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Transcript

Hiring an SLP in 2026 · The Leaders Lounge - AASPA Podcast

• 0:08
  SPEAKER_00: Hello and welcome to ASPA's Promising Practices Podcast Series.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_00: I'm your host, Alexis Christ, meetings coordinator with ASPA.
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_00: Today we are joined by David Robertson at Vaccaville United School District in Vacaville, California.
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome, David.
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome, Alexis.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks.
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_00: How long have you been with uh Vacaville Unified School District?
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_01: I've been with Vacaville for uh it'll be three years in June.
• 0:35
  SPEAKER_01: Uh um I've been in HR for you know 15, 16 years.
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_01: Uh so um been doing this for quite a long time.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_01: 41 years in education.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_00: And can you tell us a little bit about the size of your district?
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, we're about 13,000.
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_01: So with preschool adult ed and everybody, so uh about 1600 employees uh for us.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_01: Uh so we're not a gigantic district, but you know, uh, you know, medium-sized district for the state of California.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_00: Our promising practice topic for today is hiring an SLP at 2026.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_00: David, tell us more about this topic and how it can help you or your district.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I think this is uh a big one, uh especially for us in NHR.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_01: Um I know a lot of HR people, you know, they the uniqueness of, you know, they might have the experience hiring teachers, they might have been a teacher be before, they might have that kind of experience, um, or a principal or an assistant principal somewhere down the road.
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_01: Um, or they come from the classifying ranks and they understand the issues of, you know, custodials, grounds, uh paraprofessionals, bus drivers, those kind of components.
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_01: But our speech language pathologists are our unique um need, uh for especially with special ed.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_01: And it is the one area that that is a huge shortage uh for us, not in just in California, but across the nation.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and it's a required service.
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_01: And so because it's a required service as part of our special ed needs, then if you can't find a speech language pathologist to help assist with that program, then you you're hiring contractors, which affects your budget.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_01: And so the more that you can hire your own, the better off you're gonna be, especially if you can, and again, especially if you can hire them in person.
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_01: A lot of school districts are are one of the things that they've looked at is is um virtual SLPs, but then I've got to hire somebody to sit with the child in that virtual session too.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_01: So there's a cost element.
• 2:41
  SPEAKER_01: So the more that we can find SLPs to help support our kids, uh, the better off it is for our kids, um, and better off for um uh better off for the financially for the school district.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_00: We've seen the market shift significantly over the last few years.
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_00: What is one major thing SLPs are asking for today that they weren't meant even mentioning five years ago?
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I think it's a lot of it is is the it's there's a lot of factors they ask for.
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_01: One of them obviously is caseloads.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_01: And um, because the caseloads across the nation, they exp the they're huge.
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_01: And the expansion.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_01: So um, do you have caps in your contract that limit the caseloads they should give SLPs?
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_01: Do you give, are there uh incentives if you need to go over the cap for any reason?
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_01: Are they traveling between multiple schools and multiple distances?
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_01: So in some cases, they're hired from like a central location, but they might be traveling for an hour, hour and a half, you know, to travel to a school uh from either a county office or to a um you know a regional program.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_01: So those are all factors that have kind of changed when I've been talking to SLPs in the last few years.
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_01: The other thing is that just like the rest of us, it's like what's the work-life balance kind of component of it?
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_01: Um and and and especially the remote option is one that has probably been the biggest issue uh that's being asked for.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_01: And um, and and again, it's the you as a determination, what you need to do uh as a district, decide what's best for you at your organization, where your location is, and and what kind of supports that uh does your district need to be able to make uh things work for your kids.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_00: Are the three non-mention marry pillars that actually might make a clinician sign the contract?
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_01: Well, there's a so again, money is gonna always be a big trigger in this, you know, and and a lot of us do, you know, signing bonuses and and and other things, especially when we're fighting against uh the contractors that are also recruiting our SLPs too.
• 4:53
  SPEAKER_01: So money will always be a part of it.
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_01: Um but the other the other part about it is is you know, what uh using your existing SLPs, they can be your your best recruitment strategy.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_01: They can be the ones that help you recruit.
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, and so not only do we offer a sign-in bonus, this is one of the negotiated things that we worked with, our union.
• 5:15
  SPEAKER_01: So having that relationship with your your our association has really helped, but we also reward our employees.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_01: If you bring an SLP to me and we hired them, I'm gonna pay you too.
• 5:27
  SPEAKER_01: So we give a uh recruitment incentive to our employees if they bring an SLP to me.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_01: So again, it's that's huge for them too.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_01: So there's an incentive on both sides.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_01: That part of it, though, is the non-monetary.
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_01: The non-monetary are the things that we've kind of talked about.
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_01: Like, are do you have caseload caps uh within your program?
• 5:47
  SPEAKER_01: Do you um we offer, we allow our SLPs to work from home uh occasionally, you know, based on a percentage, based on what their needs are, just for report writing.
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_01: You know, there's no reason for them to write their same report in an office in a district office than it is um uh you know at a remote location.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_01: And so those are opportunities that sometimes uh we do.
• 6:11
  SPEAKER_01: Now, again, we our SLPs work a longer day, so they're they work longer hours.
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_01: So again, but those hours could be um at home writing that report rather than um uh sitting in an office at a in a school district uh facility.
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_01: So um that's a big uh understanding those kind of components uh do help.
• 6:31
  SPEAKER_01: The other thing that I think is we've tried to do is be really flexible with their needs.
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_01: So I've got SLPs that are 40%, I've got some that are 80%, I've got some that are um, you know, and then a number that are full time.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_01: And and that's okay.
• 6:47
  SPEAKER_01: And I think sometimes that frustrates uh some folks is that um uh you know, you know, I need them full-time.
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I know you need them full-time, but they only want to work three days a week.
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_01: So let's just work on a schedule that makes that work for three days a week.
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_01: And by that having that flexibility, now I've got an employee that's happy.
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, they've got that, like again, that work-life balance kind of component of it.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, maybe they have kids of their own.
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_01: They want to be a mom and a, you know, or a dad to their their own children.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_01: And so having that flexibility, especially with SLPs, really does help.
• 7:23
  SPEAKER_01: But again, it takes, it takes uh the relationship you have with your union partners, and and then even within your own staff to understand that this isn't, you know, I'd rather much try to have somebody at 60% than having nobody.
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_01: And um, and and having that flexibility is such a uh a nice part.
• 7:40
  SPEAKER_01: That's a non-monetary issue for us to be able to do.
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_01: So um, and again, are you willing to do that as a district?
• 7:47
  SPEAKER_00: And we found that it just it makes sense uh to do that as best as much as we can how do we audit our own hiring process to ensure we aren't accidentally ghosting candidates before they even meet the team?
• 8:00
  SPEAKER_01: So this is the one thing that probably um is a big focus that I uh talk to people about.
• 8:09
  SPEAKER_01: And again, it's you got to think about how how are people actually you know um coming to you?
• 8:15
  SPEAKER_01: And so this is where you look at your own, your ATS, your applicant tracking system.
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_01: And I mean, are you reaching out to SLPs uh the minute that they apply?
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_01: So are you using the latest strategies to reach out to SLPs?
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_01: How are you recruiting your SLPs?
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_01: These are all within your applicant tracking system to be able to do.
• 8:35
  SPEAKER_01: And so let me, Alexa, let me give you an example.
• 8:37
  SPEAKER_01: So the minute an SLP hires, I get a I get uh an email, uh, my special ed director gets an email, plus my uh uh HRTAC does.
• 8:49
  SPEAKER_01: And immediately I can send a text saying, hey, saw you apply.
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_01: Hey, great, you know, you got a chance to talk.
• 8:55
  SPEAKER_01: And and having that instant, instant kind of um communication, it's like it goes a long way because now there's like, oh my God, there's no chance of ever ghosting it.
• 9:09
  SPEAKER_01: So because a lot of times people apply and they always wonder, well, where's my application?
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_01: What process am I in?
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_01: Am I in?
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_01: Which stage am I in?
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_01: And what hiring stage?
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_01: So one of the things is does your applicant tracking system allow the employee to be able to see where they are?
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_01: They're under review, they're in the offer, they're in the interview.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_01: All of those factors be able to so they have an understanding of where they are in the process.
• 9:29
  SPEAKER_01: So the transparency of part about is really important to be able to do that.
• 9:32
  SPEAKER_01: And and again, does your applicant tracking allow you to be able to do that?
• 9:36
  SPEAKER_01: So, and again, we have to think about they don't how do people apply for jobs?
• 9:43
  SPEAKER_01: And and and we laugh about it, but it's like the most cases, it's like I open up Google and I say SLP jobs in the Northern California.
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_01: And what happens is my jobs will show up uh before anybody else's, because again, we have the we've utilized the uh um the uniqueness of having an applicant tracking system that allows us to do that.
• 10:08
  SPEAKER_01: They're they're not looking on the typical job boards, teacher job boards.
• 10:12
  SPEAKER_01: That's not SLPs don't think of themselves, they're speech pathologists, they're not teachers, and and I think that's sometimes the the the um the mistake that some HR people consider them is oh well I can just apply on the same teacher job board.
• 10:27
  SPEAKER_01: It doesn't work that way with uh speech pathologists, you know, their job is unique.
• 10:32
  SPEAKER_01: So you you have to do things differently than you've done in the past.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_01: So utilizing, especially guys, the text, and so not only can I text them, but my like I said, my HR person can text them, plus my um uh director special ed.
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_01: And it's all within the system.
• 10:49
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm not like texting from my own cell phone, I'm texting within the system.
• 10:53
  SPEAKER_01: And there's this instance, they can text at any time.
• 10:57
  SPEAKER_01: The candidate they can text back anytime.
• 10:59
  SPEAKER_01: They want an update.
• 11:00
  SPEAKER_01: I can I get a notice.
• 11:02
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, there's a text coming for me.
• 11:03
  SPEAKER_01: Then I can respond back right away.
• 11:05
  SPEAKER_01: It's that engagement component of it, is so important to be able to do that.
• 11:10
  SPEAKER_01: And and and Alexis, I I I don't know about you, but I live by my phone nowadays more than anything else that I have.
• 11:18
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I get all my email on my phone, I get everything else, I get and so if you can't do that by your phone, then then that's where you're gonna miss out.
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_01: And that's the issue of you know, where I worry about that candidates get ghosted, or you know, uh, because nobody's engaging into the into the hiring process.
• 11:39
  SPEAKER_01: And so you've got to have uh, number one, you have to have a system that allows you to do it, but you also have to have to have staff that remind that to also engage into that.
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_01: You can have the greatest system, but if nobody texts them back, well, then that defeats the purpose too.
• 11:54
  SPEAKER_01: So again, that part of that is training, part of that is working with your hiring managers to be able to utilize the system to the to the greatest extent.
• 12:04
  SPEAKER_00: Everyone says they have a great culture, but it's often just a buzzword.
• 12:07
  SPEAKER_00: How do you prove your culture is healthy during a 30-minute screen call?
• 12:11
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I think it's it's the relationship building that you have.
• 12:15
  SPEAKER_01: And so, you know, we again I I uh culture is defined as uniquely.
• 12:21
  SPEAKER_01: And I think even in a uh bigger school district, you know, you can have multiple different cultures based on different schools.
• 12:28
  SPEAKER_01: And the culture of one school, one high school, it might be different than a different elementary school, than a different then, because again, it's usually defined not as a district culture, but as a school site culture.
• 12:39
  SPEAKER_01: And so you have to kind of define that uniquely based on who you are.
• 12:44
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and I think you have to figure out what is again your culture, and then um use that as a I also use it as a marketing pool or a branding pool, and so uh apploy.
• 12:58
  SPEAKER_01: And so part of it is for us is like we're family, and and I I joke about it a lot in Vacville, but um, you know, our current superintendent, his uh uh son teaches in our district, grandkids go to school.
• 13:12
  SPEAKER_01: My daughter went to Vacaville schools.
• 13:14
  SPEAKER_01: My wife's the literacy coach in this district.
• 13:16
  SPEAKER_01: The two associate superintendents uh have children in our school, one at the middle school, one at the high school.
• 13:22
  SPEAKER_01: One, the other assistant superintendent's wife is the vice principal of the dual immersion school, um, and two kids go to school.
• 13:29
  SPEAKER_01: All three high school um uh principals have kids in our school.
• 13:34
  SPEAKER_01: So when I say we're family, that's who we are.
• 13:37
  SPEAKER_01: Everybody knows everybody, we're all connected, but that's that's our culture is about the family component of it.
• 13:43
  SPEAKER_01: So when I say when I talk about that, that's um that's how I prove, in a sense, is that kind of culture.
• 13:50
  SPEAKER_01: But then we also have videos and and other things that we use to to help brand us or market us as part of our culture.
• 13:57
  SPEAKER_01: Now, when it comes to SLPs, it's really uh utilizing um a couple things.
• 14:04
  SPEAKER_01: And one of the things I I suggest if you're looking at recruiting or hiring SLPs, is you gotta get out there.
• 14:11
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you have to have your you gotta find a way for your speech pathologists to be able to present.
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_01: So there's two big uh the biggest conference is Asha, which is the National Conference for Speech Pathologists.
• 14:22
  SPEAKER_01: The other one is we have one in California called CASHA.
• 14:25
  SPEAKER_01: It's very similar, um, because just the size of we are in California.
• 14:29
  SPEAKER_01: And it's amazing that if you have your SLPs, your speech pathologists, you work with your district to help support them to go to the conference to pay for the conference, but also to present at the conference.
• 14:40
  SPEAKER_01: And you imagine that you know, you get, you know, 200 people in a in a conference room and they hear these two or three or four great SLPs from your district presenting on a wonderful topic that's really about engaging kids and about you know the practices that they use.
• 14:58
  SPEAKER_01: Well, so now you've really started to brand how positive the work environment is for SLPs at your district.
• 15:07
  SPEAKER_01: So people are paying attention to that.
• 15:09
  SPEAKER_01: And so a lot of times I would be recruiting at Asha or Casha, and I would have people come by my booth and say, Hey, we just saw three or four of your SLPs do this great presentation, everything else.
• 15:22
  SPEAKER_01: I said, Well, why don't you come join us?
• 15:24
  SPEAKER_01: Because they are really great people.
• 15:26
  SPEAKER_01: And so utilizing system things like that, but again, you have to kind of be that forward thinking, is that yeah, you might have to spend a little money to send them to a conference, send them to present, encourage them to present.
• 15:40
  SPEAKER_01: But it's amazing how that goes a long way to really, again, establish that brand or that component of it, that culture that you talk about for your SLPs within your district.
• 15:52
  SPEAKER_01: And and then it's like I when I would sit there at an event like that and I'd say, well, do you want to talk?
• 15:58
  SPEAKER_01: I said, Don't talk to me.
• 15:59
  SPEAKER_01: I'm the assistant superintendent of HR.
• 16:01
  SPEAKER_01: Why don't you talk to one of my SLPs?
• 16:03
  SPEAKER_01: Because again, I can tell you about what we do with your CFER and all that component, but I said, Why don't you talk to them?
• 16:09
  SPEAKER_01: They're here at the conference.
• 16:10
  SPEAKER_01: And having that conversation goes a long way of just really um building that initial kind of uh friendship that goes on and relationship that goes on because now they they're they know a colleague uh that they might gonna might be wanting to join uh to work with.
• 16:29
  SPEAKER_01: So those are some things that that are very helpful in that part of it is that culture kind of uh buzzword.
• 16:39
  SPEAKER_00: What does it mean to make your organization the only logical choice for a clinician?
• 16:43
  SPEAKER_00: Is it about being the best or just being the most aligned?
• 16:47
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I think it's you know, uh special pathologists, they have choices.
• 16:52
  SPEAKER_01: And and again, because they can do the clinical part or they can do schools.
• 16:56
  SPEAKER_01: And you have to kind of determine what is, you know, what what's important to them.
• 17:01
  SPEAKER_01: And and so things I talk about is, you know, you're on a school schedule, which is really nice that you know you're not working holidays, you don't have uh uh those Saturday sessions at the hospital, you're not working evenings, all that kind of component of it.
• 17:14
  SPEAKER_01: So um, and as you um grow uh, you know, as you uh especially our younger ones as they come out of the university, you know, maybe they're gonna get married in a few years, maybe they're gonna start their family, maybe it's really nice to be on the same schedule as your kids, um same vacations, same breaks, same everything else.
• 17:32
  SPEAKER_01: So again, that's where the the difference between the alignment kind of component of it um uh uh is important.
• 17:40
  SPEAKER_01: And then the other part is is that um sorry.
• 17:46
  SPEAKER_01: The other part is what is your as an organization, what are you doing to support them?
• 17:54
  SPEAKER_01: So this really goes back to um, you know, are we are do you find ways as a district to support them to attend Asha Casha?
• 18:03
  SPEAKER_01: Um do you provide them the uh the resources to for the supplies and materials that they need to be able to to do their job?
• 18:13
  SPEAKER_01: Um what are some things that you're doing fiscally to be able to help them?
• 18:20
  SPEAKER_01: And and and again, it's like I said, it goes beyond the salary schedule, is a part of it.
• 18:26
  SPEAKER_01: Ours are on a separate uh salary schedule.
• 18:30
  SPEAKER_01: Um but it's also just beyond just the oh sorry about this beyond the salary schedule, but it's really about um all the other little things that you can do to help support them because they have to continue to take those continuing ed units to up, you know, to continue their license and everything else.
• 18:50
  SPEAKER_01: So what are you doing as a district to support that?
• 18:53
  SPEAKER_01: So those are some important things that uh that they should ask uh before they get hired into a school district.
• 19:01
  SPEAKER_00: What alternative levers, like specialized CEUs, flexible uh scheduling, or research time should leaders have in their back pocket?
• 19:10
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's those things that I kind of already talked about.
• 19:12
  SPEAKER_01: It's like the flexible time, you know, listen, I don't care where you do your report writing.
• 19:17
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I don't care if you do it at home, sitting in an office.
• 19:19
  SPEAKER_01: That's up to you.
• 19:20
  SPEAKER_01: Um, kind of come out.
• 19:21
  SPEAKER_01: That's that's a really the flexible schedule component of it is really a big part of it.
• 19:26
  SPEAKER_01: Um, same with research time that they need to be able to do to continue to learn about their practice.
• 19:32
  SPEAKER_01: Because again, they should be reading and they should be learning about uh some of the latest techniques and some of the latest strategies to be able to do that.
• 19:40
  SPEAKER_01: And are you providing time for them to be able to do that?
• 19:44
  SPEAKER_01: Um the and then, like I said, are you supporting them to go to Asha, Hakasha or whatever state organization you for their continued ed units?
• 19:54
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, how can you support them to be able to do that?
• 19:58
  SPEAKER_01: So it isn't a financial burden on them, um, but it's something that they can get done at the same time.
• 20:03
  SPEAKER_01: But then, like I said, why you have them go and do the uh continue ed units at at an event like Cash, but also encourage them to present too.
• 20:15
  SPEAKER_01: Because again, that goes back to listen, I can pay you to go, but I need you to present.
• 20:20
  SPEAKER_01: Can you do a topic on this and this and this?
• 20:22
  SPEAKER_01: Because again, then that builds that branding component of it to your district to the to the 14,000 SLPs are at this event.
• 20:31
  SPEAKER_01: So um it's you you kind of want to try to find a win-win situation for you as a district to be able to make that work.
• 20:39
  SPEAKER_00: Recruitment doesn't end up a signature.
• 20:41
  SPEAKER_00: What does a candidate first onboarding process look like to ensure that a new hire moves quickly through the process?
• 20:47
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and I and I touched on this at the initial point.
• 20:50
  SPEAKER_01: It's like you have to engage the candidate all the way through the process, all the way through the process.
• 20:55
  SPEAKER_01: And it and again, they need to, and is your applicant tracking says is it gonna allow you to that kind of transparency?
• 21:01
  SPEAKER_01: Are you trigger messages that you send out to candidates that they move move through stages?
• 21:06
  SPEAKER_01: Are there um uh are you texting?
• 21:10
  SPEAKER_01: Are you do does your can your applicant apply from their mobile device?
• 21:15
  SPEAKER_01: That's probably the biggest one that that um uh that I find is is really important.
• 21:22
  SPEAKER_01: About 50, about 55, 56 percent of our applicants, uh, and it sometimes gets up to about 60 percent.
• 21:29
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, and I'm saying all jobs, not just our SLPs, apply from their mobile device.
• 21:34
  SPEAKER_01: So, and I think people forget this is they live by their phone nowadays.
• 21:38
  SPEAKER_01: And and you know, so all of those are factors is part of it, but then um, but it's the what I tell people to do is apply to your own district.
• 21:50
  SPEAKER_01: See how long it takes to somebody to can't contact you, see how long it it takes to to move through stages, how long does it take for the interview to set up?
• 21:58
  SPEAKER_01: How long does it, you know.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_01: Like when our SLPs apply, we're usually interviewing within two or three days, you know, based on their availability.
• 22:06
  SPEAKER_01: So um, because again, we why wait?
• 22:10
  SPEAKER_01: There's no reason to wait.
• 22:11
  SPEAKER_01: Let's let's engage them through the process as quickly as we can.
• 22:17
  SPEAKER_01: Um and then as you go through it, it's every touch point the minute that they come into the district office or you know, your ed services building, um, and every person at engagement, that means everybody from your HR team to your uh uh special ed team to the school site.
• 22:36
  SPEAKER_01: So the first time they show up at a school site um for the first day of their job, did somebody greet them?
• 22:42
  SPEAKER_01: Did somebody uh make show them their office?
• 22:46
  SPEAKER_01: Or and and probably the biggest one that I tell like all of our hiring managers based on, and it's not just for speech pathologists, but for even for anybody.
• 22:56
  SPEAKER_01: The one thing that drives me the craziest is that you know, you'll hire a new teacher or a new uh speech pathologist, and um and they you go in and you show them the the hiring manager, the principal, the site admin, will show them, well, here's your office and everything else.
• 23:10
  SPEAKER_01: Well, the last speech pathologist left all of this mess.
• 23:14
  SPEAKER_01: And um, you know, why don't you spend the first day cleaning it up?
• 23:18
  SPEAKER_01: I'm like, no, don't do that to them.
• 23:20
  SPEAKER_01: You know, that that's that's a horrible first impression.
• 23:23
  SPEAKER_01: First impression because you walk in, hey, here's your door, here's your key.
• 23:27
  SPEAKER_01: We got a little flower shirt, big sign on the door.
• 23:29
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you for coming.
• 23:30
  SPEAKER_01: You know, you gotta make every one of those are moments.
• 23:35
  SPEAKER_01: You gotta make those moments special.
• 23:37
  SPEAKER_01: But the minute you don't make those moments special, then now they're thinking, well, wait, did I accept the wrong job?
• 23:43
  SPEAKER_01: Am I in the right culture where I want to be?
• 23:44
  SPEAKER_01: Am I uh so and again, they don't have to be big things, but I mean it's amazing.
• 23:49
  SPEAKER_01: But putting a sign on the door saying, we're excited that you're here.
• 23:53
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you so much, you know, and put something, you know, here's a specialized lanyard with your ID batch, everything already done for you.
• 24:00
  SPEAKER_01: Um, here's your computer already set up, here's your log on, uh, everything's done.
• 24:04
  SPEAKER_01: So they don't have to spend the first half a day contacting IT how to get how to get an email account, you know, is all that stuff taken care of for them through that process.
• 24:17
  SPEAKER_01: So those are things that, you know, again, it's that onboarding process is important.
• 24:23
  SPEAKER_00: If a clinic director is struggling to hire right now, I can only change one thing about their strategy tomorrow morning.
• 24:28
  SPEAKER_00: What should it be?
• 24:30
  SPEAKER_01: Well, one thing is tough because I think it really and and I'm gonna determine what is your pain point.
• 24:37
  SPEAKER_01: And and I think the one thing that I always uh talk about is is look at your systems.
• 24:44
  SPEAKER_01: And because that's the to me is the where that's an easy thing to start with.
• 24:50
  SPEAKER_01: Um does your system allow you to go out to multiple job boards, um, especially like Google Jobs uh today, guys.
• 24:58
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and if I have to do it myself and go to LinkedIn and go to Google Jobs and Facebook and and and uh Instagram and uh um if I if I have to do all of those individuals, then then that's I'm it I'm not being efficient with my time.
• 25:15
  SPEAKER_01: And so there's the one thing that I would do uh right now is just look at your system and see if there's an opportunity for you to change things because um you we can I could get on the phone, I can build the relationships with the universities, I can do all that stuff.
• 25:31
  SPEAKER_01: But if the it takes them forever to get through the onboarding process, the hiring process, everything else, the system part of it, they're gonna struggle.
• 25:40
  SPEAKER_01: And and then eventually they're gonna say, I'm just gonna give up.
• 25:42
  SPEAKER_01: It's easier to apply for the job next, the school district next door, um, than it is this.
• 25:49
  SPEAKER_01: So that's the one thing that I would at least start with um uh for there to make sure your systems and your processes are efficient and work well uh for that.
• 25:59
  SPEAKER_01: And it gives goes back to what I said, apply to your own district.
• 26:02
  SPEAKER_01: You'll amazing, you'll see the pain points that you have as a school district of things that you need to change.
• 26:08
  SPEAKER_01: And um, and those are easy things that you can change pretty quickly.
• 26:13
  SPEAKER_00: Do you have any final thoughts before we wrap up here today?
• 26:16
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, the biggest thing the other thing that I would talk about is this like we've talked about, it's relationships.
• 26:23
  SPEAKER_01: We've been able to get things done because of, you know, I hired eight in-person SLPs last year.
• 26:28
  SPEAKER_01: We're already up to four this year.
• 26:30
  SPEAKER_01: And um it's about the relationship component of it.
• 26:33
  SPEAKER_01: And I've got great relationships with our uh labor partners that it allow us to do the assigning bonus and the recruitment bonus for our own staff.
• 26:42
  SPEAKER_01: Um, that's a big part of it, but I also have relationships with universities um um across the U.S.
• 26:49
  SPEAKER_01: And one of my favorite is Montevello University in Alabama.
• 26:52
  SPEAKER_01: And I've been recruiting there for years and years and years for SLPs, and it's a small university in the middle of Alabama, but I get on Zoom and uh talk to candidates uh uh all the time.
• 27:05
  SPEAKER_01: And it just it's just fun, you know, to be able to encourage them to consider California to move to.
• 27:12
  SPEAKER_01: So um, and build those relationships uh the with universities.
• 27:17
  SPEAKER_01: So, and this is why I think like conferences like Ash Hycasha are important because the universities are there too, because they're also trying to recruit candidates to to join their programs too.
• 27:26
  SPEAKER_01: And so build the relationship with the partners there because uh, you know, your interests are the same as theirs.
• 27:32
  SPEAKER_01: They want their uh their students that come in out of the universities to get um to get hired, uh you know, in the best place that's possible.
• 27:44
  SPEAKER_01: And what's great about it is is now because I have this great relationship, whenever um the SLPs talk to the directors there, they say, well, there's this really great school in California.
• 27:55
  SPEAKER_01: Have you ever considered, you know, you know, is that someplace you want to live?
• 27:59
  SPEAKER_01: And if they say no, then that's okay.
• 28:01
  SPEAKER_01: But if they ever say yes, then I get an email from them.
• 28:05
  SPEAKER_01: And it's and you know, sometimes we hire, sometimes they don't.
• 28:08
  SPEAKER_01: Some, you know, again, because it's sometimes that's a big dramatic move.
• 28:12
  SPEAKER_01: But you have to be willing to engage in those kind of practices and build those relationships throughout, from like I said, from your labor partners, your universities to the to the people working at the conferences to to your current SLPs, you know.
• 28:28
  SPEAKER_01: Um uh, because again, your current SLPs are your best recruiters.
• 28:33
  SPEAKER_01: They're the ones that are creating that culture that is so important for you because they're they'll talk.
• 28:39
  SPEAKER_01: They'll talk to each other, they'll talk to current SLBs, they'll talk to SLBs considering your district.
• 28:44
  SPEAKER_01: And if they say really positive things about your district, well, then you got a better shot at trying to be able to pull that person in.
• 28:52
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you, David, for sharing your insights and promising practices with our members.
• 28:56
  SPEAKER_00: We invite you to join us next month and every first Wednesday of the month for a promising practices podcast series where we will explore best practices for your district.