The hiring process today looks entirely different than it did 10 years ago. Even processes that were created two years ago now need refinement. With the average cost per hire exceeding $4,000, you can’t afford to rely on the hiring tactics of yesterday to get you the quality candidates of today. That’s why it’s crucial to look at your current process and implement innovative recruitment strategies. In doing so, you will find quality applicants that are not only good for your patients, but also a good fit for your company.
10 Innovative Healthcare Recruitment Strategies
1. Freshen Your Branding
Your company brand is more than a logo and how you present yourself in person — although it may include those things. It’s your culture, values, messaging in person and online, goals, and how your employees and patients perceive you.
If you haven’t freshened up your brand in a few years, potential hires may view your practice as outdated. This can hurt your reputation and drag out the recruitment process as you struggle to find candidates who are passionate about your practice. Remember that your brand stretches across platforms — from your website and social media to the look and feel of your waiting room. Everywhere a candidate looks, they should see the exact same message.
2. Evaluate Your Benefits & Compensation Packages
The healthcare industry is facing a small crisis — there are more jobs than people to hire. This has caused the hiring process to become highly competitive. And, whether you’d like to admit it or not, you have to offer benefits that are more enticing than your competition’s. But, that doesn’t mean you have to hire someone at the highest salary.
By evaluating your benefits and compensation packages, you can make updates to outdated policies and feature new benefits that will better resonate with your audience. Have you recently implemented technology that makes it easier for nurses to check in and see patients in their homes? Make sure that you’re advertising this technology as a benefit of working with your practice. Quality candidates want to know that you’re invested in making their work lives easier.
3. Update Your Job Listings
In order to save time, many practices create templates for their job listing. This can be an easy way to post a job opening quickly. But, as your practice grows and scales, the job you’re listing has likely changed as well. Make sure you’re updating your job descriptions so that the position still aligns with what the person hired will be doing.
You should also take this opportunity to define professional pathways. Are there certifications that this job posting needs? Is this position for someone just out of training, or is a certain level of real-world experience required? Make sure that your job listing explicitly outlines the expectations to ensure you’re resonating with the right candidates for the job.
4. Refine Your Hiring Process
If you still require candidates to fax, mail, or return applications in person, then you’re definitely losing out on a ton of qualified candidates. That’s because outdated hiring processes tell a lead that your practice is outdated as well — whether or not that’s actually true.
By looking at your hiring process, identifying places where you can improve, and implementing those changes, you can leverage a hiring process that works for your practice. This includes any aspect, from how people can apply for the job to the types of questions you ask in the interview. Make sure that your hiring process is representative of your brand. If you’re technologically savvy, technology should play a key role in the hiring process
5. Focus on Your Culture
Your company culture is not only important for recruiting quality candidates, it’s essential for retaining talent. Burnout is one of the leading causes of nurses leaving the industry, but developing a culture that cares for your staff as much as you do for your patients can help alleviate those pain points and keep your employees working at their best.
When recruits are reviewing your business, they’re not just looking at your benefits. They’re seeing how your employees feel about working for you. They’re scrolling through pictures on Facebook of your last company party to see how happy people look. They’re asking questions about what you do to support your employees. That’s why it’s imperative that your culture reflects your values and invites people to want to work for you.
6. Post on Popular Job Boards
Simply posting your open position and waiting around for the flood of applicants isn’t going to cut it anymore. You may get a sea of applications, but the quality of those candidates will range from over to under-qualified. By identifying popular job boards in the healthcare industry, you can go right to the source to find nurses, practitioners, and other candidates for your practice.
See firsthand what candidates are looking for and pose your own questions to find out how you can improve your hiring process. And, when you find someone you think could be right for a position you’re hiring for, don’t be afraid to reach out to them.
7. Appeal to Other Branches
As industry trends shift and nurses become more and more overwhelmed, now may be the time to look at other medical branches for your qualified candidates. Whether they’re a travel nurse looking to put down roots or a hospital nurse looking to make a better connection with their patients, these employees have the skills you’re looking for, but they may not realize your practice is a better fit for them.
Consider incorporating this aspect into your messaging for your healthcare recruitment strategy. Look at the cons of working in each healthcare branch and think about how your practice relieves those challenges. Address those benefits wherever possible.
8. Create a Multi-Platform Campaign
Similar to how posting on a job board and waiting for people to apply isn’t effective in the current competitive market, only using one platform to advertise your open positions is likely missing a ton of qualified candidates. If you’re only posting on job boards, you’re missing out on candidates who are engaging with you on social media. If you’re only posting on social, you’re missing out on the ones who have bookmarked your careers page.
By advertising your open positions across multiple platforms, you can ensure the likeliest candidates see your post. In addition to hosting your open positions on a careers page or careers platform, you can send out an email advertising the open position to people who have applied to your company in the past or previous employees that are in good standing. In addition to your organic social posts, you can create paid ads on different social platforms — from LinkedIn to Instagram. The more qualified candidates see your open position, the more likely they are to learn about your company and apply.
9. Look Inward
One of the most often overlooked places when creating a recruitment strategy is internal. Your staff is involved in various groups and communities that you may not even know about or have access to. By talking to your staff and asking them to share open positions, you gain a chance to reach new audiences while giving your team the freedom to brag about what it’s like working for you.
Going back to the culture aspect, it can help retain talent by including referral systems in your recruitment strategy. If your nurses have an incentive for referring a great candidate, they’ll be more likely to advertise on your behalf — not because you’re asking them to, but because they want to.
10. Leverage a Recruitment Database
While recruiters are usually the first place you look to help you fill positions, they’re often working for several companies at the same time — including your competitors. This drives up the competition, and it becomes a rush to see who can hire the candidate first. But, ensuring the candidates you interview are the right fit for your company, takes time. If you’re competing for talent, you’ve already lost.
By leveraging a proprietary recruitment database like Caregiver Connect, you can find talent before they hit the job boards — giving you access to candidates before anyone else. Caregiver Connect proactively puts your open positions in front of qualified candidates, so you’re not waiting around for applications to trickle in. And, because you’re reaching applicants at a unique stage in the process, you have less competition for high-quality talent.
Need help with recruitment? The Symphony Agency Can Help
Developing a healthcare recruitment strategy for your practice can be difficult. From freshening up your brand to finding quality candidates that fit into your culture, the Symphony Agency can help you develop a course of action, provide you with business intelligence solutions, and ensure that your recruitment strategy is right on track. For more information about Caregiver Connect or other services, contact our client experience n ce team today.