and future healthcare careers. We are
not using social networking at the level
we should be, but we know that it’s
important to taking our recruiting in that
direction. She [the webmaster] actually
tweets jobs for us on occasion and she
is very active in contacting us (usually
every couple days) and asks us if there
is a position we want to feature on our
Facebook page. So, we are starting to
look at that—taking baby steps.
CM: How has technology (social
media, internet, etc) changed the /
vetting/ hiring process?
LS: From a hiring standpoint, when
I moved into human resources at
Samaritan in 2001, everything we did
at that time was on paper. We did paper
applications, we did not have an online
presence, we did not have an applicant
tracking system—it’s amazing how far
we have come. Now today, we’ve gone
through two different applicant tracking
systems and we’ve actually had a couple
different vendors and we’re completely
online. Our application process is 100%
automated—we do not even accept paper
applications. Our background checks are
completed electronically as well—it’s
a part of our application process. Our
online vendor allows us to link to a
variety of different online search engines
such as Indeed and Simply Hired, so we
have a very large online presence just by
having an applicant tracking system.
CM: HR professionals in my
observation are part caretaker
(empathetic) in their role and part
janitor (have some dirty work to do)
what parts of each side do you least
like?
LS: I think the hardest part of any HR
professional’s role is when you actually
have to let somebody go. Regardless
of the reason, even if someone did
something pretty egregious, it’s never
easy. And I feel that if you become
comfortable doing that, then maybe you
have been in the position a little too long.
There has to be some element of empathy
when you are dealing with someone’s
8 | April-June 2013
life. When you let an employee go,
it’s a life-altering event. Often it is the
result of performance issues, attendance
issues or other behavioral based issues
and the end result is some [