Let's Look for New Sources to Bring Top Medical Talent to Fort Wayne.

By Lynn Reecer , Founder & President of Northeast Indiana Talent Attraction

Thirty years ago, I?reluctantly?relocated to Fort Wayne as?the?“trailing spouse”?when?my husband was recruited back to his hometown to fill a new opening as a physiatrist, a physician who specializes in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.??During his recruiting process, I?was met with?fear of the unknown and?not having a connection to anyone locally (besides my dear in-laws!) I was a young mother?with two?toddlers and?was hoping for an easy transition and opportunity to make new friends in my new hometown, as soon as possible.

Regardless?of my initial reluctance to make Fort Wayne my home, I?decided to take the sage advice, and “bloom where?you are?planted.”??I?eventually found community volunteer?opportunities?with downtown’s Fairfield Elementary, volunteering weekly in a kindergarten classroom, and spearheading the fundraising and construction of a new playground for the school; then Co-founding and leading the Aboite New Trails Board to raise $12M and build 20 miles of bicycle and pedestrian trails in SW Allen County; then connecting them to the River Greenway downtown, within 9 years. It?has been?such?an honor and pleasure to?play a role in the city’s transformation, both as an entrepreneur and volunteer. It?is?so exciting?to see the momentum?in Fort Wayne and all of NE Indiana.

Currently, I'm very thankful for the Allen County Together Plan (ACT)?Steering Committee for their?hard work and dedication that has put together a charter for our city’s future growth.??According to the?Nov. 2021?ACT Plan,?there?are?three major?initiatives?to facilitate?growth?over the next 10 years: High Growth, Innovation, and Inclusion.

As someone who has an affinity for recruiting and matchmaking, and who has been assisting out-of-town talent?discover?our amazing city for over a?decade, this?is what I see now:??We don’t have enough?candidates?to fill our existing job openings.? How?will?the service industry?recover to pre?COVID-19 levels and?fill their open positions?? How?can?manufacturing?and trades fill their open?jobs so that?shifts are?fully productive? How will hospitals and medical centers find the staff to help our community? Where will they find these workers? It’s clear that there is a pressing need in our community. How do we think differently about attracting talent to NE Indiana?

Locally, regionally and nationally?we have a talent shortage; our population is aging and we're lacking the skilled workforce for the trade professions. While the ACT Plan considers many obstacles, I'm also concerned about the ability to fill the?existing and?anticipated 5000+ new?positions projected in the future.

Traditional headhunters are working from?cities around the U.S., throwing?your?job postings into emails?that list up to a dozen of your competitors' open positions as well.?Most national recruiters will list several different hospitals or medical groups from all over the US looking to fill the same position, in the same email.

Many candidates tell me that they can “get a good job anywhere”…so?why Greater Fort Wayne? We know that there is a “secret sauce”?to our?community,?but?I believe we must get really good at?sourcing and attracting?candidates?from other cities, states ?and countries that would love to fill our jobs.??Many of our local leaders describe international, bi-lingual?employees as very high performers,?grateful for their jobs and comment that they just 'ooze positivity' and bring up the morale across the department and company.?In the medical labor market alone, 47% of U.S. healthcare workers, plan to leave their current role within the next two to three years.???So, what this tells me is that as a ?region, we must focus on recruiting internationally, as well as domestically.???Candidates want to come to the U.S.?

Because of this, my company NE?Indiana Talent Attraction, Inc., has begun to focus on recruiting talent internationally. Our new sourcing division, together with our incredibly successful concierge recruiting and relocation division, assists companies, hospitals, and medical groups get the candidates they need and want to fill their open roles. Over the past 3.5 years, we've had a 72% success rate helping our employer clients to attract their top candidates to NE Indiana and keep them here. ?Retention is a huge component of what we do.? It’s Recruit-Relocate-Retain.

Hey Fort Wayne, let's work together to fill your job vacancies! I have medical recruiters working in Latin America and the UK right now.??Greater Fort Wayne could be the Midwest leader in building a pipeline?for the future to?fill nearly all of our job vacancies!

We anxiously await the September 15th?GFW, Inc.?Economic Development Summit?for?more information on alignment of?recruitment?plans for talent?attraction,?relocation and retention to our?ethnocentric, pro-entrepreneurial and pro-business?community.

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Lynn Reecer , Founder & President NE Indiana Talent Attraction, Inc. [email protected]