Overcoming the 5 Deadly Sins of Healthcare Recruiting

by Patricia O. Urquiaga | Apr 08, 2020 | HealthcareStaffing, healthcarerecruiting, healthcarerecruitingdeadlysins, medicalrecruiting, medicalstaffing, Physicianrecruiter, physicianrecruiters, physicianrecruiting, physicianrecruitingplan, physicianrecruitment, recruiting, recruitingapproach, recruitingmethods, recruitingstrategy, recruitment, strategicrecruitingplan, strategyplan
Overcoming the 5 Deadly Sins of Healthcare Recruiting

Healthcare recruiting can be complex and competitive, making your role as a physician recruiter a bit more complicated.

The top reason many healthcare organizations partner with a physician recruiter is to help them with the process of recruiting top medical talent. But how do you guarantee you’ll win this talent war?

First, as a physician recruiter you must replace outdated recruiting approaches with new ones. So, take a look at your healthcare organizations recruiting strategy to integrate some of todays advanced recruiting tools: Applicant Track Systems (ATS), Social Recruiting tools, and SMS utilization – this alone is already making you more competitive in the hiring world. Next, take a look at the top 5 deadly sins of healthcare recruiting so you know what they are, how to avoid them and ways to overcome them.

1. Finding Qualified Candidates But Lacking Engagement

Identifying qualified candidates such as NPs, physicians, clinicians, administrators etc. can be easy to find but difficult to engage with, especially if they are already employed. A few ways to overcome this is by:

  • Understanding their career perspectives and needs
  • Understanding their interests and what motivates them
  • Communicating with them using tailored messages and various methods (emails, newsletters, social media etc.)

2. Not Measuring Healthcare Recruiting Success & ROI

If your healthcare organization isn’t measuring success, how can they know what efforts are best performing? What hospital resource gives you the most ROI? Why you are or are not successful at hiring the right candidates? One way to start measuring success is to engage the assistance of technology. Invest in recruiting technology that gives you real-time analytics, reports reflecting the status of all your efforts (across various channels), tracks savings and other benefits. Additionally, here are 5 metrics of recruiting success:

  • Time to Hire – The amount of time it takes to bring a new hire on board from the first time you promote the open position until it’s been filled.
  • Cost per Hire – The amount it costs to hire for each position.
  • Sourcing Channel – The channel where most of your candidates are coming from (referrals, online, recruiters etc.)
  • Retention Rate – The cost to source and hire new candidates along with the loss of productivity around resignation, rehiring and retraining.
  • New and Returning Patients – The number of new and returning patients each new hire has.

3. Not Being Able To Compete With Established Healthcare Organizations

At times established organizations might seem like they have it all together. But sometimes they lack providing the best experience for the candidate. Candidates have many options when seeking employment. One thing to remember is that candidates pay attention to your company, their experience while learning about your brand and career opportunities available. To be able to compete with big healthcare names, make sure you assess your brand in all channels and develop a plan to deliver the best possible candidate experience.

4. Sources That Have Worked No Longer Deliver Top Candidates

If old sources are no longer providing top candidates, forget about them. In healthcare recruiting you have to test and track new sources/approaches to find talent. One way to find quick, long-lasting talent is through employee referrals – maybe it’s time to develop an employee referral program?

5. A Candidate Is Placed, My Healthcare Recruiting Job Is Done

As a physician recruiter it’s easy to forget that our job isn’t done when we place a candidate. The hiring process also includes onboarding and retaining top talent. Physician recruiters play a critical role in ensuring the candidate has a smooth transition – the outcome of onboarding a candidate can either turn your new hire into a dedicated employee or it can turn into churn with new hires quitting. To ensure a positive onboarding experience:

  • Start the onboarding process while recruiting. Don’t be afraid to share detailed information about the organization’s goals and culture early on in the hiring process.
  • Extend the candidate experience beyond the job offer. With the help of your HR team, help manage the transition from candidate to employee. As a physician recruiter, you can ensure expectations set during the recruitment process are met and delivered when the employee comes on board.

Stay on top of the latest healthcare recruiting trends by visiting our physician recruiter 101, free online resource.

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