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With over 17% of the American population being over 65 years old, the need for healthcare workers has never been greater. The BLS (Bureau of Labor Statistics) predicts the demand for healthcare assistants will increase by 15.4% between 2022 and 2032. One of the fastest growing occupants in this sector is the personal care and home health aides.
Unfortunately, this sector has a talent shortage and gaps that will worsen in the near future. Burnout triggered by being overworked and career changes show a decrease in the number of physicians in the next few years. Plus, the pre-existing shortage of staff in this sector makes the recruitment process quite challenging.
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The BLS projects that by 2032, the number of occupations in various medical fields will increase. The nurse practitioners will increase by 45%, physicians 27%, and speech-language pathologists 19%. These individuals will need various support staff like lab technicians, clerks, and assistants. For your firm to improve its services, it needs a systematic recruitment approach that starts by:
1. Develop a job recruitment strategy
Generally, a reliable strategy is based on the building blocks of a firm’s culture and identity. You should start by creating a strong brand. The healthcare sector isn’t the same as technology and retail, where selling is their primary goal. You must be creative to attract the right talents into your organization.
Write a unique mission statement that anyone who’s introduced to your company can understand. The mission statement should help you stand out from other healthcare providers. You should also consider the following:
Create an EVP (employee value proposition)
Craft a benefits and salary package that will help your organization attract the right people. Other than salaries, you can mention other incentives like work-life balance rewards, career development rewards, paid leave days, and recognition of bonuses.
Maintain communication when hiring
Continuous updates during the hiring process improve the entire experience. Even if the number of applications is scary, you should have a unique communication method. A simple tool like the ApplicantStack can organize your list of applicants and show you where they are in the recruitment process. You can also send messages and even on-the-job tests from this app to every job applicant.
Craft a strong onboarding program
Every applicant needs time to learn and understand a new company’s practices and systems. You should create an organized and thoughtful onboarding program that’ll help the new staff members feel at home. This can prevent them from getting overwhelmed by the work on day one. Instead, it should be accommodative and ensure that new employees are smoothly integrated into the system.
2. Find several healthcare recruiting paths
Start by creating a reliable referral program and make sure you compensate your existing employees for every referral. Your current staff knows what’s missing in your organization and can help you attract some top talents. Plus, they’re in a better position to advertise your firm; after all, they do understand its challenges and rewards. Other recruitment avenues include:
Partner with the local universities and colleges
With most community colleges offering various medical programs, including EdD programs, partnering with them is crucial to your recruitment goals. According to a survey conducted by the CCRC(Community College Research Center), community colleges control the biggest share of healthcare programs.
This includes medical laboratory science(69%), practical nursing (58%), and social/mental health (76%). You’re bound to get talented medics straight out of college by simply partnering with various learning institutions.
Internal promotions
While considering their referrals and remote hiring software, you should also start promoting people internally. Internal promotions can motivate your staff to work even harder and even take more healthcare courses. On top of that, internal promotions can save you money and time. External recruiting can take over 100 days from job posting to finally getting the right person and training them.
On the other hand, your current employees are already in the system, so they will need no training in most cases. With job shadowing already a norm in your organization, you may end up spending less on the recruitment process.
Post your vacancies on niche online job boards
The health niche is in high demand, so after posting your vacancies on the common job boards, you can also look for various niche-specific job boards. With a healthcare board like CareerVitals and Health eCareers, you can reach suitable candidates directly. These sources expose your ads to a pool of healthcare specialists seeking employment opportunities. Multilingual healthcare staffing services can also help organizations find qualified candidates who can communicate effectively with diverse patient populations.
3. Organize your applicants by category
Unlike other markets, healthcare recruitment teams don’t have a vast pool of qualified individuals to pick from. They have to look for more than just the applicant’s experience and educational background. You can look for various unique skills that applicants can offer beyond what they learned in school. Some of these attributes include:
- Integrity
- Multitasking
- Problem-solving
- Negotiation skills
- Adaptability
- Time management
In a situation where every applicant is qualified, you may have to group them according to the above attributes. People with specific attributes can easily blend with your team and require little to no training. Luckily, ApplicantSlack can help you keep track of these attributes and even group them.
4. Focus on staff retention strategies
The CDC reported that over 46% of the healthcare staff felt burned out in 2022. Out of all the healthcare workers in the year, 44% planned on looking for a new job. This may have been primarily due to the Covid-19 pandemic, but most people consider a career change after being in the industry for a few years.
Instead of focusing on hiring new employees every year, you should look for ways to keep the talent you already have. Start by creating a perfect work environment and make it easy for people to talk to each other. You can be even more flexible with the time off while giving them a great benefit package.
Filing every role in your hospital will reduce the likelihood of people being called to fill in for each other or taking extra shifts. When employees feel overworked and undervalued, they may start thinking about career change. When appreciated and not overworked (while getting better benefits packages), they can feel comfortable and even help you bring in more talent to the organization.
5. Create a wellness program for your employees
Another way to increase your staff retention rate is by creating some wellness programs. It shows that you’re committed to creating a conducive environment that fosters happiness and health. These programs can range from nutritional coaching, access to online scripts, stress management classes, and counseling to flexible working hours.
When hiring, you should list these programs as part of your package and commitment to supporting your employees. This will show people that your organization is an excellent place to work that prioritizes the employee’s well-being. You can also include links to the success stories of your existing staff members benefiting from these programs.
Endnote
The challenges in the recruitment process in this sector demand creativity and open-mindedness among recruiters. Worker burnout has played a major role in the low staff retention rate in most firms. Before you start your recruiting process, you should create a conducive work environment that everyone will aspire to join.
Before considering outside talent, you should first promote internally. This is cheaper and guarantees that you get the right person for the job, thanks to job shadowing. You can fill the remaining position with young talent from the community colleges that you’ve partnered with over the last few years.
