When it ends in termination
Of course, for a company that recruits nurses internationally, the goal is to bind these people to the company for as long as possible. Nevertheless, it will always happen that an internationally recruited person terminates the ongoing process even before arriving or in the first few months after entering Germany. There are also reports of targeted poaching by competing companies after the successful completion of the recognition procedure.
Of course, this is very annoying for companies from a business perspective. In addition, there may be moments of personal disappointment and resentment, as managers have often been exceptionally committed to these new employees. Here it may help to take differentiating perspectives.
Evaluating international recruitment as a personnel strategy – when is it worth doing?
The international recruitment of nurses can be monitored, evaluated and regulated both while it is occurring and as a strategy. As the team responsible, you can focus on the following questions, for example:
What are the framework conditions like within the company?
- How attractive is the employer for nurses from abroad really – even after intensive recruitment and induction training?
- What was the recruitment and integration process like in the respective individual case? What could have been better?
- Were expectations and possibilities clearly communicated and intercepted?
- Were reasons for the termination by the employee explained openly?
Was the working environment attractive for the recruited person?
- Are nursing jobs in acute care hospitals and clinics (still) more attractive for nurses from abroad than those in the care of people needing long-term care?
- What career and renumeration possibilities can you offer as an employer in the long-term?
What do the infrastructural framework conditions look like?
- Is the location of the company infrastructurally favourable or unfavourable? In what way is the location unfavourable? Because connections to railway stations and airports are too far away? It is important to check this point because good connections to the public transport network are very important for many people.
- Many immigrants notice in their first few months in Germany, that having a connection to an expatriate community is important for them. These communities are grouped together locally and found in larger cities. If the workplace is too far from the community structures, the employee may be tempted to look for another workplace at a location of their choice – and it is usually no problem for them to find.
The most important things for your to-do list
Keep in mind that internationally recruited nurses can cushion the problems of a lack of skilled workers in Germany, but not solve them. Companies also need a well established personnel strategy for international recruitment too, and the will to be an attractive employer.
As a recruiting company, you are in global competition for good nurses. The sooner you recognise, appreciate and support the skills of your new employees, the lower the danger that they will look around for an alternative company.
A termination on your part also becomes less likely, the better you are able to prepare and support the new collaboration.
In the event of termination and poaching: Signal that your door remains open and that you would be happy if the person wants to work for you again after a while.
Don’t take termination or poaching personally: After all, it is a job market in which employees can move around freely. Beyond the regulations in the work contract, they are not obliged to remain with you and are entitled to free movement as workers.
Evaluate the overall recruitment and integration process and ask yourself: What can we do better next time? Are we a suitable company to be able to hold onto internationally recruited nurses in the medium and long term?
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