The US healthcare industry is faced with a myriad of staffing challenges: from overworked nurses and practitioners to a lack of opportunity for people’s growth and development. The biggest and most concerning driver of these issues is high staff turnover rates. In 2017, voluntary staff turnover rates were 14.7% – up from 12.1% in previous years.
This leaves healthcare organizations with a double-barrelled problem – hiring qualified people to provide quality patient care and filling vacant roles at short notice. Considering it takes an average of 49 days to hire for healthcare, it pays to streamline processes and optimize recruitment. Here are six strategies to consider:
1. Invest in a mobile-enabled Applicant Tracking System (ATS)
A robust Applicant Tracking System (ATS) is the perfect partner to any organization’s recruitment processes. The software allows seamless electronic tracking of the entire hiring journey and reduces time spent on administrative tasks.
With a global average of 45% of candidates applying for roles from their mobile devices, it’s imperative to optimize your processes to include this functionality. This means busy candidates like nurses can apply for roles in their own time. A solid ATS will also enable posting across multiple job boards – highly beneficial for a fast-paced industry like healthcare with large volumes of roles to fill. Healthcare candidates are particularly time-poor, so ensure your ATS has built-in texting (SMS) capability to message candidates directly from the system. This speeds up the communications process as you move through the recruitment funnel.
“Healthcare candidates are particularly time-poor, so ensure your ATS has built-in texting (SMS) capability to message candidates directly from the system.”
2. Build a strong talent pipeline
Maintaining a strong talent pipeline can help you find candidates, without the need to advertise roles. According to PageUp, “Developing a pool of talent that enables you to pipeline potential candidates will allow a strategic rather than reactive response in filling ‘as they arise’ vacancies, as well as ensuring a higher quality of talent.” When roles become vacant, you can contact people without having to conduct pre-screening calls and waiting for applications to come through. With an overview of your pipeline, you know who’s out there and who to call upon when the need arises.
“When roles become vacant, you can contact people without having to conduct pre-screening calls and wait for applications to come through.”
3. Allow your systems to connect seamlessly
You’ve invested in a robust Applicant Tracking System and your talent pipeline is looking healthy. If you now connect all of these systems seamlessly together, you can experience maximum efficiencies at every touchpoint. Review your entire ‘recruitment stack’ to see if you can incorporate more time-saving solutions like:
- a screening and interviewing solution
- background checking
- assessments and other skill-testing tools
Streamlining your systems can help accelerate the hiring process, allowing for greater efficiencies and reduced time-to-fill.
4. Practice consistent interviewing methods
No matter which industry you’re in, it pays to have a consistent interview process to help reduce time to hire. These can include:
- a hiring checklist (ensure you cover everything off)
- an overview of the organization (including vision, values and culture)
- an in-depth description of the role (highlight the individual’s key accountabilities)
- using behavioral questions to assess the candidate’s suitability for the role
- a notes section outlining each candidate’s strengths to compare with other interviewers at the conclusion of each interview
- ranking each candidate in the order of their skill set, enthusiasm and alignment to your organizational goals.
5. Champion efficient onboarding
Efficient onboarding can reduce time to hire and can also assist with speed to competency and new employee satisfaction. To maximise onboarding for health candidates, ensure:
- paperwork is completed before day one
- new team members have their uniforms, parking passes, and know where to go on their first day
- an orientation plan is in place – including training for new processes and systems, familiarization with electronic medical records and departments
- people know the shifts they’ll work and complete mandatory training as required by other departments.
6. Look within your organization
People who work at your organization will often have connections with other healthcare professionals. Use your internal job boards, newsletters, emails and good old-fashioned word of mouth to advertise roles and incentivize employee referrals where needed.
With challenging times in the US healthcare industry, your organization shouldn’t be left behind when it comes to hiring. By optimizing and streamlining your recruitment processes, you’ll fill vacant roles faster with more efficiency.
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