Transforming Healthcare Recruitment Building bridges for foreign talent in the NHS and social care
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Avinav Nigam, founder of TERN Group, a London based healthcare technology platform, is on a mission to transform the healthcare recruitment landscape by connecting skilled foreign professionals with opportunities in the UK. Driven by personal experiences and a passion for innovation, he shares with Entrepreneur UK how he's tackling industry challenges and creating a platform that empowers both workers and health systems.
What inspired you to start your business?
Seeing the plight of highly talented foreign workers, such as my nanny who was an Occupational Therapist nurse from India being scammed by unethical immigration agents and getting stuck paying thousands of pounds, and not reaching their dreams of working for the National Health Service (NHS) or Social Care sector in the UK.
Another motivation was my brilliant colleague who passed away from leukaemia, after beating it, as she didn't get the necessary support transitioning her from the NHS to the Social Care sector, due to severe workforce challenges on both sides. This became the required impetus to create a global platform for top healthcare professionals to find their way into health systems like the NHS.
Related: Pioneering Change in Digital Healthcare
What was your biggest challenge and how did you overcome it?
The biggest challenge has been to break down the mindset of the category and shift away from typical agency recruitment, as the NHS has become accustomed to that. We are now seeing many positive intentions around adopting technology and AI, which can enhance efficiency and streamline processes. However, getting people to trust and embrace these new tools was challenging.
Our strategy to overcome this challenge was to demonstrate the tangible benefits of technology adoption, such as cost savings, improved candidate matching, up-skilling and faster onboarding times. We also provided tailored training and support, ensuring that staff felt comfortable with the transition. However, what truly inspired and motivated our team was the real-world examples of how technology can complement, rather than replace, human roles.
How did you secure your initial funding?
Tern Group was funded by venture capital investors, some well-known angels, who backed top tech companies and global healthcare system leaders.
How do you stay motivated during tough times?
Failure is the rite of passage of building any company. First, embracing it as a not-so-enjoyable but important part of the journey is very important. Analysing what went wrong, and what I could control for the next time, is another important post-fact exercise. Start with your locus of control.
Next, surround yourself with a few close people that believe in you. You'll need the cheerleaders and the believers when the chips are down (and they will be down a lot). Having one or two mentors who you can discuss the challenges with is also crucially important.
What advice would you give to someone starting their own business?
Spend a lot of time thinking and talking to people about the pain point or gap in the market. Try and get this validated through numerous chats and interviews with people who you think are the customers of what you're building. Without that, there's no reason for your company to exist.
Also, ensure you get very good at understanding the data and numbers. It'll be easy to get going on doing something you love, but if you don't enjoy the "boring stuff" around accounting, admin and data, your company can come crashing down.
Be impatient on your growth but patient on your outcomes. You should always feel you're moving faster on things you can control (inputs), but you may not always deliver results. And finally wait for the moment, the flywheel will start to spin and you'll see the business will start growing.
Share your tips for achieving success
Perseverance and grit to ensure you go through the ups and downs with equal confidence.
Humility and curiosity to keep you grounded and moving fast, as the person that knows everything is already in decline. Build towards a larger purpose that can align people towards a common direction. Lastly, always lead with empathy.
