Department Spotlight: Human Resources Recruitment

Department: Recruitment and Staffing, Human Resources

Years in Existence: Duke has always had people focused on finding and hiring employees. Over the years, the unit has been called "Employment Office," "Personnel Department" and, most recently, "Human Resources." Recruitment became a unit within Duke Human Resources in 1997.

Number of employees: 20

Who they are: Recruitment leads a team that oversees a flood of applicants at Duke (an average of 12,500 per month for roughly 1,300 open positions) and provides the tools and knowledge needed by managers to recruit, retain and develop talent at Duke. The team focuses not only on filling vacant positions but in developing pools of qualified internal and external candidates for the workforce needs at Duke. Recruiters locate candidates for hiring managers to interview for vacant positions. Staff in the Professional Development Institute help develop the talent of employees already at Duke. Duke Temporary Service provides support in filling short-term assignment.  

What they are known for: Building strong relationships. In the past, recruiters often specialized in certain positions - technical jobs, allied health or office jobs. Now recruiters are often assigned specific schools or departments and handle all positions within that area. "Creating a customized recruitment approach is key," said Denise Motley Johnston, director of recruitment and staffing at Duke. "Getting to know a department makes it easier for a recruiter to find that sweet spot where the person, the role, and the culture of the unit all overlap to create a perfect fit."

How they make a difference: Prioritizing to meet customer needs and expectations appropriately. Hard-to-fill positions, such as hospital pharmacists, physician assistants, financial analysts, highly skilled technicians or positions that require global travel require strategic and sometimes extensive marketing efforts. High volume positions, such as staff assistants, require a recruiter to hone his or her understanding of a particular unit to streamline the selection of qualified applicants. For all jobs, recruiters strive to ensure a diverse pool of applicants. Each recruiter actively recruits for up to 150 jobs at any given time. "There is an art as well as a science to successful recruiting," Motley Johnston said.

Hidden department fact: On April 12, Recruitment sent its first tweet from @DukeJobs: "Interested in going to the Head of the Class? #Duke may have that top spot, just for you! http://bit.ly/YWh5rv. 

"Twitter is another way Duke Recruitment continues to evolve," Motley Johnston said. "It is part of staying relevant and current." 

Significant achievement: Incorporating technology without losing the personal touch. Years ago steno pads were used to keep track of applicants. Now recruitment has an online applicant tracking and uses Skype interviewing, virtual career fairs, social media and other technologies to share the opportunities at Duke and to look for top talent. "We don't wait for the talent to come to us, we go find it," Motley Johnston said.

Big goal:  Continued focus on the candidate experience. "With thousands of people applying each month, not everyone is going to get a job," Motley Johnston said. "But we want them to remember the process as a good experience." To strengthen recruiters' knowledge and skills, Motley Johnston holds monthly all-recruiter meetings to create a forum for updates on best practices, information sharing and legal updates. "We are taking recruitment to another level because we know that our efforts help ensure the continued legacy of success at Duke," Motley Johnston said.