Healthcare Staffing's New Normal
As the pandemic turns into a less concerning endemic and the healthcare world adjusts to a new normal, healthcare staffing is faced with new challenges. The industry faces a mass influx of patients who put off routine care and elective procedures over the past two years. At the same time, healthcare workers are quitting and retiring early at increasing rates.
How can organizations face this staffing crunch? Here are three critical ways to find and hire top talent in the new post-pandemic normal.
#1 Optimize the Remote Hiring Experience
During the pandemic, remote interviews have become the norm for many industries. Although more in-person activities have resumed as everyone adjusts to a new environment, many aspects of remote work will continue to be commonplace for the foreseeable future.
And as part of the distance working equation, remote interviewing and other recruiting activities are expected to remain in place for many organizations.
One drawback to remote hiring is that candidates don’t typically get to experience the inside of your facility. Remote interviews can also be a significantly different experience from the in-person recruiting process. So the remote experience you provide has to offer a close resemblance to an in-person one.
Almost half (49%) of job seekers in high-demand fields stated that they’ve turned down a job because of a poor hiring experience. Therefore, winning the best talent means optimizing the virtual candidate experience.
How you conduct remote recruiting will have an enormous impact on the quality of talent you can attract and retain. One way to succeed is to create interactive touchpoints, such as a microsite, so candidates get a sense of the role and your organization.
#2 Make Diversity and Inclusion a Leading Priority
Since the pandemic started, global social justice movements have shed light on key disparities in several areas. Consequently, job seekers are actively looking for diversity and inclusion (D&I) to play an important role in an organization’s culture. To address these disparities, healthcare organizations are altering some hiring practices.
Displaying a genuine commitment to D&I is critical to widening your talent pool and attracting quality candidates. In one survey, 62% of job seekers stated that they would be more likely to apply for companies that openly displayed a commitment to developing and enhancing diversity and inclusion in their workforce.
Simply stating that your organization values D&I is not enough for job seekers. You must reassess your policies, consult with D&I specialists and actively foster inclusion in your hiring process.
#3 Leverage Pre-Credentialing to Hire Faster
With the high demand for healthcare workers, recruiters who do not act quickly will lose candidates in their funnels. To address this, you can reduce friction by utilizing pre-credentialing.
Pre-credentialing is a critical way to reduce the time it takes to hire a qualified candidate. By reducing the amount of paperwork that needs to be completed at the end of the hiring process, recruiters can focus their energy on building relationships and generating enthusiasm – and lose fewer candidates.
The new normal will continue to present challenges for healthcare staffing. However, with the right policies, perspectives, and processes in place, staffing professionals can still attract top talent. Above all, being responsive to candidates' changing concerns will enable your organization to stand out and fill your open positions quickly.
