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In the News: Lea Tal speaks at HLNY 2nd Annual Mini-Congress

leatal — Sat, 23 Sep 2017 01:29:35 +0000

September 14, 2017 – Lea Tal, CEO of Tal Healthcare, was called on to speak at the HLNY 2^nd Annual Mini-Congress. HLNY, Healthcare Leaders of New York, is the local chapter of the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE). This year’s theme was “Discovering Possibilities and Opportunities.”

During the scheduled session discussing “Changing Business Strategies and Aligning Executive Compensation,” Lea Tal, an HLNY Gold Sponsor and a member of the audience, was called on by the moderator, Sean Smith, to share her experience and insight on Healthcare hiring trends. Bringing her 21 years of recruitment experience to the discussion, Lea shed light on the many challenges of hiring Physicians, Psychiatrists, Nurses and other healthcare leaders.

In her straightforward style, Lea started out by stating the major issue facing physician hiring in the New York Metro area: physician salary disparity. Physician salaries are lower here than in the rest of the country. She went on to discuss the issues facing the whole country. We are currently suffering from the undersupply of primary care physicians and the oversupply of specialty care physicians driven partly by the disparity in earning potential. In recent years, Lea told the audience, there has been a significant increase in the demand for Physician Assistants and Nurse Practitioners to counterbalance the shrinking supply of primary care physicians. Lea pointed out that nationwide there has also been a dramatic shift from Acute Care to Ambulatory Care, Emergency Care to Urgent Care and Inpatient Surgery to Outpatient Surgery leading to many changes and challenges in healthcare hiring. Healthcare systems mergers that have allowed the corporate infrastructure to reduce duplication of resources have resulted in a reduced opportunity for senior as well as middle management executives. These issues are further compounded by the changes in direction of ACOs, bundled payments, MACRA, and other payment and delivery model changes that have added layers of complexity to getting the right people in the right quantity with the proper skill set into the right opportunities.

Also in attendance, Ellen Pressberg, MBA, Recruitment Account Manager at Tal Healthcare, said, “The conference was well-done, as many of the speakers contributed their own stories of successes and failures they have had in implementing change in hospitals. One of most important takeaways for me is that change is only successful when all parties are included and buy into it, including management, staff, doctors and patients.”

As unexpected as it was, when Lea got up out of the audience to join the discussion and speak plainly about hiring challenges it seemed that she may have been a part of the program. She refocused the panel discussion and brought to the forefront a discussion on disparities and challenges, primarily in hiring Primary Care Physicians and Psychiatrists. Throughout the rest of the day’s discussion, panel members frequently referenced Lea’s thoughts and observations.

Written by:
Kathy Lin, Marketing Communications Manager
Kathy writes content for Tal Healthcare, a healthcare career website. She has a background in recruiting, sales, and teaching. She holds a BA in Biology from the University of Vermont. When she isn’t writing you can find her outside running, skiing or biking.

Membership Spotlight: ACHE and the local chapter HLNY

leatal — Sat, 19 Aug 2017 23:00:30 +0000

ACHE and HLNY strive to advance healthcare leadership and management excellence through professional enrichment and continuing education. These institutions have nurtured the careers of many Healthcare Leaders. Tal Healthcare is proud to be a long-time member of ACHE and a Gold Sponsor of the NY chapter, HLNY. It is our philosophy, as well, to assist and mentor those whose Healthcare career goals include future Leadership roles.

It was wonderful to participate in the HLNY 6^th Annual Past Presidents Boat Cruise honoring past presidents and celebrating their commitment to the Healthcare Industry. While sailing we had a chance to connect with Past Presidents and others whose careers are devoted to improving the Healthcare industry.

Employee Appreciation – Eight Ways to Show You Care

leatal — Tue, 18 Jul 2017 15:20:03 +0000

When a raise is not possible, here are eight ways to show your employees that you really do appreciate them. Your show of appreciation will go a long way to improving employee moral as well as increasing employee retention.

1. Career Growth, Learning, and Development. In this constantly changing world, learning and growing are more important than ever. Provide your team with these enrichment opportunities that will allow them to grow, learn and develop:

Career conversations. Most employees want conversations with their manager to talk about their abilities, choices, and ideas. Listening is a great way to show commitment to their career development.
Rotate assignments. New responsibilities can help employees feel challenged and valued while they acquire new skills.
Increase feedback. In addition to annual reviews, you can implement peer review and client review opportunities. Continual feedback allows employees to be their own quality control agents.
Involve employees in decisions. Employees are empowered and motivated when they take part in decisions that have an impact on their work. Involvement allows employees to see the big picture and enables them to make meaningful contributions.
Nurture creativity. Ask for creative ideas and give employees the freedom and resources to create.
Ask employees to teach. Teaching another person is motivational for many. If an employee has a specialty and enjoys sharing this knowledge, everybody wins.

2. Recognition for Work Well Done. Let your employee choose their reward from the following list: an award or plaque, a written thank-you note, a day off, a lunch with senior management, a change in title, some flexibility in schedule, more freedom or autonomy, a seminar or training class.

3. Flexible Work Environment. Consider implementing some cost-efficient ways to make the work environment more flexible such as giving your employees a floating day off each year to be used for a special occasion and allowing employees to go home early on their birthdays or anniversaries.

4. Job Security and Stability. You can give your employees a greater feeling of security by demonstrating consistent honesty and transparency. Some transparency practices include:

Share bad news. Consistent transparency around bad news will help your employees feel more stable and secure because they won’t wonder if the company is hiding anything. When you have bad news, give it face-to-face and as soon as possible.
Share negative feedback. Be up-front with all feedback so employees can focus their energy on improving instead of worrying about consequences.
Share insider information. We want to work for people who are in the loop, and we all want to be looped in ourselves. Your employees will feel like they count when you share important information.
Share strategic industry trends. With this information, your team members will learn to look broadly at their profession, industry, and organization. They should also feel empowered to make decisions regarding career development.

5. Purpose. It is important for employees to draw purpose from the organization’s mission. Have frequent discussions about the history of the company, its founders, its reason for being, the important needs it meets and what customers say about the company. Also, to connect with a higher sense of purpose, involve your employees in community service. Promoting a cause gives employees a sense of pride, promotes teamwork, fosters a bond among employees, and provides skill development.

6. Fun Work Environment. A fun-filled workplace generates enthusiasm which leads to increased productivity, better customer service, a positive attitude about the company, and employee retention. Some suggestions for helping your employees connect with each other and have fun:

After-work trips to a local pizza place.
Go out to a local park for a ball game during lunch or after work.
Use your company intranet to help boost team collaboration, find organizational resources, and acknowledge and celebrate successes.
Reinstate lunch and encourage people to enjoy it together.
Encourage teams, task forces, and employee resource groups, where people form new links and new friendships.
Host a picnic in a park where employees can bring their families and pets.

7. Respect. It is critical that you recognize each person’s unique qualities and then demonstrate your respect in consistent, undeniable ways. Appreciate individual strengths, styles, and talents. When you value people’s unique traits, they feel respected.

8. Support and Empowerment. Empowered employees will contribute great ideas and perspectives. Some ways to support and empower:

Be a resource to your employees. Brainstorm with them when they are stumped and give them guidance and feedback.
Work side by side. See employees as colleagues, not just subordinates. Show it by occasionally doing work that may seem “beneath you.” Working side by side with your employees will strengthen your relationships and increase their respect for you.
Listen to your employees and use their ideas.
Give the spotlight away. When celebrating your own successes, share the stage and the applause with your employees.

Make employee appreciation an ongoing part of your leadership style.

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