Healthcare Recruitment Strategies To Help You Staff Your Practice Quickly

Healthcare recruitment challenges are at an all-time high. A staggering  30% of healthcare workers are leaving their positions because they’re unsatisfied with compensation, and 51% of healthcare companies receive monthly complaints from their front office healthcare staffing teams.

Amid these industry-wide issues, your healthcare organization still needs qualified candidates to fulfill permanent roles, so we’ve compiled the top healthcare recruiting tips for you below. 

After developing the 2022 State of Healthcare Staffing ebook, our team at Weave discovered systemic issues across the healthcare industry showing gaps in the hiring process. Healthcare recruiters across the United States are struggling to attract and retain talent, though those that have nailed down their staffing solutions tend to use similar tactics. Below, we discuss seven top recruitment strategies for healthcare organizations.

1. Define Your Practice’s Needs

Before your healthcare facility can begin hiring workers, you need to consider who you need and why. What are the specific skills and experience levels you are looking for in a candidate? Do you need a registered nurse to replace travel nurses from programs like Health Carousel, front desk staff, doctors, or other candidates?

While defining your practice’s needs, you also need to consider your budget and timeline constraints. How many people can you hire, how much can you pay them, and when do you need to hire them? 

If you need a permanent placement by a certain deadline, you may need to compromise on their experience level or pay. If you have flexible timeline constraints, you may be able to define a stricter budget and hiring criteria. 

Once you know who your ideal potential candidate is, you can create a job description outlining the role requirements. Now, job seekers can clearly see whether or not they’ll fit in at your facility. 

2. Use a Variety of Channels To Reach Candidates

After creating your postings for healthcare jobs, you can move on to recruitment marketing. Healthcare candidates can only apply for your roles if they can easily find them on popular channels. Of course, you’ll want to post your job openings on all the major job boards, though you can go beyond this by using a variety of channels. 

You can advertise your positions using the following methods:

• Social media: Social media advertising is an excellent way to reach passive candidates who may not be actively looking for a new position but would consider applying after seeing your opening. Consider which channels your ideal candidates use most, like LinkedIn. 
• Networking events: Healthcare sector events can help you meet healthcare providers with excellent experience in your practice area. You can attend healthcare recruiting events or broader networking gatherings to meet workers open to changing positions. 
• Referral programs: Try encouraging your current staff to recruit peers through a referral program. Your team likely has many connections in the field, so this is a great place to start. You can incentivize them with referral bonuses for every qualified candidate they bring in. 
• Student events: Attending student events can help you locate up-and-coming talent. You can create internship roles to foster long-term careers. 

3. Create a Strong Employer Brand

As professionals discover your listings, they’re likely going to research your practice to decide whether or not they want to apply. As a healthcare recruiter, you need to prove that your practice is well-known, reputable, and trustworthy so potential candidates choose you over the rest. 

To do this, ensure that your website, social channels, reviews, and other online channels accurately reflect your brand’s culture and value. If you prioritize employee well-being, emotional health, and a tight-knit team culture, then say so! 

Candidates may want to hear about your core values, but they really need to see them in action. Reviews from your patients help you prove that you prioritize people and their needs. 

Managing your online reputation can be time-consuming and daunting. To streamline this process, you and your staff can use tools like our Weave Reviews to easily request, manage, and reply to online reviews to strengthen your brand and online reputation. 

4. Make the Application Process Easy and Efficient 

Making the talent acquisition process as clear, concise, and efficient as possible ensures that the applicant has a smooth experience so your human resources team can respond as quickly as possible. To streamline your applications, consider the following tips:

• Include all necessary information up front in the listing (pay, requirements, next steps, etc.)
• Use settings and keywords that allow your application to appear in executive search filters
• Offer “Easy Apply” options based on the application platform 
• Offer multiple application methods (email resume, apply online, etc.)
• Tell the applicant when they can expect to hear back from you
• Remove unnecessary aspects of the application 
• Develop an internal process for quickly reviewing and responding to applications

5. Conduct Thorough Interviews

When you’re ready to interview a candidate, you need to create a well-rounded approach. Asking healthcare professionals about their industry experience won’t reveal any more information than their resumes did. Instead, focus on soft skills to gain a better perspective into how they use their professional education in everyday practice. 

For example, you can ask how they would respond to common frustrations or how well they work in a team. 

Remember that interviews are often double-sided in healthcare recruiting. The new hire will look for insights on how well this role will fulfill their needs, so be sure to offer information regarding career-level opportunities, compensation, day-to-day workloads, etc. 

6. Make a Timely Offer

If the new hire is in the midst of healthcare recruiting, they’ll receive multiple offers from other practices at the same time. Once you’ve found a candidate who ticks all of your boxes, you should make an offer as soon as possible.

When you send your offer, prepare to negotiate. Healthcare professionals with experience in the industry may ask for a higher salary, more benefits, extra PTO days, etc. Consider how important this role is to your practice, think about your initial budget defined in step one, then negotiate as you see fit. 

7. Invest in Your Staff to Better Attract and Retain Talent

After hiring new team members, you need to focus on retaining them so you can avoid this process in the future. We recommend the following tips:

• Upgrade your internal software: 97% of small facilities believe delivering good patient experiences revolves around using an excellent technology suite. You can empower your team to be more successful and fulfilled day-to-day by equipping them with Healthcare Practice Software that cuts patient wait times, improves communication, and streamlines all internal processes. 
• Offer certifications and training: Helping your team continue their education shows that you’re committed to growing their careers within your practice. 
• Provide excellent benefits: Your team’s needs may evolve over time, so your benefits package should as well. You can survey your employees to learn what they care about most. 
• Show your appreciation: Appreciation goes a long way in the workplace. Consider offering regular bonuses, promotions, and rewards to showcase hard workers. 

You can find additional information and resources on healthcare staffing from organizations like The Joint Commission and AMN Healthcare Services.

At Weave, we offer Healthcare Practice Software that can help you attract talent by strengthening your brand through reviews while helping you retain critical team members with an effective internal platform designed to keep employees satisfied. Schedule a demo today to see Weave in action or call us at 833-572-2139 with any questions.