Hiring has changed a lot in the past few years. With many hiring freezes happening across the country, many people started to look for new jobs since they were home anyway. This has led to a shortage of some of the workers that are needed in the healthcare industry.
The healthcare industry is always looking for highly skilled individuals who will be compassionate and able to help those in need. Finding these individuals can be difficult all the time, but it seems to add to the difficulty during these times. This can leave many recruiters in the healthcare industry worried about how they will find quality applicants.
As a healthcare recruiter, there are a few steps that you can take to help reach the right candidates and ensure that you are bringing them into your company. Some of these steps include:
Update the Digital Marketing Plan
You need to actively set aside some time to really delve into the recruitment strategies that you are using. Pay attention to three major elements to help with this. They include:
- Job board strategy: Think about where you would like to post the job. This is more strategic than many think. All of the platforms can offer a variety of benefits and negatives. Think about who you would like to entice and where they are likely looking for jobs.
- SEO: Google is a highly visited site in America and is often one of the first points that job seekers will start at when getting a new job. SEO makes it possible to reach these applicants by using location information and industry keywords. Utilize this to your benefit.
- Social media marketing: Never underestimate the power of social media. You already have these sites for brand awareness. Now use them to help you post your jobs and get the qualified candidates that you want.
Boost the Branding
As more and more of the talent you want is snapped up, now is an important time for you to look at the way the facility you work for is branding itself as an employer. You need to be acutely aware of how the brand looks to a potential candidate. Make sure that you are always communicating your vision, mission, and values to make it look good.
A great place to start is to add a bit of human touch to the careers page. Add in individual bios, work activities, and even pictures of the current staff. Adding videos of current employees can help as well.
Always remember that potential candidates are doing an inventory of you too. They want to see if your facility is going to be the kind of place they want to work. If your band does not speak to them well or there are some red flags when they take a look, they are more likely to choose a job with someone else.
Look Outside the Hospital
With many facilities finding their nurses aging out of the workforce, it is important to find some new methods to bring in top talent. Rather than wasting time and resources recruiting from medical facilities and hospitals, it is best to start attracting that talent before they are even done with school.
Nursing schools and other programs will provide excellent resources for qualified individuals who are looking for their first job. They may not have a lot of experience yet, but they are willing to learn and could gain some loyalty with your program instead of somewhere else.
Work with the departments at these facilities to help find some of the talent that you need. You may be surprised at how good the relationship can be between you and those colleges and schools, which can make it easier to find the talent you want.
Use Healthcare Recruiting Software
You will find that it is easier to deliver on the branding experience for your employer if the hiring process is as easy and simple as possible. When the process takes too long or the applicant feels like they need to jump through hoops to even talk to you, they are likely to give up and go somewhere else.
As a result, you need to look for software that is able to integrate well with the workflow you have presently. This helps you to get to the candidates faster and saves the candidates time as well. There are a number of options that you can choose based on what works for your facility.
Offer Competitive Perks and Benefits
We can’t finish this discussion without looking at the importance of healthcare perks and benefits. You will find that one of the fastest ways to entice some talent to your facility is to offer a generous benefits package.
You will need to find some of the right steps that allow you to balance some of the traditional perks, like sick and parental leave, PTO, insurance, and 401(k)s with some other benefits like lifestyle support and professional development.
There are different things that you can do with this depending on your position at the time. Some great things to consider include:
- Tuition assistance or some kind of student loan repayment
- Paid volunteer time
- Financial wellness programs
- Hands-on training or help with certification
- Childcare or commuter assistance
You will have to weigh some of the different options out there with what you can afford to do and what you think will bring the employees in. With so much competition out there though, it is a good idea to stick out from the crowd, and offering a good benefits package is one of the best ways to make that happen.
Finding the Top Talent for Your Healthcare Facility
There are many other facilities out there looking for highly qualified candidates to fill positions. Having a game plan in place and sticking with it will really help you to stand out and reach the potential that you strive for. Check out a few of the steps above to see how easy this process can be.