I Want to Take a Moment to Brag.

Up until February of 2016 I was the sole Recruiter at Plan A Health Care Staffing Solutions. Needless to say, I was swamped. I was being swallowed up by the amount of work that needed to be done: screening resumes, calling to book interviews, conducting interviews, posting job advertisements etc. When my Managers told me that we would be adding two Recruiters to the team – one to help with the recruitment of healthcare professionals and a Student Liaison Officer to focus on the recruitment of nursing students – I was so excited. The two women that they had in mind, Cindy and Terry, brought a large amount of experience in different industries, but both understood right away and have been helping us do what we do ever since. They have been a wonderful addition to the Plan A team. They jumped in with both feet (or as Sheri says, they “cannon-balled off the high board”) and took the initiative to complete whatever task presented itself to them.

Although neither Cindy nor Terry have a background in healthcare, they both bring an abundance of experience to our team. The beauty of that experience is that it’s very diverse. In Cindy’s past she dealt with those who have a variety of learning abilities and social functioning levels, so placing her focus on students is perfect. Terry brings knowledge in recruitment from her past experience in the retail industry as a manager, so having her focus placed on recruiting those who are already in the field? It just makes sense!

Since adding these two to the Recruitment team, it’s given me—the Manager, more time to focus on the things that help keep the department together and organized. I’m able to focus my time on creating policies and procedures to ensure that everything is done the same way. I’m able to collaborate with other members of the Plan A team without having to worry about things like interviewing and reference checks, because I know that they are being taken care of. I’m given time to ensure that every step of the recruitment process is adding value to the business and I’m given the freedom to determine which parts of the process can be changed or altered to be more in line with the vision.

We are always looking for ways to expand our team in ways that make sense, so we often seek out students in the Human Resources program at Cambrian College. This week we have added an HR student to our team, Crystal!  She also brings experience in the retail industry, but what really benefits our team is her past experience as a respite worker. We get to know what it’s like to work hands-on in the field from someone who we work alongside every day!

I feel so fortunate to be able to say that I work with such an amazing team; I love to brag about how amazing they are! Since Cindy and Terry have joined the team our numbers have increased extremely. We are completing an average of 104 interviews per month! We are adding new employees to our staff pool every. single. day. The number of shifts covered by our staff is rising. And the number of staff on the pool has increased by over 66 staff in the various designations since they have become Recruiters. Working with a great team makes all the difference.  It makes me want to come to work everyday!