I can’t fight it, and you can’t fight it. We can’t fight it, the Internet.
Sure, at home, I tell my kids that I am going to toss their screens or shut off our internet, that I have had it with their Snapchat, Instagram, Finsta, and Tick-tocks.
In my house, I can control internet access, or at least I like to think I can. Even if it is a constant battle I sometimes lose.
I long for days past. I want to hear the Prodigy dial-up noise from 1991, that ear-piercing screech that indicated I was slowly connecting to a new world of information availability (check out this ad to see how the world has changed). www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNxKg6ZXax8).
The connection came via a phone line connected to a large, heavy, unwieldy computer located in the basement. Unlike today’s handheld devices, I couldn’t pick up my computer and carry it about the house. Ironically, the 1990s immobility created web freedom.
I read a comment recently that said, “I used to turn to the Internet for an escape from real life. Now I turn to real life as an escape from the Internet.” That quote captures the web evolution from 1991 to 2020.
Technology and facilities management limitations
That 30-year web evolution brings us to the point of this piece, and the uniqueness of the hospital facility management function.
Recently, Jack and I had a call with a hospital to discuss staffing their facilities department for the future. We discussed the roles of facility directors, managers, energy experts, and MEP technicians. At the end of our hour-long conversation, the facilities director uttered a simple declarative sentence.
“I wasn’t sure what I was looking for until we had this conversation.”
We sometimes seek the easy way out to solve our staffing problems. We turn to internet bots like Zip-recruiter or Indeed to fill human capital needs. These tools reduce people to keywords on a resume. There is no interaction, no discussion, no discovery, no epiphany on a personal level.
As a replacement for human interaction, the web sorely lacks, especially as it comes to an understanding of the complexity of locating qualified, dedicated hospital facility management pro’s (https://gosselin-associates.com/tales-from-the-front/). You won’t hear of that limitation in a Zip-recruiter or Indeed commercial. The hospital facility management pro’s who ensure a safe patient experience aren’t spending their days on internet job boards. They don’t know or want to identify keywords that get their resumes recognized.
Don’t get lost in technology when searching for facilities help. Talk to people who have worked in facilities and understand that ensuring a positive patient experience is integral to the facilities management function. Talk to a fellow human, and you too may say, “I wasn’t sure what I was looking for until we had this conversation.”
That’s a good thing. In a two-way discussion, we all learn.
To view our job offerings, including our latest Division Director role, please see gosselin-associates.com/job-listings