues, as your staff needs to understand you won’t immediately pass out pink slips when job burnout arises.

Appreciate and Reward Your Employees

Your employees need to be properly matched with job roles related to their experience level and skill set. This helps to lessen their stress levels. Additionally, consider rewarding exemplary members of your staff for a job well done, as building a positive company culture is another good way to prevent employee burnout.

Encourage Employee Wellness

Make sure your employees are aware of the steps they can take to improve their own mental and physical well-being. Consider holding meditation classes at your office as mindfulness can play a major role in keeping your staff on an even keel. Work with your company’s health insurance provider to develop a wellness program to help stave off the effects of workplace stress.

If your company needs additional advice on developing the best possible team at your medical office, talk to the experts at Pinnacle Workforce. As one of the top staffing agencies in the healthcare industry, we offer the insight to help your company succeed. Meet with us at your earliest convenience.

With the New Year now upon us, is your company ready to face the challenges of the upcoming twelve months? If your healthcare organization is expecting success in 2016, you’d better make sure your company’s staffing is sufficient to meet its needs for the next year and beyond. Planning needs to happen soon to ensure your firm isn’t understaffed (or overstaffed) at an inopportune time.

Quality patient care and an efficient operation are your two essential goals. With that in mind, here are some tips to ensure your medical company is staffed properly to ensure success in 2016.

Planning is Vital to Ensure a Properly Staffed Office

Your managerial team already needs to be engaged in 2016 planning. The results of this analysis plays a large role in determining your staffing needs for the upcoming year. Get input from both your human resources personnel as well as each line manager.

An overstaffed organization runs the risk of becoming unprofitable; if you are understaffed, your current team becomes stressed from too much work and patient care ultimately suffers. Right-sizing your staff needs to be your ultimate goal. Be sure that enough planning goes into any decision to grow your workforce.

Temporary Staffing Offers Your Company Flexibility

Consider leveraging temporary employees to give your firm staffing flexibility during 2016. This strategy allows you the means to staff up and down as necessary, avoiding any problems that arise due to your office being over or understaffed. A temporary contract also gives you the chance to try out a candidate before potentially extending them a permanent job offer.

Additionally, a temporary worker also provides a chance to close a skills gap at your medical office. If your staff needs exposure to a new technique or the latest healthcare technology, bringing in someone with that skill on a temporary basis helps to raise the overall skill level of your team.

Don’t Wait to Recruit Nursing Talent

With a nursing shortage predicted to continue in 2016, demand for the top talent remains strong. If you ultimately decide to hire new nurses, start the recruiting process as soon as possible to ensure your organization gets the best shot at a talented new hire. Don’t expect nurses with great ability to remain on the sidelines for long.

When your healthcare company needs assistance in building a top notch team, talk to the experts at Pinnacle Workforce. As one of the top medical staffing agencies in the country, we offer the great candidates able to make a positive difference at your office. Schedule some time with us soon!

The exit interview sometimes gets overlooked when it comes to analyzing your organization’s corporate culture, employee retention, and, ultimately, your operational efficiency. The opportunity to find out the reasons behind any employee’s desire to work somewhere else offers insight into your policies and procedures. Was it merely a case of a disgruntled worker wanting out, or do you need improve some things at your office?

With an eye towards building — and retaining — a top notch medical office staff, here is a closer look at improving your organization’s exit interviews.

Make Sure the Employee’s Manager does NOT conduct the Interview

To truly receive valuable feedback from your departing employee, it is vital to have someone else other than their direct manager conduct the exit interview. Consider using a member your human resources team for this task. If no one is available, someone from another department will have to suffice.

The relationship between supervisor and employee is too close for a meaningful exit interview. An outsider’s perspective is necessary.

Verbal Exit Interviews are Better than Paper or Online

Spend the extra resources to ensure exit interviews are conducted in person, on a one-to-one basis. This allows the interviewer to probe more deeply into an employee’s reason for leaving. Follow-up questions and interaction between both parties lead to a more rewarding and useful result for your company.

Emphasize the Confidential Nature of the Exit Interview

The employee in question needs to fully understand the purpose of an exit interview, as well as its confidentiality. They need to feel comfortable enough to answer the questions honestly and in sufficient detail. Reassure them that no attempts to get them to reconsider their decision are forthcoming.

Have the Employee summarize their Experience with your Company First

As the first step during an exit interview, have the employee provide a summary of their experience with your organization. This helps to trigger additional questions providing the meaningful information that offers the most value for the company. Additionally, you may receive answers to questions to be asked later, helping to save time for the most important topics.

While your organization doesn’t want its best employees to leave for another company, proper use of the exit interview hopefully helps to change the office culture — if necessary — to prevent further departures.

If your medical company needs additional assistance in building a winning team, talk to the experts at Pinnacle Workforce. As one of the top healthcare staffing agencies in the country, we offer the top notch candidates able to make a positive difference from the first day forward. Schedule a meeting with us soon!

Trying to find the best healthcare talent in today’s market remains a challenge for many companies. Sure, you may receive up to a hundred résumés for an open position, but probably two or three candidates are truly qualified, and you’ll face stiff competition trying to get them to accept a job offer. It’s a situation that makes many HR managers pull their hair out.

Offering meaningful incentives to promising candidates boosts your chances of attracting the best medical workers. With hiring the best possible employees in mind, let’s take a closer look at how to spice up your organization’s job offers.

A Signing Bonus helps to clinch the Deal

Consider offering a signing bonus to ensure your company is able to convince the best candidates to sign on the dotted line. If you are worried a new employee will end up leaving after a few months, pay some of the bonus up front, while paying the rest on the employee’s one-year anniversary. The most important thing is turning a quality candidate into a contributing team member.

While signing bonuses add a short-term expense to your company, you may actually save dollars in the long run when considering the costs of onboarding new employees — a task you’ll need to repeat after hiring an inadequate worker that quickly needs replaced.

Offering extra vacation or personal days upon hire is another incentive option worth considering in lieu of a cash signing bonus. If your company’s budget is currently tight, this provides another means for incenting the top industry talent to consider your organization. You are also able to stagger the PTO offer over a longer period, giving the new hire another good reason to stay with your firm.

A Robust Benefits Package and Welcoming Culture helps to attract Top Talent

If you regularly encounter difficulty in getting the best medical industry talent to join your company, you need to ensure you provide a competitive benefits package. Talk with your staffing agency partner about where your compensation and benefits rank among other medical companies in your city.

Additionally, remember to foster a positive company culture, as this provides another good reason for quality candidates to choose your firm. Word about corporate culture — both good and bad — spreads quickly in the employment market.

If your organization needs additional insight on building a winning healthcare team, talk to the experts at Pinnacle Workforce. One of the country’s top medical staffing agencies, we offer the top candidates able to make a positive difference for your firm. Schedule some with us today!

With everything involved in the hiring process, sometimes checking a candidate’s references gets the short shrift. This isn’t good for your company, because when a decision comes down to two quality candidates with similar skill sets and medical industry experience, reference checking plays a large role in making the correct final choice. When performing reference checks, it is important to follow a thorough, mistake free process.

Let’s look more closely at some reference checking mistakes your HR team needs to avoid to make the best possible hiring decision.

Considering References who never worked with the Candidate

It is vital to only consider references who directly worked with a candidate. This is especially important when considering the stressful nature of work within the healthcare industry. A first-person perspective on how the candidate performs when under pressure offers better predictive insight to their on-the-job performance with your organization.

In short, don’t consider references from a candidate’s high school teacher or Boy or Girl Scout troop leader.

Not Reference Checking Every Candidate

Your HR team needs to follow a consistent hiring process. This includes performing thorough reference checks on at least every candidate you bring in for an interview. Skimping on this part of the process might lead to a costly hiring mistake.

Your interviewing team benefits from having any additional information weaned from a reference check when talking with a candidate. If the time doesn’t allow reference checks before an initial interview, definitely perform them before any follow-up interviews take place.

Insufficient Questioning of a Candidate’s References

The members of your HR team doing the reference checks need to channel their “inner Mike Wallace” — the legendary 60 Minutes reporter known for tough questioning. In short, don’t ask leading questions and leverage meaningful follow-up queries to gain additional insight into a candidate’s previous work performance. If your reference checkers are only receiving “yes” or “no” answers, their questions probably aren’t good enough.

Prepare a worksheet for your HR staff that covers these questioning strategies. This helps to ensure consistency between those checking references, and that you have all the information you need to make an enlightened final decision on which candidate is best for your company.

If your organization needs additional input on how to build a winning team in the healthcare industry, talk to the experts at Pinnacle Workforce. As one of the top medical staffing agencies in the country, we offer top notch candidates able to make a difference in your office. Schedule some time with us as soon as possible!

Perusing the hundreds of résumés your company receives each time you publicize an open position is hard enough. Discovering and filtering out any fraudulent CVs also strains the resources of your human resources staff. Their extra effort remains important, however, because hiring someone who falsified their work or educational history is a risk no medical company wants to take.

A survey by the Society of Human Resources Managers noted that nearly half of all résumés contain falsifications. Let’s take a look at a few techniques to help your healthcare firm avoid the risk of résumé fraud.

A Deliberate Hiring Process is a Must

Once your HR team does its first sweep through a collection of new résumés, make sure any candidates who pass that first eye test get a thorough onceover before selecting any for interviews. If someone claims experience with medical software or any other piece of medical technology before it reached the market, there are probably other falsehoods on their CV.

While running a complete background check makes sense before extending a job offer, take the time to contact universities to verify any candidate’s educational background before the interviewing process. Remember, it takes time from your HR and managerial team to interview candidates, so only bring in anyone able to pass verification on some of their basic résumé information.

Reference and Background Checks remain a Vital Part of the Hiring Process

No matter in which part of the hiring process you perform them, reference and background checks remain a vital weapon in combating résumé fraud. Consider conducting quick reference checks before interviews to simply verify basic information. Weeding out false candidates is definitely possible earlier in the process, saving valuable time typically used to conduct interviews.

Once an offer is ready to be extended, make it contingent on the applicant passing a background check. An extensive check of the candidate’s work and educational history along with verifying the lack of criminal background (if alluded to on their application) is simply a must for any medical company. Make sure you use an accredited company to perform any background checks — you want the most thorough analysis of candidate’s history as possible before making a final hiring decision.

If your healthcare organization needs additional insight on the hiring process, speak with the experts at Pinnacle Workforce. As one of the nation’s top medical staffing agencies, we offer the vetted candidates able to contribute to your company. Schedule a meeting with us today!

When it comes to sharing valuable information in any industry — healthcare being no exception — an official mentoring program works wonders. It allows the transfer of knowledge from your most experienced workers to those first entering the field. When it comes to newer technology, sometimes this flow of information even gets reversed from younger nurses to your older staff.

Mentoring programs definitely help to close any skills gap at your healthcare organization. Let’s take a closer look at what it takes to begin a mentoring program for your nurses.

Encourage Senior Nurses to serve as Mentors

First off, gauge the interest your senior nursing professionals hold for serving as mentors in your organization’s program. Encourage participation by explaining to them how a mentorship program improves the level of patient care across your entire staff. Remind your veteran nurses that serving as mentors bodes well for their chances at advancing in their own careers.

Once you have a pool of nurses willing to be mentors, make sure they are able to cover a good cross-section of the nursing disciplines typically used in your medical office or hospital. Providing a high standard of patient care is your ultimate goal.

Organize and Schedule Mentorship Activities

It is important to fully organize the mentorship program. Schedule times convenient to both the mentors and those being mentored that won’t conflict with their regular work schedule. Consider making mentoring sessions a lunchtime activity to encourage higher participation.

Track attendance at each session, leveraging the use of a spreadsheet or simple database for reporting purposes. This lets you compare the performance of your junior nurses against the mentoring they’ve received. Improving the efficacy of your mentoring program is something worth aiming for.

Publicize the Mentoring Program Internally

Once everything is in place for the mentoring program, it is important to publicize its availability and remind your newer nurses that their participation in the program is encouraged, especially on sessions covering their areas of weakness. Either one-to-one sessions or one mentor working with multiple nurses are possible, although in the latter case, ensure mentors are able to use AV equipment, like projectors, for the best possible session quality.

Your new mentoring program will soon improve the quality of your nursing staff, while developing a sense of camaraderie and teamwork.

When your organization needs additional insight on building a top notch nursing team, talk to the experts at Pinnacle Workforce. As one of the top medical staffing agencies in the country, we offer the quality candidates able to make a positive impact on your healthcare company. Talk with us as soon as possible!