Episode 129
129 Why Physician Leaders Must Take Charge of Recruitment, Retention, and Onboarding in 2025
Are you leaving recruitment, retention, and onboarding to HR? Discover why this could be a critical mistake—and how stepping into these roles as a physician leader can transform your team’s success.
With physician shortages at an all-time high, effective recruitment and retention are more important than ever.
In this episode, Dr. Dike Drummond shares why physician leaders must take an active role in hiring, onboarding, and mentoring to ensure their teams thrive. Learn practical strategies to address workforce gaps, improve job satisfaction, and foster lasting connections with your staff.
~~ Understand why the physician workforce is shrinking and how it impacts your team’s well-being.
~~ Learn actionable steps to improve onboarding, ensuring new hires feel supported, appreciated, and integrated into your team.
~~ Discover how to build a culture of recognition and trust that boosts retention and team performance.
Listen and learn the tools to proactively shape recruitment, onboarding, and retention—building a team that stays, grows, and performs at its best.
Episode 121. Physician Leader’s SHADOW PROTOCOL
~~~~~
Explore physician leadership tools and strategies to stop physician burnout, enhance physician wellness and give you the power of personal influence in the C-Suite. All the tools you need to play your role in leading the charge to wellness - at three levels - for you, your teams and your entire organization.
Transcript
In this episode, I’ll share why physician leaders cannot leave recruitment, retention, and onboarding solely to HR. If you don’t get involved, your workforce will suffer, and so will your leadership effectiveness. I’ll explain why it’s crucial for physician leaders to:
Understand how job openings in your organization are represented to potential candidates.
Participate in the selection process.
Take responsibility for onboarding and mentoring new doctors to ensure they thrive.
Let’s dive in.
The Growing Workforce Crisis
The U.S. physician workforce is on the verge of collapse. Almost every service and specialty across the country is short-staffed—often missing several physicians and many nurses. The loss is primarily due to the ongoing baby boomer doctor retirement wave. These senior doctors, often the most experienced and productive, are retiring in large numbers. Consider these statistics:
45% of American physicians are over 55 years old.
The retirement cliff has only just begun.
Traditionally, physician leaders have not played a significant role in recruitment, retention, or onboarding. These tasks are left to HR or internal recruiters. However, that approach is no longer sustainable.
Physician leaders must step up and take an active role in addressing these challenges.
The Role of Physician Leaders in Recruitment and Retention
Step 1: Assess the Current Situation
Start by gathering data on your team or department:
How many positions are currently open for physicians, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants?
What has turnover been like in the past 12 months?
How is short staffing affecting the morale and performance of your current team?
To truly understand the impact of these gaps, you need to round and shadow your people. (Refer to Episode 121 for a detailed shadowing protocol. A link is in the show notes.)
Step 2: Evaluate Job Descriptions and Recruiting Materials
Work with your recruiting team to:
Review how job openings are presented to candidates.
Ensure descriptions are accurate and highlight the positive aspects of the role.
Provide input based on your firsthand knowledge of the job and department.
Step 3: Participate in the Interview Process
Make sure you know:
Who is interviewing candidates.
The criteria being used to select new hires.
Whether the approach is “any warm body” or a thoughtful, strategic process.
Your involvement in interviews can make a significant difference in attracting and selecting the right candidates.
Recruitment vs. Retention: A Key Distinction
Recruiting someone to sign a contract is only the first step. Retention requires effective onboarding and ongoing support. Unfortunately, onboarding is often treated as a perfunctory HR task. Think back to your own experience—how many times did your onboarding feel inadequate or rushed?
Here’s an all-too-common onboarding scenario:
You arrive on your first day, receive a quick tutorial on an unfamiliar EMR, and are immediately told, “Your rooms are all full, you’re already behind, and good luck.” Sound familiar?
This approach sets new hires up for frustration and failure. Let’s do better.
Best Practices for Onboarding and Retention
1. Pre-Launch EMR Training
Provide comprehensive EMR training before your new hire starts seeing patients. Then, offer a refresher one month later once they’ve had time to use the system and identify specific questions or challenges.
2. Weekly Check-Ins
During their first month, meet with your new hire weekly for a casual coffee conversation. Ask:
How are you settling in professionally?
How is your family adjusting?
Show gratitude for their efforts, offer praise for their progress, and troubleshoot any challenges they’re experiencing.
3. Ongoing Support
After the initial onboarding period:
Shadow your new hire once a month for their first six months.
Transition to biweekly or monthly face-to-face check-ins to maintain open communication.
Building a High-Performing Team
The ultimate goal is to create an environment where employees feel supported and valued. A helpful framework for achieving this comes from the book First, Break All the Rules by Gallup. Based on millions of employee and manager interviews, Gallup identified 12 key questions that drive team engagement and performance. Here are three particularly relevant ones:
“I know what’s expected of me at work.”
Have you provided clear expectations for your new hires?
Do they have the resources they need to succeed?
“In the last seven days, I’ve received recognition or praise for doing good work.”
When was the last time you acknowledged your team members for their contributions?
“My supervisor, or someone at work, seems to care about me as a person.”
Do your employees feel that you genuinely care about their well-being, both professionally and personally?
If your team can confidently answer “yes” to these questions, you’re well on your way to building a high-performing, engaged workforce.
Why Leadership Involvement Matters
If you rely solely on HR for recruitment and onboarding and limit your interactions with new hires to annual performance reviews, you’ll struggle to retain quality team members. Physician leaders must take an active role in shaping the workplace experience for their staff.
Final Thoughts
Now is the time to step into your leadership role and ensure your team has the support they need to thrive. Recruitment, onboarding, and retention aren’t just HR responsibilities—they’re leadership opportunities.
If you want to deepen your understanding of effective leadership, I highly recommend reading First, Break All the Rules. It’s an evidence-based guide to building high-performing teams and a must-have for your leadership bookshelf.
That’s it for today. Until the next podcast, keep breathing and have a great rest of your day.
