Nursing jobs account for roughly 8% of job listings, finds new CareerArc research. This percentage is based on the vast number of job posts CareerArc distributes for its enterprise clients across a variety of industries, including health care, retail, hospitality, finance, technology, and more. For talent acquisition professionals who specialize in healthcare recruitment, we’ve got some tips for you to help fill the void.
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“Healthcare is experiencing a real squeeze in the labor market,” says Robin Richards, CEO of CareerArc, in an e-mail to HR Daily Advisor. “Having nursing jobs account for such a substantial share of all job listings illustrates the consistent, high demand for qualified nurses we’ve been seeing in the field—a demand that’s only anticipated to grow.”
“Hospitals are also experiencing the highest turnover rate in over a decade, keeping healthcare organizations in constant competition to both recruit and retain their workforce,” Richards adds. “It’s a market so fiercely driven by candidates that employers must get creative in how they reach passive candidates as well as keep the talent they have.”
Richards shares three tips below for successfully recruiting healthcare workers, but keep in mind that these tips are universal and can be applied to any industry.
1) If You Want to Reach Passive Candidates, You Have to Invest in Social
Many healthcare candidates are currently working, and many—especially nurses—work long shifts and sometimes odd hours, leaving little time to dedicate to a typical job search. Employers can get a step ahead of their competition by meeting candidates where they are already spending time—online and on social networks.
But be strategic in your outreach: Find and engage in LinkedIn groups and Facebook groups that serve nursing and healthcare communities. On these platforms, as well as on Twitter, insert yourself in the right conversations by using hashtags that identify a relevant professional community like #CRNA, which is used by certified registered nurse anesthetists and employers.
You can also invest in sponsored ads on social platforms so you can target the audience you want to reach by profession, location, and more.
2) Leverage Your Existing Employee Network to Discover and Source Talent
One of the best ways to reach the right candidates is by connecting with your existing workforce to discover like-minded peers and candidates from second- and third-degree connections. This is a great way to identify and source talent, but if you want to have candidates come to you, you have to start investing in content and employer branding, creating relatable, share-worthy content that brings engaged healthcare candidates to your door.
Take this strategy a step further by activating your employees as brand ambassadors to engage and share your content with their peers; or even better, fold that ambassador program into an existing referral program, and watch candidates come in.
3) Lead with Your Best Brand, and Protect the Brand You’ve Built
In a market where candidates can have their pick of employers, you must either be the employer of choice or risk settling for less candidate flow or, perhaps worse, less-qualified candidates. To convince top healthcare candidates to apply and current employees to stay, you must lead with brand.
In a tight market, candidates expect a competitive salary but a healthy culture, growth opportunities, and unique benefits like outplacement services for employees and their families can often persuade a candidate to make the jump toward a better opportunity.
But are you promoting those benefits clearly online and on social? Are you celebrating your current workforce? Are you monitoring your Glassdoor score? Building employer brand reputation takes time and investment, but those who can leave a memorable, positive impression with candidates more often will win in this market.
By keeping these three tips in mind, you’ll secure the top healthcare talent you need in no time!