Dimensions Healthcare improves recruiting with rapid implementation of Position Manager
Dimensions Healthcare is a regional healthcare system undergoing great change. In August 2007, they outlined a strategic vision to become “a first-class healthcare system that will be financially stable and provide high quality care to the citizens of Prince George’s County.” As part of that vision, they identified reducing agency personnel costs as being important to the stability of the system stating, “recruiting and retaining employees remains a significant challenge.” Dimensions outlined an action item to “develop a consistent, unifying strategy for staff recruitment and retention.” Dimensions had an applicant tracking system in place, but they found that managers were not actively utilizing the system the way it was set up. “It was not user friendly,” said Karen Savoy, Nurse/Allied Recruiter at Dimensions. “Recruiters had no choice but to use it, but it was not easy and managers resisted. This got in the way of improving our recruitment efforts.”Looking at new options
With the renewal period for their existing system imminent, Dimensions decided to explore other options. “We wanted something that all users would accept and use, and we wanted to be fully automated, including the onboarding process,” said Karen. “Our old system did not handle this.” Dimensions kicked off a project to evaluate vendors.
“We outlined our needs and requirements and looked at six vendors. After viewing product demonstrations and doing reference checks, we narrowed our selection to two. We really liked how easy Position Manager was to use. It was clear that it was designed just for healthcare. We also loved that it had an option for onboarding.” During the selection process, the Vice President of Human Resources at the time went to the Maryland Hospital Association and heard great feedback on Position Manager from HealthcareSource. “The committee voted, and our VP concurred that HealthcareSource was our best choice.”
The need to move fast
Dimensions then hit an unexpected roadblock. They learned that they needed to move to a new system immediately. “I called HealthcareSource and explained the situation – we need Position Manager up and running in less than three weeks. I was so happy when they told me that they could do it,” said Karen. Steve Mahoney, Director of Clients Services at HealthcareSource, said, “We don’t recommend this timeframe for implementations, but Dimensions was in a bind and we knew we could do it, so we did. It’s our philosophy at HealthcareSource – do what it takes.” A few hours before their old system was to be shut off, they flipped a switch and went live with Position Manager. “It was great – the applicants could never tell the difference.” Two weeks later, Dimension rolled the system out to the managers. “Our implementation person was fantastic. She was a former recruiter at a hospital, so she really understood us. She made us feel comfortable during a very stressful two weeks.”
The results
“We’ve had great results,” said Louise Ross, Corporate Director of HR Services. “Manager and recruiter satisfaction is so much higher. From a management perspective, I now get a clear view into the activity of the recruiters and can help support them where needed. All the information is presented to the recruiters to manage the process. We are very happy.” Dimensions also found that Position Manager is helping them find better candidates. For example, they can easily update their career page using Position Manager to promote job fairs, which has resulted in more walk-ins. They also can do background checks automatically with integration to Universal Background Screening, a HealthcareSource partner. “We like the automated integration with Universal, and they’ve been very responsive and proactive on background checks,” commented Savoy.
“There are little things about the system that make it so easy to use and give us more control than we had before. We are no longer dependent on our vendor to make changes. The managers love that the system pre-populates requisitions, which make their job easy. They love that they can watch videos for training. So many little things that make a big difference,” said Karen. “And the bottom line is that we can move candidates through the system much faster now. HealthcareSource was the right choice.”
