Staffing Robot - Healthcare Staffing Technology, Design & Marketing Blog

What good is a Travel Nurse Loyalty Program if you don’t know how it works?

Guest Blog by Patrick Fuerstenau – Brand Craftsman at Medical Solutions, a leading Healthcare Staffing company that provides quality Nurses and Allied Health Professionals to meet the staffing needs of hospitals and other healthcare facilities nationwide.

It seems that nowadays, every single retailer or service provider has some sort of loyalty program that rewards its customers as a way of saying thank you and Travel Nurse companies are no exception. In fact in 2010, more than 2.1 billion loyalty memberships existed in the U.S., according to Colloquy’s 2011 “Forecast of U.S. Consumer Loyalty Program Points Value.” The report revealed that the average U.S. household signs up for 18.4 such programs.

At first, signing up for these various programs seems like a great deal but later down the road, most don’t know how they work or what these loyalty programs are actually offering. In many cases, Travel Nurse loyalty programs are the same way. Each agency has their own version of such programs, some that are fairly simple and easy to follow, while others have many stipulations in place that make it nearly impossible to actually redeem any sort of bonus.

The paradox, says Mark Johnson, president and CEO of loyalty marketing think tank Loyalty 360, is that consumers are more engaged with and more 
demanding of brands than ever. “Loyalty is no longer about points for a purchase,” he explains. “Consumers are looking for ways to engage with brands who listen to them. Loyalty is about timeliness and relevancy. You have to understand each individual and how often they want to be engaged. Your offer must be unique and tailored to each person and delivered through the channel they want it delivered through.”

As a Travel Nurse, it is highly important to find that one agency that fits to your ideals and values, while offering you the best in customer service… However, if you’re just in it for the money, you may not have a chance to experience what it’s like to be a valued “customer.” In it’s most basic form, a loyalty program is designed to thank Travel Nurses for their devotion to the agency, and if you’ve found one that lives up to your expectations and offers a loyalty program, well that’s just icing on the cake!

Before signing any contracts with an agency, it’s very important to inquire about the various benefits offered, from paid time off to Completion and Loyalty bonuses. Read the fine print associated with the bonus programs, make sure that the goals set out are attainable and that your hours or points don’t expire within a certain amount of time. Many programs make it difficult for the traveler to redeem such bonuses let alone keep track of. Below we’ve listed a number of Loyalty Programs being offered to the Travel Nurse community. If you know of any others, please add them to our comment section.

Travel Nurse Across America – Complete 1300 hours of work (approximately 3 assignments) with Travel Nurse across America and enjoy your choice of cash bonuses, paid vacation, housing perks, or other rewards.

CoreMedica Group - CoreMedical Group rewards their travel nurse, travel allied health, and permanent placement staff by offering them the ability to qualify for the company’s all-inclusive, annual trip to the Caribbean.

Fastaff – The 3 level bonus program will apply to all assignments beginning or ending between 7/31/11 and 1/15/12. Bonuses will only be paid upon COMPLETION of an assignment.

Advantage RN – Advantage RN offers its travel nurses Loyalty Bonuses of $250 — $500 on every 13-week extension you accept with us. (Please note: nurses have the choice to continue their FREE single insurance OR receive a Loyalty Bonus with each extension.)

HGI Healthcare – We’re also with you every step of the way with rewards and other perks that demonstrate our commitment to RNs by rewarding you for your dedication to your patients, and your loyalty to us.

Onward Healthcare – Onward Healthcare offers one of the most comprehensive travel nursing bonus plans in the industry, including up to $5,000 completion bonuses for select travel assignments. These bonuses are paid upon the completion of your assignment and are detailed in your travel contract. We also offer renewal bonuses on select assignments of thirteen weeks or longer.

Aureus – Other bonuses, including sign-on and completion bonuses, vary from travel assignment to assignment but are often available.

Procel Nurses – All Travelers earn a Loyalty Bonus throughout the year. The bonus is earned upon each 1000 hours worked in one year. Your recruiter will tell you all about it.

Medical Solutions is also launching a new Loyalty Program for travel nurses at the start of 2012. It’s one of the easiest explained traveling nurse loyalty programs in the industry. Simply work 600 hours and they’ll pay you $600. Work another 600 hours and earn another $600… All throughout the new year.

Guest Blog by Patrick Fuerstenau – Brand Craftsman at Medical Solutions, a leading Healthcare Staffing company that provides quality Nurses and Allied Health Professionals to meet the staffing needs of hospitals and other healthcare facilities nationwide.

Tips for Gathering Customer Feedback for Your Staffing Company

Blog post by Staffing Robot Founder, Jason Lander. This post originally appeared on Ruby Receptionist's blog - The Watercooler.

How many times a week do you get this email? “Will you please take a few minutes to fill out our survey?” My personal email inbox currently holds requests for survey feedback from more than 10 companies. Apple’s in there, a hotel, two retailers, a car company, etc.

The key to success for any business is to keep your customers happy. Yet, measuring customer happiness can be a challenge. For over a decade I’ve worked with various methods for measuring customer happiness including surveys, public support forums, phone calls, the Net Promoter Score, etc. Over time, I watched my customer engagement rates decrease dramatically and the feedback become less and less relevant.

They main issue I’ve discovered is that customer satisfaction surveys rarely provide you the data you need to improve your business. Surveys are time consuming to administer and time consuming for customers to complete. Furthermore, the data gathered isn’t actionable because it’s often aggregated and the responses come in too far after the touch point with the customer.

So what’s a company to do? Our suggestion? Ask the right question at the right time. Here are some tips for effectively gathering customer feedback.

The first tip – ask one question and one question only. It’s always tempting to ask more, but why ask more when one will do? Ask one question with a simple answer choice and allow your customers to leave additional details if they want.

Tip number two – ask specific questions about a person or a product, not a general “how do you like our company?” General questions are too vague and are better suited for things like the Facebook ‘Like’ button. Asking specific questions about how one of your employees did resolving an issue or how your new product performed, provide you with much better feedback.

My third tip – ask the question at the right time. There are several touch points you have with your customers that offer excellent opportunities to ask for feedback. For example:

After a product demo or training. It’s always good to get feedback after a demo or training to make sure your audience understood the information presented.

After initial set up. Once a new customer is up and running with your product or service, it’s an excellent time to ask for feedback. Talking to a new customer here can help overcome any initial frustration that might naturally exist when getting started with something new.

After the first 30 days. After your customers have been using your product or service for 30 days they should be in full swing. This is a great time to get initial impressions. If there are any issues, you’ll be able to address them quickly without the risk of losing a new customer.

After any phone call. Any time you speak with a customer on the phone, especially if they’re asking a question or reporting an issue, it’s always a good idea to send them a follow up email. In this email, give them assurance you’ve understood them be summarizing your discussion and take this opportunity to ask for feedback.

After cancellation. Losing customers is not something anyone wants to talk about. But let’s be honest – it happens. When it does, don’t run from it. Instead, take it as another opportunity to improve by asking for some final feedback. Who knows, you might just win them back!

My final tip – provide your customers with a way to provide you real time feedback at their convenience.If you’re just asking customers for feedback when it’s convenient for you you’re missing a lot of opportunities. Be sure the mechanism you’re providing delivers customer feedback to you in real time and that you follow up in a timely manner. This helps your customers know you take their issues seriously.

Asking the right question at the right time gains you invaluable insight into your customer happiness. You’ll learn things about your customers, products and services that have a major impact on your business as a whole. So start asking your customers for more feedback, at the right times and start improving your customer happiness.

Guest blogger Jason Lander is the Founder and CEO of Hively. Hively lets your customers give you real-time feedback with 1 click, at their convenience. Ruby_® will soon be incorporating Hively’s interface into our Problem Solver & Happiness Makers’ email signatures to get real-time feedback on how we’re doing. We asked Jason for his advice on what other small businesses can do to get stellar feedback.

BeKnown™ Facebook® Integration Now Makes It Easier to Express Yourself Professionally on Facebook

Guest Blog by Tom Chevalier- Global Product Manager at Monster and product lead for BeKnown™ – the professional networking app on Facebook. This post appeared orginially on Monster's blog - MonsterThinking.

Today at f8, Facebook’s developer’s conference in San Francisco, Monster announced that BeKnown™ is launching new features that make it possible for people to add professional updates like career changes and college graduation information directly to their Facebook profile. Monster is among the first companies integrating Facebook’s latest features to bring more social engagement to the online careers and professional networking industries.

So what does this all mean for BeKnown members? In the coming weeks, you’ll be able to share customized professional networking activity back to Facebook that goes beyond ‘Liking.” These custom actions open up new opportunities and make it easier for you to feature career updates and highlight your professional brand to help advance your career goals. Quite simply, you now have a better way to show a more complete story of who you are as a professional.

Facebook has always made it easy to discover great things and now BeKnown makes it even easier for you to present yourself as a professional, and connect with friends and family to better express what you’re doing at work or where you are at in your career. Through consistent and easy to understand settings on BeKnown (only ‘Everyone’ information is shared), you also remain in full control over how your activity is shared, thereby maintaining the separation of personal and professional information.

For more information on the announcement coming from today’s f8 conference, visithttps://developers.facebook.com/blog/post/563/ . And check out our BeKnown press release.

Guest Blog by Tom Chevalier- Global Product Manager at Monster and product lead for BeKnown™ – the professional networking app on Facebook. This post appeared orginially on Monster's blog - MonsterThinking.

5 Ways to Delight Your Customers

Blog post by Staffing Robot Founder, Jason Lander. This post originally appeared on Monster's Blog - MonsterThinking.

The new metric for measuring business success is customer delight. If you’re not delighting your customers, the prospect of growth in today’s highly competitive, low-growth economy isn’t promising.

When was the last time you went above and beyond and completely “delighted” a customer with your actions? If you’re having a hard time remembering you’re long overdue. In fact, if you can’t think of multiple, recent examples it’s time to re-prioritize.

Not to worry though, although delighting your customers means more than doing your day-to-day customer service, you can still accomplish big wins with some very simple actions.

5 Ways to Delight Your Customers

Here’s some suggestions for delighting your customers and making a big difference in the success of your business.

1. Be accessible. Make sure your customers have multiple ways to get a hold of you. This doesn’t mean you have to be available 24×7, it simply means your customers should have more ways of contacting you than your 800 number.

The phone is one channel, but email and text are very effective (often these days preferred) methods of communication. Social networking channels are also very effective.

I find myself conversing with clients and even setting up appointments through networks like Facebook and Twitter. Be sure your customers have all of these means to reach you with. Don’t worry, they won’t use all of them. They’ll simply find the one that works best for them.

2. Respond quickly: Don’t delay on responding or delivering service to your customers. The faster you respond to customer questions and complaints, the happier your customers will be.

Further, it will keep them from seeking alternative forms of getting your attention like posting negative comments on public, social networking sites.

3. Practice ‘WOWism’: hThis one comes straight from one of my favorite business – Ruby Receptionists.

Ruby is a team of virtual receptionists who’s entire mission and focus is to delight customers. One of their core tenants is what they call practicing ‘WOWism.’ WOWism is more than impressing, it’s — surprising, delighting, WOWing.

In Ruby’s own words, “We’re not just about answering phones. We’re about finding that special something that will knock your socks off, and giving it to you before you even know you want it.”

For Ruby, simply doing a good job isn’t enough. This is a goal we should all strive for with our businesses.

4. Be A Thought Leader and a Resource: Do you have a customer involved with a big research project? Help them find helpful data. Are they looking to hire someone? Make a referral.

One of the best things you can do is help them identify complementary products and services that will improve their operations, employee morale or revenue. By displaying your expertise you show your customers you have even more value than the day-to-day service you provide.

5. Promote Their Business. Don’t just service your customers – promote them. Refer their services to your friends and colleagues. Share their successes with your networks. Even pass on deals, promotions or discounts they’re offering.

After all, your success is built on the success of your customers – so help them be successful. If they know you’re in it to help them succeed you will become a true partner.

It’s easy to get caught up in the day to day of servicing your clients or become hyper focused on your own company strategies and goals. However, the best long and short-term strategy you can peruse is delighting your customers.

Remember these tips and your customer experience will improve dramatically.

Blog post by Staffing Robot Founder, Jason Lander. This post originally appeared on Monster's Blog -MonsterThinking.

3 Rules for when to outsource your Business Processes

Guest Blog Post by: David Folwell, CMO at Travelers Haven, the only NATHO endorsed temporary housing provider. 

3 Rules for when to outsource your Business Processes

And

3 Times you should keep it in-house

Are you outsourcing strategically? If you’re not, you might want reconsider the importance of outsourcing… Take it from Harvard:

"Today, outsourcing is not just a trend; it is an integral part of how smart companies do business….The concept has matured. It now connotes a strategic relationship between partners, with shared risks and goals - a relationship in which a company concentrates on its core business and relies on outsourcing partnerships to get the rest done. Unless managers periodically reexamine how they make sourcing decisions - and how resources get allocated - they can find themselves… starving what is core".

- Harvard Business Review

With the importance of outsourcing in mind, here’s a simple framework that can help you decide which business processes to keep in house and which ones to outsource.  

When to outsource:

1. It’s not your core business
2. Someone else can do it better
3. Costs less to outsource

When to keep it in-house:

1. It’s your core business
2. You can do it better
3. Costs less in-house

These simple rules are not comprehensive, but a rough guide to start the discussion. We believe that you should spend at least one day per year looking at how you are spending your resources and determining if there’s a better way.  

When you have the discussion about what to keep in-house vs. outsourced, you might also want to consider these words from a business legend:

"Don’t own a cafeteria: Let a food company do it. Don’t run a print shop: Let a printing company do that. It’s understanding where your real value added is and putting your best people and resources behind that.Back rooms by definition will never be able to attract your best. We converted ours into someone else’s front room and insisted on their best. This is what outsourcing is all about." 

- Jack Welch, former CEO, General Electric “Jack: Straight From the Gut”

Over the last year, we’ve noticed healthcare staffing companies looking for ways to improve services, and reduce costs. Some have achieved these results by outsourcing simple business processes, while others by bringing services back in-house. Here are a few examples:

Outsource examples:

1. Website development: An in-house service for some, but mostly outsourced for cost savings and improved expertise. 
2. Cleaning services: Much cheaper and more effective than managing your own cleaning team.
3. Housing: Can offer savings, and if you find the right partner improve quality control. 
4. 24/7 phone support: Offers big savings outsourced, but quality control can be an issue

In-house example:

1. Staffing / recruiting (it is your core after all): Always in-house
2. Sales:  Almost always in-house, but call centers or sales campaigns are occasionally outsourced.
3. Housing: This made the in-house and outsourced list because we often see both.  Some companies are shifting to a hybrid model where their housing department partners with a housing provider to improve services and reduce costs.
4. Marketing: Mostly in-house, though advertising and design work is often outsourced.

In full disclosure the company I work for offers temporary housing services, but I can tell you that even as a business process outsourcing provider, we spend time asking each other challenging questions. Question like, "Is this our core business?", "Can someone do this for less?", and we make each decision strategically. 

 

Guest Blog Post by: David Folwell, CMO at Travelers Haven, a company that provides temporary housing to the healthcare staffing industry. 

Tips to Avoid Crossing the Line in Social Recruiting

Guest Blog Post by: Kyle Lagunas - HR Analyst at Software Advice.

When it comes to using social media websites for recruiting - what we call social recruiting - how far is too far? Beyond learning the hard way what works and what doesn’t, there are some best practices emerging to help recruiters know when they’ve pushed the proverbial envelope too far. And hiring professionals are discovering a new line of recruiting applications and tools built into applicant tracking software to help them rise above the same old hashtag to better identify, connect with and place viable candidates.

For all their good intentions, many folks using social media in their recruiting efforts are running into the same issues. Here are the top three:

• Spamming job posts. Want to render your social recruiting efforts ineffective? Spamming people with your job opportunities is a surefire way to do just that. The key to social recruiting is to be social and engaging. Share industry news and articles of interest, exchange personal messages, etc. 
• Prying rather than researching. Some positions require a flawless social media presence. For the rest, you shouldn’t be digging too deeply into their profiles. Screening should be focused on general impressions of candidates to see if they would fit within your company culture.  
• Penalizing candidates for level of access. It’s not unusual for candidates to deny recruiters access to their Facebook profile, inviting them to connect via LinkedIn instead. Many people use Facebook for personal, rather than professional networking - especially in Generation Y. Don’t write off candidates for showing a bit of backbone and managing their public image - it’s hardly something to penalize.  

Lessons Learned from the Trenches

Some people are experiencing more success in social recruiting than others, and have picked up a few tricks worth sharing. Carolyn Betts, CEO of Betts Recruiting, is one such person, and was recently featured in a New York Times article, for leveraging social media to grow her recruiting success. She and I chatted last week, and she shared some lessons she’s learned from the trenches.  

• Focus on strategy. You won’t be able to make the most of social media if you’re going into it blindly. You need to have a plan for how you want to accomplish your goals. Betts suggests starting with one social media site, familiarizing yourself with it, then growing your presence gradually. 
• Have realistic expectations. When you consider the industry you’re in and the position you’re hiring for, are your deal-breakers realistic? You need to determine upfront how much weight you are giving a candidate’s social media presence. 
• Leverage the right apps and tools. Many successful social recruiters know that in order to make the most of your social recruiting efforts, you need to leverage the right tools. Why go it alone when there are applications with built-in best practices for recruiting more effectively? 

Software Expanding Recruiters’ Reach

Human resources software is growing to help recruiters make use of social media in their hiring strategy. But before recruiters can fully harness these helpful tools, they must determine whether or not they are in the right social media playground.

According to a recent study, approximately 85 percent of U.S. companies used LinkedIn for recruiting last year, though only 30 percent of active job seekers are on LinkedIn. As such, many recruiters are finding LinkedIn a bit overcrowded. Where are the candidates? The large majority of them are on Facebook.

Because the data recruiters are looking for is a little harder to find on Facebook, however, many miss the sourcing opportunity this vast network provides. Fortunately, there are third-party software developers devising methods to put actionable candidate information into the hands of recruiters quickly and efficiently. Some of these recruiting solutions are standalone applications that leverage recruiters’ networks. Others - like Bullhorn Reach - are applications designed specifically for automating social recruiting.

For further reading, check out this original article at: http://blog.softwareadvice.com/articles/hr/ social-recruiting-how-far-is-too-far-010271/

 

About the Author: Kyle is the HR Analyst at Software Advice – a company that reviews human resources and applicant tracking software.

Top 10 Reasons to Outsource Joint Commission Certification Consulting

Guest author: Prophecy Professional Services

Chances are if your searching has found this article, your healthcare staffing agency made the decision to become JC certified. Now your goal is to maximize the effectiveness of this experience. Here are the top ten reasons that make hiring a consultant specializing in Joint Commission Health Care Staffing Services Certification a wise investment.

1.  Streamlining the Process

Many organizations find it overwhelming and extremely time consuming to prepare for Joint Commission Certification. A consultant streamlines and simplifies the process so you can focus on growing your business.

2.  Frees Up Key Personnel

Organizations that prepare for JC certification on their own, often pull key employees from revenue generating activities for 6-12 months depending on the size of the organization. Using a consultant is more cost effective and utilizes less internal resources, allowing your employees to focus on revenue generating activities.

3.  Faster Certification

Working with a consultant decreases time to survey readiness and you can enjoy with benefits of Joint Commission certification even sooner.

4.  Objective Assessment of Compliance

Have you heard the statement that is difficult to see the trees from the forest? Using a consultant allows for an objective assessment of your organization to determine compliance with standards and to identify opportunities for improvement.

5.  Eliminates Misinterpretation of Standards

A consultant brings expertise to the process, so there will be no misinterpretation of the standards. It is important to verify that your consultant has worked in the healthcare staffing industry so they truly understand your business as well as the JC standards.

6.  Expert Experience for Guidance

A consultant brings proven techniques, processes and tools. Why try to recreate the wheel?

7.  Support from Start to Gold Seal

A consultant provides you ongoing support throughout the entire Joint Commission process. In addition to onsite consultation, your consultant is just a phone call away to provide support, guidance and reassurance.

8.  Insider Info on JC Reviews

A consultant has first hand experience with the JC reviewers by participating in multiple JC reviews. A consultant can prepare you specifically what the reviewers will be looking for and the types of questions they will ask.

9.  Trial Run Survey

A consultant will perform a Mock Survey, using the same review tools used by the Joint Commission reviewers. It allows the organization to get a feel for what the actual review will be like. It also allows the organization to make any last minute changes as needed to achieve compliance with the standards.

10.  Guaranteed Certification

Clearly no explanation is needed – your organization will achieve JC Certification – no if’s, ands, or buts about it!

Congratulations on deciding to distinguish your organization as one of the “elite” healthcare staffing companies in the nation.  The benefits of achieving JC Certification certainly out weigh the costs. And, hiring a proven professional, well-versed in leading healthcare staffing organizations to JC HCSS Certification, allows you to stay focused on building your business from the front line.

Next Step?

If you're looking for a consulting professional for JC Certification Prophecy Professional Services can help. With over 45 healthcare certifications to their credit, nationally experienced RN executives guarantee certification in as little as 4 months. In partnership with Staffing Robot, Prophecy Healthcare's Professional Services is offering services to healthcare staffing companies. Contact us if you have questions or would like to schedule a free consultation. Let us know you heard about our services from this post and we'll give you a 10% discount on the prices we quote you.

About Prophecy Professional Services

Prophecy Professional Services (PPS), a division of Prophecy Healthcare, was founded in response to the healthcare staffing industry’s need for consultants experienced in Joint Commission’s Health Care Staffing Services Certification. PPS’ nationally experienced Nurse Executives with 20+ years of healthcare staffing experience assist healthcare staffing firms prepare for Joint Commission certification and provide cost effective clinical operation and risk management services. PPS also provides staffing operations start-up support for new healthcare staffing organizations. Prophecy provides all the forms, websites, and policies pertinent to each staffing agency they work with, leading them every step of the way. For more information, visit http://www.prophecyhealth.com/pps/joint-commission/.

Leveraging Human Capital Supply Chains in Healthcare Staffing

Guest Post by: Tim Giehll - CEO, Bond Talent US and the co-author of “Human Capital Supply Chains."

The Healthcare staffing industry has always had its ups and downs over the past few years and with revolutionary healthcare legislation on the horizon, it is hard to know how to plan for the future.  Aside from the whole legislative uproar, we do know 3 important facts that the Healthcare staffing industry needs to prepare for, starting today:

1. As the Baby Boomer Generation eventually retires (even though the recession has delayed some retirement plans), there will be a lot more elderly people for the us (society) to take care. 
2. The “supply” of doctors and nurses will not be able to keep up with the “demands” of this retiring BB generation.
3. As we recruit and train more healthcare professionals, we also need to find new ways for the Healthcare industry to become MORE PRODUCTIVE!!  For all the talk about electronic medical records, that alone will NOT be enough to rebalance our “supply” of healthcare professionals with the “demand” for healthcare services.   

This is where the concept of  human capital supply chains comes into the picture to help save the day.  

Corporations have been building and optimizing manufacturing supply chains for over three decades. Companies like Dell and Wal-Mart are famous for leveraging supply chain management techniques and technologies to better streamline supply with demand. It’s time to refocus the Healthcare industry and apply the lessons learned from optimizing production lines to optimizing our Healthcare workforce and processes. Building a just-in-time human capital supply chain is a big commitment, but one with the potential for big cost savings.

But how do healthcare organizations get their arms around their total human capital spending and estimate the value of implementing a human capital supply chain? My new book, Human Capital Supply Chains, provides the practical steps of designing and implementing your own human capital supply chain. The book is structured as a “How To” handbook for implementing and managing the new processes, technologies and organizational roles that are required to create a successful human capital supply chain. As we learned in manufacturing, establishing and managing a supply chain not only reduces costs in the short-term, but the long-term tuning of the supply chain can result in strategic advantages, advantages that will define the most successful companies across industries in the years to come.

Tim Giehll is the CEO of Bond Talent US and the co-author of “Human Capital Supply Chains” with The Code Works CEO Sara Moss. Tim lives in the Minneapolis are and can be contacted at tgiehll@eempact.com.