Hiring managers today face a multitude of obstacles – from high turnover rates and long time-to-fill ratios to a lack of available talent and mounting competition. With the demand for qualified healthcare workers on the rise, the medical sector has become more competitive than ever. If your hospital or healthcare facility is ramping up your hiring efforts, it’s pivotal to ensure you’re implementing creative – and effective – recruitment strategies. Here are 5 healthcare recruiting tips to stave off challenges and attract top talent to your open roles.
Strengthen Your Employer Branding
What is your unique value proposition? Why should candidates choose your facility over a competitor? It’s imperative to communicate your organization’s values, culture, and vision to prospective hires across platforms – from your website to your social pages. Strategically showcasing your employer brand is an effective way to attract new prospects and identify candidates that align with your internal culture in a meaningful way.
Utilize your careers page to discuss key offerings – whether that be corporate wellness programs, continued education initiatives, or the opportunity to utilize cutting-edge technology. Painting a clear picture of who you are as an organization will help entice prospects to your open opportunities, accelerate the hiring process, and weed out candidates who aren’t a good fit.
Leverage Niche Job Boards
While posting your open positions on mainstream sites like Indeed can prove to be effective, it’s also crucial to implement a more targeted outreach strategy as well. Consider posting and sourcing candidates through healthcare-specific job boards, such as CareerVitals, Health eCareers, or Healthcare Source. This sets you up for the best opportunity to discover the right healthcare candidates faster.
Invest in the Right Recruitment Software
The right applicant tracking system can be a valuable asset in overcoming common hurdles in the healthcare recruitment space, such as limited access to diverse candidates or a lengthy time-to-hire. Some systems, for example, provide you with the ability to establish a referral system. Having a referral program in place, and tapping into your current employees’ networks, can help broaden your reach and identify like-minded individuals. The right applicant tracking system will also be able to produce valuable analytics and reports to help you identify weaknesses within your hiring process and implement improvements to strengthen your efforts in the future.
Place an Emphasis on Soft Skills
To strengthen the patient experience and drive positive outcomes for your facility, today’s healthcare professionals must have the right skill sets. From being empathetic and demonstrating strong communication skills to problem-solving and leadership qualities, your candidate’s soft skills are equally as important as the credentials on their CV.
Prior to bringing in potential candidates for an interview, ensure you’ve equipped yourself with the right questions to ask – i.e. Share a time when you faced adversity and what you did to overcome it. You can also explore psychometric assessment tools to delve deeper into a candidate’s soft skills and evaluate individuals prior to offering an in-person meeting.
Offer a Robust Benefits Package
If you’re recruiting in a competitive market, that means you have to bring a competitive benefits package to the table. Sure, compensation is important, but today’s candidates also value things like work-life balance and professional opportunities outside the workplace. Cultivating an attractive benefits package will help drive increased interest in your facility, as well as drive retention efforts. Things like access to health and wellness programs and flexible working hours are highly desired by today’s job seekers.
Need help getting started? Here at Polaris, we’re helping hospitals and healthcare organizations drive revenue and improve patient outcomes through flexible, effective healthcare staffing solutions. In a time when healthcare workers are needed now more than ever, our team of recruitment experts can help your facility implement an innovative recruitment strategy. To learn more, contact the Polaris team today.