Clinician recruitment had been incredibly challenging even in “normal” times. And in a healthcare environment still heavily impacted by the pandemic, these are hardly normal times. But while shortages for nurses, physicians, and virtually all types of healthcare workers is hardly anything new, COVID exacerbated issues related to burnout and an aging workforce. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, roughly half a million healthcare workers quit their jobs each month in 2022, turning an existing problem into a crisis for medical systems of all shapes and sizes. These trends have forced many providers to re-think traditional strategies for hiring new workers, particularly for harder-to-find positions that often require a longer lead time to hire.
Although the pandemic may have accelerated turnover rates in healthcare, we’ve all heard by now the flip side was a much-needed acceleration of innovation in the space, something we discussed in a TraktionTalk way back in October, 2020 with Erika Rosenthal, SVP of Demand Generation for MindPath Care Centers. As suspected, many staples of those early pandemic days, such as increased usage of telehealth, are resoundingly here to stay. But innovation has certainly not been limited to the delivery of healthcare services. Dire challenges in hiring workers to keep up with ever-increasing demand for services in healthcare has pushed transformation into the realm of recruiting. Data-driven services like Trusted Health’s new nurse staffing platform, Works, and Nashville-based, AI-powered clinician recruitment app, Winnow, are just two such solutions that have popped up with a promise to revolutionize the way healthcare systems find workers. While it’s too early to pick winners and losers in the technology space, disruption is clearly on the way as these new ways of recruiting clinicians take hold.
So what do today’s talent acquisition leaders need to do? First off, with time of the essence, having visibility from candidate marketing efforts through the entire hiring pipeline is more crucial than ever. Being able to understand which efforts are delivering candidates efficiently, in real-time, is still an often overlooked aspect of recruitment marketing. Two, be nimble in evaluating new platforms and technologies, but don’t allow your team to get bogged down in costly, time-sucking technology integrations without a clear benefit or ROI in sight. Lastly, and this is easy to forget in an era of specialized tools, be authentic. We spoke with Steffanie Chaviano, Director of Talent Acquisition at Autism Learning Partners in June of 2021 about recruiting in a post-pandemic world, and she cited authenticity as a key differentiator. Take the time to define your company’s culture and core values, and be consistent about them throughout the hiring process.
There is no one-size-fits-all approach to clinician recruitment marketing, and no easy solution to address these challenges. But leaders who can find the right balance between technology and authenticity will have a much better chance of meeting their 2023 goals.