I need to hire you today. I hope.

When my phone rings, and the person on the other end of the line is a potential client in need of a consultant dietitian to come and work at their facility, that’s usually a good thing. In a staffing organization we often get called on with short notice to try and do a placement, filling in for a sudden leave of absence, vacation, or employment vacancy. That’s what we do. That’s what we’re here for.
However we continually run into problems where a potential client calls up and they need someone yesterday. Literally. They want a Dietitian – On Demand. Hmm… In many circumstances what hinders us being able to do the placement is not our ability to find a qualified worker, it’s all the internal departments that are involved whenever a temporary worker is brought on.
Several months ago I had a Clinical Nutrition Manager inquire about our company’s ability to cover a maternity leave for herself. She submitted our pricing, contract, and my contact info to her Food Service Director 2 months before she was due to have her baby. The FSD promptly sent the contract up the chain for review. By the time the legal department of the hospital got done reviewing the contract, the HR department added their input on items required for the personnel folder, and all the proper signatures were added to the contract; the CNM’s baby was already 6 weeks old. The candidate I had lined up to take the assignment got tired of waiting for a start date, so she left for another opportunity.
This is an extreme example, but often times 2 or 3 weeks are needed for a contract to have legal and HR review and get signed by the proper party. And this is important to note, because until a contract is signed, Dietitians On Demand has not been hired to fill the opening. Therefore we cannot offer the assignment to one of our consultants. We have a policy of only offering jobs that we are contracted to fill. So, if you are thinking of utilizing a back-up plan for when your dietitian quits, goes on leave, or needs a break, my message to you is: don’t wait. Get the paperwork out of the way and have the solution identified.