An Australian aged care provider needed to source critical healthcare roles in their most hard-to-fill locations. PeopleScout’s sourcing expertise and EVP insights helped them exceed their targets in one of the tightest candidate markets in memory.
600+candidates screened
No drop outs occurred across the entire recruitment process
4months to fill critical vacancies
Challenge
The client is one of Australia’s largest aged care operators, with 72 residential aged care homes in South Australia, Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland, Australia. The aged care sector in Australia is suffering from a major skills shortage as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, international border closures and a large number of workers leaving the sector.
The aged care provider turned to PeopleScout for project recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) to support the recruitment of registered nurses and support staff across a number of critical locations where they were getting little to no response to their vacancies.
Solution
Two senior recruitment business partners supported the client across five locations who drove passive and active recruitment for registered nurses and aged care workers. PeopleScout researched the client’s target market to understand what motivates workers in the healthcare sector to accept a role. Following this, our team provided recommendations on the lifestyle bonuses they could offer as incentives for workers to travel to their locations. We also coached the client on how to boost their employer brand to raise awareness of their opportunities, which has delivered a long-term impact within a challenging market.
Results
PeopleScout worked within the aged care provider’s existing ATS system and screened over 600 candidates. We were able to speed up the process for successful candidates and in a number of locations achieved zero dropouts throughout the screening and background check process.
Over a 4-month period, our team placed 14 permanent positions across:
Registered Nurses
Personal Care Workers
Hospitality Support
With a large worker exodus across the sector, recruitment in the aged care sector in Australia is still an ongoing challenge. However, PeopleScout has proven our ability to make a significant impact in a short period of time.
At a Glance
COMPANY Aged care provider
INDUSTRY Healthcare
PEOPLESCOUT SOLUTIONS Recruitment Process Outsourcing, Talent Advisory
ABOUT THE CLIENT This healthcare provider manages 72 residential aged care homes across Australia, supporting over 8,000 residents and their families at an important time in their lives.
For most healthcare organizations, staffing is a major operational challenge. During the COVID-19 pandemic, over 100,000 registered nurses left the field, and even several years laters, almost 800,000 nurses intend to leave the workforce by 2027 because of stress, burnout or retirement. These healthcare talent shortages and increased competition necessitate a more robust talent acquisition strategy. To overcome recruiting roadblocks, healthcare organizations can partner with a recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) partner to supplement internal recruiting teams and create sustainable talent acquisition strategies. When implemented correctly, a healthcare RPO program enhances recruiting effectiveness, attracts top talent and reduces cost, providing healthcare organizations with a competitive advantage.
In this post, we highlight six things healthcare organizations should expect from an RPO partnership.
What to Expect From Your Healthcare RPO Partnership
When you enter into an RPO partnership, you will find that a successful relationship is based on collaboration between your RPO provider and internal team, who need to work together to make the engagement a success.
Dig Deeper
How RPO Can Solve The Top Challenges In Healthcare Talent Acquisition
Expect Seamless Integration Between Your Healthcare RPO & Internal Recruiting Teams
An ideal RPO partner should have a well-developed practice for integrating into a client’s organization and working with a client’s recruiters, hiring managers and leadership teams. During the implementation process, your healthcare RPO partner should conduct a needs assessment to understand your healthcare recruiting requirements. They will then develop a custom solution that meets the needs of your organization and business model.
Engaging an RPO partner is an opportunity to create change in the way you recruit talent across your organization. Changes in the recruiting process can include training hiring managers to be better interviewers, implementing new recruiting technology tools and establishing a unified message and employer brand.
This is the time to take the recruiting process seriously and bring attention to it internally. Your RPO partner will work with you to be an agent of change in your organization in order to successfully implement new tools and processes.
Expect Value-Added Recruiting Functions
As talent acquisition becomes more sophisticated, organizations are looking for additional services from an RPO partner such as employer branding capabilities, advanced analytics and new technology. When considering healthcare RPO partners, look for capabilities that will add value while improving your recruiting processes.
For instance, if your organization is anticipating a merger and requires a solution to swiftly ramp up your current healthcare workforce, talent acquisition services such as social media sourcing, video interviewing and recruitment marketing provide additional value by improving the candidate experience and your position in the talent market.
To determine which value-added services would most benefit you, audit your current recruiting processes and performance to identify where your in-house teams excel and where outside expertise can make a positive impact.
Expect In-Depth Program Analysis and Reporting
You should expect that your RPO partner will provide you with a complete analysis of your healthcare recruitment processes’ strengths, weaknesses and challenges.
This assessment should include:
Detailed process mapping before, during, and after implementation
Understanding gaps and opportunities within your program
Visibility into real-time workforce data and analytics
From this deep-dive, your RPO partner should develop customized solutions for your immediate and long-term talent needs and consult with stakeholders on ways to improve your program.
Recruiting metrics and analytics are powerful tools. When an RPO partner dives into the data, they can provide guidance on big and small recruitment changes that will lead to improved hiring metrics.
Expect Accountability and Transparency
Accountability and transparency are key factors in a successful RPO partnership. As the client, you should be able to ask your RPO partner any question you can conceive of, and in turn, your RPO partner should be able to provide you with satisfactory answers.
To ensure accountability, your RPO provider should work with you to establish mutually agreed upon Service Level Agreements (SLAs). SLAs should be established during the partner selection process, and their governance should be clearly outlined during contract negotiations.
SLAs establish how you and your RPO provider will work together and can cover items like terms, liability, billing and payment, confidentiality, solicitation, insurance, warranties and employment relationships.
Before you draft SLAs, you need to assess your recruitment performance prior to working with your RPO partner. This can prove challenging, especially if your internal recruitment processes do not track and benchmark data. If you do not have benchmarks, your healthcare RPO provider should be able to provide benchmarking data based on their work with other clients in the healthcare space.
When setting up SLAs, make sure they are realistic, achievable and meet your organization’s recruiting needs. RPO SLAs often include the following metrics:
Time-to-fill: Time-to-fill measures how long it takes recruiters to fill an open role.
Hiring manager satisfaction: You can measure hiring manager satisfaction through a survey, for example.
Candidate experience and satisfaction: You can conduct surveys with every candidate, not just ones who are hired, to better understand the impact of your candidate experience.
Interview-to-offer ratio: This metric is the ratio of the number of interviews to the number of candidates that are given an offer and can help determine the quality of candidates.
Diversity of candidate: This is the percentage of candidates considered or self-identified as “diverse,” and can be used to track different groups of candidates like women or veterans.
The right mix of service-level controls can help ensure a successful partnership.
Expect to Be Supplied with References
You would not hire a doctor or nurse without checking their references, and the same applies when partnering with an RPO provider. An RPO partner can always tell you about their solutions, skills and expertise. However, to get a real sense of an RPO partner’s true capabilities, you need to speak to their clients and hear success stories directly.
You should receive references from organizations that the RPO partner has worked with, ideally in the healthcare space, that have dealt with similar challenges as you, so you can really understand how the RPO has delivered effective solutions in the past. For example, if your organization is having a difficult time sourcing healthcare talent in a rural community, your RPO partner should provide you with a reference that illustrates their ability to source candidates in lean talent markets.
Expect Effective Recruiting Technology
Your RPO partner should be deploying the most current and best-in-class recruiting technologies to access and leverage data, attract and source candidates, automate recruiting processes, and screen and shortlist candidates. For instance, an RPO partner equipped with an experienced team of recruiters trained in using advanced tools and resources can use AI and predictive analytics to quickly find candidates with the skills and qualifications you’re looking for.
AI-enabled sourcing tools help recruiters find the best candidates faster.
A streamlined application process can allow candidates apply with just one click.
Personalized recruitment marketing tools like chatbots, SMS messages, email campaigns and individualized landing pages provide candidates with the consumer-like experience they have come to expect online.
Healthcare RPO partners should also be able to help you quickly implement the best recruiting technologies into your talent acquisition program that can save both time and money.
Healthcare RPO from PeopleScout
Selecting the right RPO partner is a big decision for any healthcare organization and outsourcing recruitment processes can have a tremendous business impact. Your healthcare RPO partner should possess the ability to understand the capabilities and reach of the latest emerging talent tools can provide both significant costs savings and a competitive advantage and provide you access to talent, quality of hires, process efficiencies and workforce management support.
Securing Software Engineers for a Healthcare Tech Pioneer
A global healthcare technology company turned to PeopleScout to find much-needed tech talent to grow their healthcare data and analytics services.
97%Offer Acceptance Rate
Implemented SMS Text Screening
20%Exceeded Submittal-to-Interview Ratio Goal by 20%
Situation
A healthcare technology company approached PeopleScout to help with their hard-to-fill software engineering and niche technology positions. With demand for tech and digital skills on the rise across all industries, the client was struggling to fuel their business growth.
Solution
PeopleScout implemented a partial-cycle recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) program for the client. Our dedicated delivery team consisted of tenured recruiters who had at least five years of software engineering recruitment experience. We established a multi-channel sourcing process, screening, scheduling interviews and completing the hiring process for the client.
The PeopleScout RPO team partnered closely with hiring managers to brainstorm creative solutions to particularly hard-to-fill roles and to provide talent intelligence and detailed compensation information that they could take back to their leadership.
We also implemented new technology that allowed us to screen candidates via two-way SMS texting to speed up screening time, improve candidate engagement and reduce fallout. Hiring manager surveys were also rolled out to gain more feedback, and reporting and analytics were set up to measure SLAs.
Results
PeopleScout effectively hired candidates for the organization’s niche technology roles, while exceeding time to fill expectations. Our recruiters thoroughly sourced against the role requirements, assuring candidates met the client’s standards. As a result, 77% of hires made were externally sourced candidates, and we increased the submittal to interview ratio to 54%, exceeding our target by over 20%. The offer-acceptance rate grew to 97%, well above the industry average of 70%.
Following this success, the RPO program expanded from roles within the U.S. to also cover recruiting tech roles in the UK and Ireland.
At a Glance
COMPANY Healthcare technology company
INDUSTRY Technology
PEOPLESCOUT SOLUTIONS Recruitment Process Outsourcing, Affinix
ANNUAL HIRES 250
LOCATIONS U.S., expanding to UK and Ireland
ABOUT THE CLIENT This healthcare technology company provides data, analytics and software for healthcare and government social services. The organization works with healthcare providers, health plans, governments and life sciences companies to get more from their health data, using artificial intelligence, data analytics, cloud computing and other advanced information technology.
As the world of work transforms, the healthcare industry is at the epicenter of change. The industry is growing rapidly and facing a healthcare talent shortage and skills gaps. At the same time, the accelerating pace of medical and technological advancements means medical professionals must constantly adapt to new breakthroughs and changing expectations. Talent acquisition and HR professionals need to be ready to meet the growing challenge. To do so, they must understand the full picture of the healthcare talent landscape.
Is a Generational Change Creating a Healthcare Talent Shortage?
The industry is facing challenges in both supply and demand. Hospitals and Health Networks magazine calls the generational change “the most powerful force operating in our health system right now.”
On the supply side, the baby boomer generation is reaching retirement age, and according to Becker’s Hospital Review, one-third of practicing physicians are more than 55-years old and nearing retirement. Replacing doctors and surgeons who have decades of experience is challenging, as those earlier in their careers lack the years of training, education and on-the-job hours. The next generation in the workforce, Generation X, is relatively small. While the millennial generation is the largest generation in the workforce, the oldest millennials are nearly 40 years old, and some of Gen Z are too young even to start medical school. As baby boomers retire, these generations will have to fill that gap.
Dig Deeper
How RPO Can Solve The Top Challenges In Healthcare Talent Acquisition
On the other side of this equation, the overall population is aging, with 10,000 Americans turn 65-years-old every day. Caring for an aging population will require even more healthcare professionals.
As baby boomers age, the demand for healthcare is increasing, including home health services, long-term and aged care. Chronic conditions like heart disease, diabetes, cancer are becoming more common with nearly half of the American population suffering from a chronic illness. According to a study JAMA Internal Medicine, , baby boomers have a longer lifespan but higher rates of hypertension, high cholesterol, diabetes and obesity. This means the largest generation to reach retirement age will likely also need more healthcare than any previous generation
The Healthcare Talent Shortage
The aging baby boomer generation is fueling industry growth. The healthcare industry is predicted to be the largest driver of growth in the U.S. economy through most of the next decade. Yet, most healthcare organizations continue to experience strains as the healthcare talent shortage increases. This is a multi-pronged issue driven by increased demand, retirement, burnout and a lack of new healthcare professional entering the field complicating healthcare recruitment.
And experts predict the healthcare talent shortage will only get worse. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) projects that the country will face a shortage of 195,400 nurses by the year 2031. While doctors and nurses are the most visible employees in the healthcare industry, growth in the industry will impact positions throughout the sector. An increase in patients, hospital visits and appointments will call for more support staff, like clinic support, medical technicians, billing and coding professionals and even non-clinical hospital staff like janitorial and food service.
Laboratory technicians are facing many of the same labor challenges as physicians and nurses. Many are reaching retirement age, and retirements are expected to accelerate. Replacing them will tough, as the number of students graduating from laboratory technician programs is declining.
Plus, due to a shift towards home-based care, home health aide shortages are projected to grow significantly. The BLS predicts that the number of openings for home health and personal health roles will increase 37% by 2028.
Less visible roles are also impacted by healthcare talent shortages. The medical coding profession has been plagued for years by a shortage of coders. Job growth for the position accelerated after the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, and experts expect that growth to continue along with the rest of the industry.
A Transforming Workplace
In addition to the healthcare staffing challenges, the healthcare industry is not immune to the changes impacting organizations across the country—like the digitization of services and the growing gig economy. The healthcare industry is always experiencing change due to technological advancement, medical research and new regulations. However, to adapt to these trends, organizations will need to seek out talent in different ways and find people with new skill sets.
Use of telemedicine and virtual care expanded during COVID-19 and are continuing to rise as a way to improve access. Jobs in these types of workplaces require different technology and communication skills than more traditional hospital and clinic jobs.
While many think of the gig economy as a place for creatives or rideshare drivers, the contingent workforce is taking on a greater role in healthcare. SIA reports that hospitals are turning to contract physicians and traveling nurses to deal with the talent shortage. Some practitioners are turning to this freelance work to boost their earning potential, and the system helps increase staffing at rural healthcare facilities that struggle with healthcare recruiting.
Large hospitals are also bringing in a greater share of doctors due to consolidation within the industry. Since 2019, over 100,000 private practice doctors have transitioned into employees of larger corporate healthcare organizations. Nearly three-quarters of physicians are part of larger healthcare systems in the U.S., a record high.
A Necessary Response
To remain competitive in this challenging talent landscape, healthcare organizations must take a proactive approach to planning their workforces, sourcing and recruiting talent, retaining workers and appealing to millennials and Generation Z workers who will fill the roles of retiring baby boomers.
Healthcare organizations face a number of unique recruitment challenges compared to other industries. Finding and attracting candidates with the specific clinical, medical, and administrative skills required is an ongoing battle, especially for critical roles like nurses, physicians and specialist practitioners. With a large portion of the healthcare workforce reaching retirement age, an older population demanding more healthcare services, and new technology shifting the skills needed in the healthcare workforce, a skills shortage in healthcare is growing rapidly.
Healthcare organizations must plan now for the future by undertaking comprehensive workforce planning, establishing a robust talent pipeline, focusing on retaining their current workers and appealing to the younger generations to step into those roles.
The Healthcare Talent Landscape
The healthcare industry faces an uphill battle when it comes to recruitment and staffing. A perfect storm of factors, including an aging population, workforce shortages across multiple disciplines, and a global pandemic that has stretched resources to the breaking point, has created immense challenges. Healthcare organizations must navigate a highly competitive recruitment landscape to attract and retain top talent. Additionally, new healthcare roles are emerging that require specialized skill sets, further complicating hiring efforts. In this constantly evolving climate, understanding the current healthcare recruitment landscape is crucial for organizations looking to build a strong, sustainable workforce.
Dig Deeper
How RPO Can Solve The Top Challenges In Healthcare Talent Acquisition
People are living longer, and as Baby Boomers age, the demand for health services, including home health services, long-term and aged care, is increasing. Chronic conditions like heart disease, diabetes, cancer are becoming more common with nearly half of the American population suffering from a chronic illness.
An older and sicker population is putting pressure on healthcare workers, especially those in clinical roles like nurses, physicians, health aides and therapists. Plus, demand is high for cardiovascular technologists, clinical lab technicians and other allied healthcare professionals who operate specialized equipment to diagnose and treat chronic conditions. Attracting and retaining top healthcare talent has never been more competitive, with demand increasing in both acute care and community settings, including large health systems, public health organizations, tech companies moving into healthcare, travel nursing firms, long-term care facilities, the military, healthcare research, mental health agencies, insurance and managed care companies, and even other industries.
Talent Supply Can’t Keep Up with Demand
The increase in demand seems to coincide with a healthcare talent shortage. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) projects that the country will face a shortage of 195,400 nurses by the 2031. Plus, a shift towards home-based care means the shortage of home health aides is projected to grow significantly. The BLS predicts that the number of openings for home health and personal health roles will increase 37% by 2028.
With home-based and long-term care growing, the U.S. healthcare system is also experiencing shortages for occupations like physical therapists and occupational therapists. Plus, these facilities find recruiting and retaining nursing assistants, care aides and direct care workers increasingly difficult due to low wages, demanding work and limited career advancement opportunities.
Retirement and Burnout Create Retention Issues
The challenges surrounding the skills shortage in healthcare are exacerbated by healthcare professionals exiting the workforce in droves. Experienced nurses, doctors and other clinicians are retiring and leaving patient care roles, resulting in the loss of crucial knowledge and experience for healthcare systems.
According to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing the median age of a Registered Nurse (RN) is 46 years old. Plus, more than a quarter of RNs report they plan to retire or leave nursing over the next five years. The rates of RN turnover in the United States have ticked up over recent years, growing from 17% in 2017 to 26% by 2021.
Driven by the strain of the pandemic and a shrinking workforce, many healthcare workers are experiencing burnout. According to the Medscape National Physician Burnout and Suicide Report, the average burnout rates for nurses and physicians in the US is 40%.
Burnout also has an impact on patient care. According to Nursing Times, about half of midwives say they’re afraid of making a mistake because they’re exhausted.
Innovation is Shifting the Skills Shortage in Healthcare
As care delivery models have shifted, there is a growing need for nurses and staff with specialized skills and experience. Use of telemedicine and virtual care expanded during COVID-19 and is continuing to rise as a way to improve access to healthcare. Digital disruptor Amazon recently completed an acquisition of One Medical and is now offering a new model of digital “concierge” or “membership” healthcare.
In addition, new innovations in digital health (think personal health tracking apps or wearables), med-tech, genomics, precision medicine, AI and more are transforming healthcare and shifting the necessary skills in the healthcare workforce.
Rising Labor Costs are Adding to the Strain on Healthcare Organizations
With nationwide labor shortages and inflation, healthcare organizations face rising costs for salaries, benefits and contract staffing. In all industries, workers are requiring more competitive compensation, benefits and perks to be enticed. This puts a particular strain on healthcare organizations where staffing is literally a matter of life and death.
High turnover among certified nursing assistants drives up costs for long-term care facilities and impacts quality of care. In order to keep high patient care standards and staff shortages, the U.S. healthcare system relies heavily on costly contract and travel nurses and other providers which further drives up labor costs for hospitals. In fact, contract labor expenses have risen more than 250% over the past three years.
Addressing the Skills Shortage in Healthcare
Addressing the skills shortage in healthcare requires a multi-pronged approach—improving workforce planning, enhancing recruitment and retention efforts, and elevating the perception of healthcare careers for the next generation.
Workforce Planning
To effectively respond to the changing healthcare talent landscape, organizations must take proactive steps to plan for their future needs. The future will look different for every organization. Healthcare organizations in Florida and the Southwest, where there are large numbers of retirees, will have different staffing needs than organizations in trendy urban areas in the Pacific Northwest or East Coast where the population tends to be younger and healthier. Region also makes a difference in attracting candidates, as rural health systems are already struggling to fill positions. Healthcare organizations should know what their needs will be in the coming years and what challenges they’ll face attracting workers.
Data analytics is a valuable tool for workforce planning. The American Hospital Association recommends that organizations analyze data including current workforce demographics, potential future workforce requirements, and factors impacting the data, like the increasing popularity of walk-in clinics, telehealth services and digital healthcare models. Predictive and prescriptive analytics tools can help healthcare organizations plan for future needs and evaluate how different decisions will impact those hiring needs. According to SHRM, this type of workforce planning can save money by eliminating issues with understaffing and overstaffing. Predictions can provide organizations with a clearer view of how and when different talent gaps will impact them. Armed with that information, healthcare organizations can make informed decisions when it comes to forming partnerships, increasing retention and reaching out to younger workers.
Building Talent Pipelines
A key strategy for combating the the skills shortage in healthcare will be convincing more people to enter the healthcare industry. Too often, HR leaders at organizations only think of potential candidates through a narrow lens. They focus on the people who already work in the industry and who already have the education and skills to be a nurse, medical technician or phlebotomist. There aren’t enough people already in those pipelines to fill the talent gap. Healthcare organizations need to think broad and start focusing on the young people who are considering a career in healthcare. They need to start marketing to these candidates earlier than ever before.
The American Hospital Association recommends that healthcare organizations establish community pipelines by partnering with high schools, colleges and other academic institutions. Through these partnerships, healthcare organizations can start engaging with future candidates earlier than ever and help drive young people to the healthcare industry. Partnerships can also create more candidates in a geographical region with a specific set of skills. According to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing, a partnership in Minnesota between the University of Minnesota and the VA Healthcare system helped expand enrollment in the university’s nursing program and increased the program’s focus on veteran care. The program ensures more graduates in Minnesota with the skills necessary to care for veterans. Healthcare organizations should form these partnerships strategically, using their workforce planning predictions to understand which types of positions will have the greatest demand and where these partnerships can have the biggest impact.
Focusing on Retention
HR leaders at healthcare organizations are grappling with the stresses the skills shortage in healthcare is creating for their current employees . Understaffing creates larger workloads and longer hours. According to CareerBuilder, 70% of nurses say they feel burnt out in their current job and more than half rate their stress level as “high.” According to Medscape, only 56% of nurses would choose their career if they had a chance to start over again. If current health care workers are stressed, burned out and regretting their career choice, that could harm the talent pipeline. Healthcare organizations cannot afford to lose younger nurses due to stress or burnout.
Healthcare organizations will have to face the challenges of burnout head on to retain their workers. Healthcare Dive offers tips for ways HR professionals can help, including making your staff aware of the signs of burnout and teaching self-care strategies. Wellness among the healthcare workforce must be a priority. Some healthcare organizations have created quiet rooms stocked with yoga mats and massage chairs where nurses can go during their shifts to take a break. CareerBuilder recommends offering a flexible work environment, encouraging exercise, establishing an open-door policy, offering mental health tools and focusing on continued education.
While an expensive option, contract healthcare providers can also help ease the burden on understaff facilities. PRN, or “pro re nata,” positions are growing in popularity throughout the entire healthcare industry. The positions are typically part-time, as needed, and many healthcare workers are turning to these roles for the flexibility, rather than taking full-time positions. Healthcare organizations can use PRN workers to cover understaffed shifts, which can lift some of the burden on permanent employees.
Appealing to Younger Workers
Healthcare organizations are competing for the best of the limited talent pool. To succeed in attracting candidates, healthcare organizations must build a strong employer brand and meet the needs of millennial and Generation Z workers.
What do millennials want? Countless writers have tried to answer that question, but Harvard Business Review reports millennials aren’t necessarily all that different from older generations. They want good managers, interesting work and the opportunity to learn and grow. Like many other generations, they want to make a positive impact and help solve social and environmental challenges. By its nature, a career in healthcare can provide that. One thing that does set millennials apart from earlier generations is an increased debt burden due to higher education costs. Some financial experts recommend that organizations consider new benefits packages that offer student debt repayment to lure millennial workers.
As for Generation Z, the oldest members are just starting to enter the workforce, but experts say to be prepared for a cohort of workers well versed in technology. According to Forbes, in addition to being technologically savvy, members of Gen Z are also entrepreneurial and serious-minded after watching the impact of the Great Recession, so organizations should expect creativity and offer continuing educational opportunities. Harvard Business Review recommends reaching Gen Z candidates where they are—on mobile devices. Authenticity and personalization are also important to this segment of the workforce, as they’ve grown up bombarded with personalized advertisements online.
Engaging an Expert to Tackle the Skills Shortage in Healthcare
As they work to manage the growing skills shortage in healthcare, healthcare organizations are turning to experts in healthcare RPO, MSP and Total Workforce Solutions for healthcare staffing support. As you plan for the future, a talent partner can help provide a view of the whole talent spectrum, finding the right mix of both full-time and contingent workers. As the gig economy grows in popularity and more healthcare workers turn to contingent work, a talent acquisition partner can also ensure compliance on legal issues. Healthcare organizations should seek out partners with the right experience to tackle the specific needs of the industry.
A partner with a depth of data analytics experience can help develop a unique plan that addresses the needs, region and demographics of your individual healthcare organization. Data expertise can also help organizations determine why current employees leave and predict which changes could make the biggest differences in employee retention.
Healthcare organizations should also look for a partner with strong experience in building candidate-centered application processes and employer branding. As healthcare organizations compete for talent, a candidate-centered process and strong employer brand will help bring in the millennial and Gen Z workers.
Not sure recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) is for you? Think your organization is too small for RPO? Think outsourcing doesn’t fit your company culture?
Think again.
Our complete six-piece toolkit gives talent acquisition leaders the essential information on how RPO can boost their recruitment outcomes.
In this toolkit, you’ll get:
Our comprehensive buyer’s guide for RPO—everything you need to know
A guide for building a business case for RPO (including a free template!)
Conversation starters to help you create buy-in for RPO at your organization
Learn how RPO can unlock the full potential of your talent strategy. Download your kit now.
Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) Buyer’s Guide
In this challenging landscape, talent acquisition leaders are increasingly turning to recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) to gain the flexibility, scalability and agility they need to hire the best talent.
So, how do you know if outsourcing to an RPO partner is right for you? Our RPO Buyer’s Guide provides an in-depth exploration of RPO and how it can help you achieve your recruitment goals.
In this ebook, you’ll learn:
What RPO is and the benefits it can bring to your business
Whether RPO is right for you and the benefits of selecting an RPO partner
What to expect at each stage of your RPO partnership
By James Chorley, EMEA Talent Solutions Director, RPO
In an era where security and compliance checks are taking center stage in corporate priorities, it is crucial to recognize their impact on strategic recruitment campaigns. The meticulous efforts of recruitment marketing and employer value proposition (EVP) teams can easily be compromized by a convoluted recruitment process, potentially driving away top-tier candidates.
Compliance Challenges for Lean Teams in High-Volume Recruitment
Devising a recruitment strategy requires careful consideration of security and compliance checks, documentation, and candidate data requirements. While experienced recruiters navigate vetting processes adeptly, lean teams face challenges in high-volume recruitment scenarios. Establishing clear guidelines becomes essential to ensure a seamless candidate journey, preventing dropouts and optimising the recruitment process.
Case Study: Transforming the Onboarding Process at International Airport
For this major international airport, entry-level security employees undergo a comprehensive onboarding process, necessitating the submission of detailed job and address histories spanning five years before the vetting commences. When airports resumed operations post-pandemic, as the airport’s recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) partner, PeopleScout’s focus shifted to streamlining this process, ensuring swift candidate progression and minimising post-offer dropouts.
Candidate Hub Development
At the core of our candidate-focused recruitment journey was the creation of a candidate hub, featuring a unique section for individuals who had passed the initial stages of the airport application. This hub aimed to guide candidates through every step of their journey while emphasising early preparation for the extensive onboarding requirements.
Streamlining Communication
To address the issue of candidates dropping out post-offer, we sought to reduce the volume of emails and attachments. Introducing a video-led section, we enhanced inclusivity by providing a clear understanding of the process. These videos, presented by actors and co-created with the airport’s resourcing team, humanized each stage, informing candidates about what to expect and what actions were required.
Improving Accessibility and Understanding
The video-led approach not only simplified the onboarding process but also contributed to a 36% increase in the weekly volume of offers. By focusing on documentation and key information required for onboarding, candidates were equipped with clear instructions, fostering a sense of inclusivity and understanding.
Enhancing Candidate Engagement
A key objective was to ensure a welcoming candidate journey. We achieved this by implementing regular check-ins over the phone, personalized messaging, and managing individual queries. Additionally, informative webinars were conducted to provide candidates with a seamless experience.
Exceptional Candidate Feedback
The impact of our efforts was reflected in exceptional candidate feedback, with a Net Promoter Score (NPS) of plus 70. This underscored the success of our strategy in creating a more efficient, engaging, and inclusive hiring process at one of Europe’s busiest airports.
Dos and Don’ts for Managing New Hire Security Vetting Processes
To help you understand best practices for creating a friction-free vetting process while ensuring compliance, we’ve included practical tips to set clear expectations, provide context, and offer guidance, while avoiding overwhelming candidates with information.
Do:
Set Clear Expectations Early: Clearly outline vetting requirements in the job ad or as part of initial pre-screen questions.
Provide Context: Explain why specific checks are necessary for the role, helping candidates understand their relevance.
Be Transparent about Onboarding Timelines: Inform candidates of the expected duration for the vetting process, ensuring alignment with their commitment levels.
Guide Candidates: Offer advice on where candidates can obtain the necessary data, simplifying the information-gathering process.
Don’t:
Overwhelm with Information: Avoid bombarding candidates with numerous emails and attachments all at once during the vetting stage.
Neglect Reinforcement: Don’t go silent on candidates at this stage. Continually reinforce the reasons they applied and accepted the offer, emphasizing the value of the opportunity.
Assume Uniform Understanding: Recognize that individuals process instructions differently, and provide information in a variety of formats, like bulleted lists and videos, to accommodate diverse learning styles.
Onboarding, Compliance and RPO
Crafting a considerate approach to security and compliance checks in recruitment becomes instrumental in fostering an exceptional candidate experience. Through proactive management of vetting requirements, transparent communication, and clear guidance, organizations fortify their defenses against talent loss. Even in high-volume scenarios, this approach ensures that the recruitment process remains not only efficient but also centered around the candidate’s needs.
At PeopleScout, we seamlessly integrate your go-to-market strategy with tailor-made solutions, ensuring candidates navigate the vetting process successfully. Our award-winning candidate experience solutions, combined with our renowned marketing strategies, form an ideal synergy. This powerful combination not only streamlines your pipeline but significantly enhances the efficiency of your funnel metrics.
Healthcare recruiting strategies need to evolve to compete for talent now and in the future. With 58 million individuals aged 65 and older living in the U.S., there’s never been a greater need for more healthcare professionals. In fact, the Bureau of Labor Statistics projects healthcare and social assistance sector will add about 2.1 million jobs by 2032, more than any other sector and a whopping 45% of all new jobs.
Challenges in Healthcare Recruiting and Medical Staffing
In the last five years, the average hospital turned over 100% of its workforce due to burnout and retirement. This healthcare turnover rate is exacerbating the talent shortage and skills shortage in healthcare, and making it more difficult for healthcare organizations to hold onto their top talent. So, how can organizations overcome these challenges in healthcare recruiting to find the talent they need? Below, we list six strategies to optimize healthcare recruiting practices in the face of these challenges.
DIG DEEPER
CONQUERIING THE TOP CHALLENGES IN HEALTHCARE TALENT ACQUISITION
The growth of talent acquisition technology means that healthcare organizations have new and powerful tools for healthcare recruiting. Advances in technology not only make the job for a healthcare recruiter easier, but technology can also help make healthcare recruiting more cost-effective by improving costly time-to-fill metrics, reducing agency spend and streamlining the hiring process.
Improve Employer Branding for Healthcare Recruiters
Whether candidates are recent graduates or seasoned professionals, the modern job hunter is likely to research prospective employers before applying to or accepting job offers. To increase the number of candidates accepting offer letters, healthcare organizations need to make sure their employment brand is compelling. One of the best ways of doing this is by highlighting your culture and benefits.
For example, healthcare organizations can illustrate their culture by telling compelling stories about their workplace and employees.
Healthcare providers can also attend in-person employer branding activities, like maintaining a presence at local health fairs and sending talent teams to job seeker events at local medical and nursing schools.
The healthcare industry has become more competitive when it comes to attracting the best and most qualified candidates to fill positions. To get an edge over competitors, healthcare organizations need to become more innovate when it comes to compensation, benefits and flexible work environments.
Healthcare organizations need to look for ways to implement policies around flextime and telecommuting where it makes sense and talk to potential candidates about the benefits that matter most to them. Some candidates will prefer traditional benefits packages, but others might prioritize opportunities in learning and development, mentoring and career growth.
According to Barkley Davis, senior director of physician recruitment at LifePoint Hospitals, debt relief is the top priority for nearly all new physicians, and hospitals should explore new types of financial incentives beyond just salary. For example, LifePoint offers some doctors monthly stipends if they accept a job offer while they’re still in training—building employee loyalty long before these new hires are even on the job. Other healthcare organizations are attracting talent by experimenting with scheduling models to meet medical staffing needs while offering greater flexibility to employees.
Create Healthcare Recruiting and Medical Staffing Candidate Pipelines
Being proactive is one of the keys to success in healthcare recruiting. Healthcare organizations should work towards building strategic talent pipelines that cover both regional and national talent pools. Partnering with national and state job boards, public health departments, professional societies, universities, colleges, academies and high schools is a good way to develop comprehensive talent pipelines for healthcare recruiting.
Healthcare organizations can also emphasize diversity recruiting as a priority, not only to demonstrate a commitment to better serving the community, but also to ensure sufficient talent for candidate pipelines in the coming years.
Utilize Innovative Sourcing Methods to be the Best Medical Recruiter
With the current healthcare talent gap, organizations need to source healthcare talent from a diverse range of places. A skilled RPO provider will have their hands on the pulse of the healthcare talent landscape and will be able to source top level talent from a variety of sources.
When it comes to healthcare recruitment, veterans have the training, discipline and work ethic to make great hires. An RPO provider with a long and proven track record of veteran hiring can help healthcare organizations find quality candidates to help bridge the talent gap.
Think Long-term in Healthcare Recruiting and Medical Recruitment Strategies
As a healthcare organization becomes better and more adept at recruiting, they may find great candidates that are not a fit for current open positions but could be good potential additions in the future. Healthcare organizations should place top candidates into a talent pool and make sure to communicate with them on a regular basis to keep them informed of new positions that could be a better fit for their skills.
Ignoring, overlooking or not providing proper communication to good talent in the hiring process can leave a poor impression on individuals, thereby negatively impacting a healthcare organizations’ employer brand. What’s more, 33 percent of job hunters are likely to share their negative experiences with companies on social media.
This, in turn, can come back and harm a company’s reputation and employer brand. Thinking long-term makes sure that hiring teams acknowledge the importance of initiating, nurturing and maintaining an ongoing relationship with top candidates and the overall talent pool. These talent pools will help organizations find great talent fast when they are looking to fill an important position in the future.
Partnering with a Healthcare Staffing Recruiter
With the current shortage of healthcare talent, healthcare facilities have had to get creative to meet demand. Adding to the challenge of recruiting medical staff is the concern that the exposure of frontline healthcare workers to COVID-19 and other fast spreading illnesses could place further strains on an already strained system. During such challenging times, recruiters and medical staffing professionals are left to pick up the slack.
This is where RPO providers can help. An RPO provider possesses the know-how and have experience medical recruitment and sourcing healthcare talent to make sure you hire the best talent available. The right healthcare RPO provider will take as little time and money as possible sourcing your new workforce, and get them hired as quickly as possible.
Medical Recruitment is Challenging but Rewarding
With many older healthcare workers retiring, healthcare organizations need to keep pace with industry recruiting trends and make the much-needed changes to their staffing models to meet the demands of the new and still emerging healthcare talent landscape. An RPO recruiting provider can supply clinical and non -clinical talent from a variety of channels and can work with your in-house recruiters to search for physicians candidates that best match available opportunities.
For healthcare recruiting to be successful, organizations need leaders that understand the benefits of the above-described tips. Integrating these tips into a healthcare recruiting strategy or a healthcare staffing recruiter will result in a workforce with lower turnover rates, higher job satisfaction and improved ROI for your healthcare recruitment efforts.
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