With the holidays coming right around the corner, search processes have the potential to stall as we all try to squeeze end-of-year sprints into a smaller number of days.

Jan 1 hiring is an artificial deadline. Sure it’d be nice if the new year started off on a new fresh foot, but it’s not always possible. So to keep your process running smoothly, don’t rush. Here’s why:

• Lower quality decisions under artificial deadlines. Teams that compress a 12-week search process into 6 usually have a frenetic process. More potential to lose out great candidates due to timing issues. Less team alignment if not everyone gets a chance to interview. You hire a person to have someone in the seat, but is it the best person for that seat?
• Bonus timing. Most executives are not going to walk away from year-end bonuses, particularly as many companies pay those out in January (some even March). So the person that you hire may not even want (or can) leave when you need them to start.
• Internal alignment is hard. Holidays, PTO, year-end plans, new-year budgets, Board meetings - all things collide in December to make a perfect mess of everyone’s calendars. The people who need to participate may not be available, or at best, they’re distracted. This can lead to missed interviewing opportunities, or buyer’s remorse.
• Onboarding processes. Let’s be honest here, when your ideal candidate starts on January 2nd, is your company truly ready to onboard them? Things are still likely in flux and your team is still coming out of the holiday haze.

Instead of rushing…

• Let the deadline keep the momentum up so that the process doesn’t lag, but don’t try to squeeze everything in in a matter of days.
• Be mindful that candidates have their own timelines, too. Perhaps they can start working with you part-time or advising as they ramp down their current commitments.
• Gather feedback quickly to make decisions. Feedback should be fresh, with maybe a bit of perspective to let the dust settle. But should be no more than 48 hours after the interview, so you can make a decision on what to do next.
• Start at least thinking about your placement’s first 30 days now, so that you don’t lose steam when they join.

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• Lisa Collins joins Health Prime, a revenue cycle management solutions, as Chief Executive Officer (Source)
• Sean Burke joins Unite Us, a care coordination company, as President (Source)
• Hippocratic AI, a safety-focused LLM for healthcare, appoints Anan Kashyap as Chief Financial Officer, Craig Ikens as Chief Commercial Officer, Blues & Regional Plans, Herprit Mahal MD, FACP as Associate Chief Medical Officer, Peter Casasanto as Chief Commercial Officer, Pharma, Rahul Agarwal as Chief Customer Officer, Sejal Rajagopalan as Chief People Officer, and Shubhra Jain, MD, MBA as Chief Business Officer (Source)
• Steve Barnes joins Private Health Management, a healthcare management company, as Chief Financial Officer (Source)
• Jeremy Schwarz joins HealthEx, a modern data rights management platform, as Chief Commercial Officer (Source)
• Stephanie Gutendorf joins Arbital Health, an advisory service provider for value-based care, as Chief Commercial Officer (Source)
• Peter Boumenot joins CentralReach, an EMR platform for Autism and IDD Care, as Chief Product Officer (Source)
• David Osborne joins Vida Health, a personalized obesity care provider, as Chief Product Officer (Source)
• Steven Duque joins Pearl Health, a physician enablement in value-based care company, as Chief Business Officer (Source)
• Aashish Mody joins Big Health, a mental health solutions company, as Chief Customer Officer (Source)
• Dr. Aneesh Pakala joins Karoo Health, a value-based care enablement company for cardiology, as Chief Medical Officer (Source)
• Terry Haley joins Nemours, a pediatric health systems, as EVP, Chief Marketing and Communications Officer (Source)
• Deb Autor joins Hims & Hers, a health and wellness company, as Chief Policy Officer (Source)

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• Covera Health, a clinical intelligence company, is hiring a VP, Commercial (Health Plans)
• Particle Health, a medical data integration company, is hiring a VP of Key Accounts
• Hims & Hers, a health and wellness company, is hiring a Counsel, Employment
• Aledade, an independent primary care network, is hiring a Senior Counsel, Remote

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