As a healthcare facility, you want to stay fully staffed. So, when should you start hiring? For the best results, think about implementing an ongoing recruiting strategy. Here’s what you need to know.
When Is the Best Time to Start Hiring?
Most businesses wait until they’re short-staffed or until someone gives their two-week notice to begin the recruiting process. Unfortunately, this isn’t the best plan for healthcare organizations. Advertising openings, reviewing resumes, interviewing, vetting candidates and onboarding usually take far longer than two weeks. As a result, you’ll get caught with too few workers. This means longer hours and more grueling schedules for your current team. And this, in turn, leads to unhappy employees and poor retention rates… which further compounds your staffing issues. Therefore, you should start thinking about hiring BEFORE you need to hire.
Tips for Healthcare Hiring Success
- Have a Plan
Scrambling to put together your hiring materials after someone gives notice puts your facility at an immediate disadvantage. Take the time to design a hiring playbook. In other words, have your hiring tactics, job descriptions, recruiting software, interview strategies and onboarding programs ready to go. - Use Multiple Recruiting Methods
When most people need to hire, they instantly go to the job boards. And although this IS a good starting point, it shouldn’t be your only tactic. Hiring expert Scott Wintrip encourages organizations to tap into multiple talent streams. For example, in addition to Help Wanted ads, you could revisit old resumes (candidate mining), solicit referrals, and/or upskill current employees (talent manufacturing). - Build a Talent Pool
Let’s say you meet a fantastic candidate at a conference, but you don’t have an open position. So, you walk away. Guess what? You just missed an opportunity. Instead, spend a moment collecting the potential candidate’s contact information and add them to your mailing list. That way when you DO have an opening, you’ll have a go-to list or pool of talented prospects. - Track Your Results
Maybe you found ten top nurses at a hiring event you attended last year and zero at another? Or maybe one job board produced lots of quality candidates while another produced only a handful? Keep track of those results and use them to inform future decisions. Certainly, this requires some effort, but ultimately, you’ll save both time and money. - Partner with a Staffing Agency
Especially with the current nursing shortage, you may have trouble hiring despite your best efforts. In these situations, consider partnering with a staffing agency. Staffing firms are especially good at filling hard-to-find positions as well as last-minute coverages. Plus, the right company will assist with your overall recruiting efforts too. However, it’s important to develop this relationship before you’re in a crisis. After all, even the experts need more than a few hours to put a plan into place.
Are You Looking to Hire Healthcare Workers in the Atlanta Area?
BOS Staffing is here for you! We help healthcare facilities successfully tackle both their short and long-term staffing needs. Learn more about the benefits of partnering with BOS Medical Staffing today!
