Modernizing Healthcare Recruiting for the Post-Pandemic Job Market

04/29/2021

Brought to you by WBR Insights.

(Source: National Cancer Institute on Unsplash)

Healthcare systems—and healthcare staff—were stressed to the limit during the COVID-19 crisis. Despite a wide outpouring of support for healthcare workers from the public, the day-to-day struggles of healthcare workers during the pandemic highlighted the ongoing rise in demand for healthcare services even amid a drop in elective procedures at hospitals and care centers.

According to the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), the U.S. will see a shortage of up to 122,000 physicians by 2032. As healthcare organizations emerge from the pandemic, the demand for health services will only continue to rise. Recruitment and HR staff must modernize their recruiting processes to attract the next generation of caregivers and administrative healthcare professionals.

Here are just a few ways healthcare organizations can meet these demands.

Build a Digital-First Employment Brand

During the pandemic, much of the working world shifted to remote work, and recruiting was no exception. Strategies like text recruiting, virtual job fairs, and video conferencing interviews were already beginning to become standard. After a year of working remotely, many healthcare job candidates now expect digital-first recruiting processes when applying to healthcare positions.

Healthcare organizations must take steps to meet job candidates on their favorite platforms and market to them through their most-used channels. Career sites, social media pages, and text recruiting software platforms are just a few ways organizations can engage with candidates in digital spaces.

Healthcare organizations must also recognize the growing popularity of remote work. Despite it being a necessity in some professions due to the risks of COVID-19 infection, according to Pew Research, 54% of workers would like to continue engaging in telework once the pandemic is over.

While many healthcare positions require hands-on work, recruiters may be able to attract more candidates by offering flexibility in day-to-day work models.

Deploy Strategies Similar to Other Types of Major Employers

Major companies consider recruitment marketing just as important as marketing their products and services. For example, major employers often treat marketing to job candidates the same way they might treat marketing to their customers—they research key demographics to help them understand how their candidates tick, then design a candidate journey to suit certain candidates' personas.

Developing a better candidate experience can improve the results of candidate marketing campaigns. Strategies like the following can all play a role in healthcare recruiting:

  • Inbound marketing
  • Content marketing
  • Website UX optimization
  • Enhanced media like videos
  • AI-powered chatbots
  • Digital onboarding

Since 2015, most job candidates begin their search online. As job candidates continue to search for opportunities on digital channels, following the steps of other digital-first organizations can help inform organizations' candidate marketing strategies.

Streamline Recruiting with Automation and Software

Attracting healthcare talent is just one part of the process. Once engaged, organizations need solutions in place to reduce friction in talent flows as much as possible.

Software applications can provide many of the solutions that make this possible. For example, candidate relationship management (CRM) systems can help recruitment and HR staff keep track of communications from candidates all in one place. Healthcare organizations can even use a comprehensive applicant tracking system (ATS) as a platform for all their recruitment activities.

Some other important tools include:

  • Video interviewing tools
  • Mobile applications
  • Talent intelligence systems
  • Testing and assessment solutions

Automation also makes the recruitment process easier, both for staff and for the candidates themselves. With the right tools, healthcare organizations can apply automation to talent pools, application processes, onboarding, and more.

For example, recruiters can minimize the time they spend screening applications by using candidate pre-screening applications. When the time comes to schedule an interview, intuitive software can provide candidates with a range of time options based on the availability of recruiters and their integrated schedules.

Automation solutions can even enable the organization to deploy text-to-apply capabilities, allowing candidates to apply for jobs with the tap of a button.

None of these processes removes humans from the recruiting process. Instead, they improve the candidate experience by making what would otherwise be cumbersome processes seamless and simple. They can also free up time, so recruiters can focus on working directly with the best candidates and reduce time-to-hire rates.

The HR Healthcare Virtual Event

After a challenging year, healthcare organizations must prepare for a disrupted talent market that contains non-traditional competitors, exhausted healthcare professionals, and a new wave of young, tech-savvy healthcare graduates. Thankfully, there are several solutions available to help in this regard.

To learn more about how your organization can adapt to this new normal, don't miss the HR Healthcare virtual event happening on Tuesday, May 11, 2021. Register today to secure your space at the event.

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