The entire labor market is tight, and demand is high among employers across the board. The strain left behind from the great resignation, and the ongoing ‘quiet quitting’ combined with overall low unemployment rates, are make hiring more challenging than we’ve seen before.

There are several segments of the economy that face an even bigger struggle due to several additional factors.  Skilled trades, Tech and Healthcare are among the top career fields that are predicted to remain in critical condition and will need to think ‘outside the job board’ to fill staffing needs.

Here are some of the top trends innovative employers in the healthcare industry are implementing to meet their staffing goals and stay ahead of the ongoing shortage in qualified workers.

• Remote Interviewing and Onboarding Process – The shift to virtual hiring was speared on by the pandemic, but it is clearly here to stay.  Being able to offer remote access to job candidates makes the interview process much more efficient and broadens your candidate pool.  Clients of Premier Virtual that host virtual interview days on a consistent basis, are hiring hard-to-fill positions that they were unable to fill using traditional job boards or in person hiring events. 

• Branding your Company to the Healthcare Workforce – A recent study in Healthcare Recruiter’s International (HRI) reported that 90% of healthcare workforce want to work for an employer they can relate to and recognize.

Being top of mind means sharing benefits that a candidate can enjoy if they join and sharing how your organization is different from the competition.  Workplace culture, diversity and inclusion, relocation benefits, bonuses, etc., all should be part of the messaging you share every day through social media posts, videos, and press releases.  Be sure to convey how your organization values a healthy work/life balance, and what you offer to help with childcare, mental health and other concerns that are outside the workplace.

• Attracting the Passive Job Candidate – Many times, your next best employee is already employed.  If you are trying to lure them to your company, see if there are ‘feeder’ markets that are outside of your typical recruiting zone and create a campaign that makes applying for your company a great opportunity.  These candidates need to learn about relocation benefits, and the tactics we covered in the previous paragraph.  Your staff also needs to be onboard with your referral program as well, so they can help you reach this passive candidate pool.  Hosting a virtual ‘meet and greet’ to give access to passive candidates who want to explore opportunities further, is a great strategy to get them in the door.  For more on reaching the passive job candidate click here.

• Training and Tuition Reimbursement – A healthcare employer that is willing to help with employee medical school or trade school tuition will be difficult to compete with.  This may be an option only a few employers can afford, but working with local grants, and helping students receive the money that is already allocated to them would be a tremendous service and build a great deal of loyalty.  A forward-thinking healthcare employer should work with local trade schools, and high schools and offer this assistance as part of an outreach program that will result in more qualified applicants as part of a long-term staffing strategy.

• Virtual Job Fairs – Going beyond a weekly virtual interview day, hosting a monthly virtual job fair is a great way to attract candidates and gain exposure for your company.  A great strategy is to invite other employers in similar capacity to yours to make the event even more attractive to attend.  You can partner with a medical billing company, a nursing home, a health insurance company and so on, to make it a well-rounded event and bring more applicants into the fold.  Each person that learns about your company can be a potential employee down the road or refer someone to you.

As you can see, virtual and technology will play a big role to increase access, exposure, and efficiency in your hiring strategy.  The sooner you implement it, the better positions you will be and greater competitive advantage you will have. 

There’s a lot more to virtual than hosting events.  Platforms such as premier Virtual are extremely flexible and offer an all-in-one virtual recruitment suite.  Everything from scheduling interviews, to pre-recorded video interview question that qualify candidates, as well as robust reports and automated follow up tools that reduce your cost per hire and your time to hire by up to 70% in most cases.

Schedule your free demo today by visiting www.PremierVirtual.com and see what your own virtual hiring event platform can do for you.