In WorkAccord’s Summer series of Tuesday TalkAbouts, we introduced the concept of “waypoints” as those points on a journey where we can pause, take stock, and choose the direction we will follow for the next stage. As the COVID-19 pandemic response has rapidly escalated, it seems that we might have rushed through several of those waypoints and might now be asking, “What comes next?”

Many within the healthcare recruitment and staffing sector are experiencing a sense of considerable uncertainty, which may become costly. For some, it has been a case of having been so busy that there has not been time to reflect on what has happened. For others, things have gone unnervingly quiet.

In our Autumn series of Tuesday TalkAbouts, we will be looking at points of continuity and change for healthcare recruitment & staffing professionals and asking, “What does it now take to be Leaders in the World of Work?”

We will also be working throughout this series to develop the Tuesday TalkAbout format to provide participants with an enhanced range of on-line/off-line and synchronous/asynchronous learning opportunities and resources. We’ll be keeping the free on-demand webinars while developing the live sessions to provide more interaction and opportunity for discussion.

I’m delighted, therefore, to extend to all a warm invitation to participate in this exciting collaborative project.

Our Autumn programme of seven free webinars is outlined below.

1. Platforms (21/04/2020)

Our first Tuesday TalkAbout presents an “under the hood” look at Recruitment Platforms for Recruitment & Staffing Professionals.

What are they? Where do they fit in the classification of recruitment & staffing services? How do we “read” them? What are some of the opportunities and risks associated with their use?

2. A Healthcare Workforce that Nobody “Owns” (28/04/2020)

A healthcare workforce is a complex, multi-actor (multi-nodal) system that possibly nobody “owns”.

What are its governance challenges? What do these challenges mean for stakeholders, including Recruitment & Staffing Professionals aspiring to be Leaders in the World of Work? How can they engage more effectively with the workforce to enhance the value of the contribution they make?

3. Healthcare Worker Engagement Models (5/05/2020)

Healthcare worker engagement models come in many different forms.

What models of healthcare worker engagement are most relevant for Recruitment & Staffing Professionals? How can they distinguish between different models to choose the ones that are the most suitable? What challenges do procurement approaches pose to the successful engagement of health workers with their workforce? How can Recruitment & Staffing Professionals meet those challenges?

4. Aged Care Workforce Update (12/05/2020)

The Royal Commission Into Aged Care Quality & Safety has been running since October 2018.

What progress has been made so far? Who making submissions? What themes are emerging that will be significant for Recruitment & Staffing Professionals working in the Aged Care sector? What will happen next? And how can we make a submission?

5. Telemedicine & Recruitment (19/05/2020)

Social distancing measures under the conditions of the COVID-19 pandemic presented many challenges to the way we have traditionally thought healthcare and health workforce recruitment should be practised.

What are the consequences for healthcare workforce recruitment and for Recruitment & Staffing Professionals working in the healthcare sector? In this Tuesday TalkAbout we will review some of the current literature and take a look at some recent practice developments in the field of Telemedicine.

6. Collaborative Supply Models: Concept (26/05/2020)

Collaborative Supply Models or “Networks” may provide useful answers to many of the challenges presently facing healthcare workforce structure and governance.

What form could they take? What role might Recruitment & Staffing Professionals working in the healthcare sector play in their development? In this Tuesday TalkAbout, we’ll look at some of the collaborative supply or network models that have been developed and deployed in Australia and overseas. We will begin to explore how they might evolve to create new opportunities for Recruitment & Staffing Professionals responding to a disrupted workforce environment.

7. Collaborative Supply Models: Topical Challenges (2/06/2020)

In this Tuesday TalkAbout, we’ll build on the concept of a Collaborative Supply Model which we developed In the previous session for Recruitment & Staffing Professionals working in the healthcare sector. We’ll focus on four topical challenges:

• Candidate connection & protection
• Competition
• Risk & liability
• Governance

You can register for this webinar here.

Let’s talk again soon!

Andrew C. Wood