Healthcare workers know they’re in high demand. In a market that favors job seekers over employers, it can be difficult to attract the best applicants to your facility. If you want to become the employer of choice in your community, you need to make your facility stand out from the crowd. How can you make sure more candidates make your facility their top choice?
Attracting better applicants to your healthcare facility
1. Offer them a chance to grow
No one will choose your facility if they don’t believe it will benefit their career. If you can’t promise a chance for career growth, candidates will flock to a facility that does. Even though offering better compensation will get you some applicants, this strategy is limited. After all, your budget can only handle so much.
This is why it is so important to choose a course that offers long-term benefits to both the candidate and your facility. Training your employees and offering them opportunities for career growth will make them more effective as a team and allow you to promote from within in the future. Once word gets out that your facility is offers long-term benefits, you’ll have more candidates knocking at your door.
2. Reach out to local schools
Before you can draw candidates to your facility, you need to get them into a health care field. Is there a local nursing school or college that offers allied health classes? Teaming up with their faculty to promote medical education will bring more candidates into play. In fact, even reaching out to high schools can be beneficial. It may take a few years for your investment to pay off, but you will build important connections with your future candidates.
3. Connect with new applicants on social media
Through social media, connecting with potential job seekers is easier than ever. Though some sites are purpose-built for professionals, you shouldn’t neglect more socially oriented sites. By connecting with job seekers on social media, you help build your facility’s reputation as a high-quality, caring employer. You’ll also get a chance to conduct some free market research by asking your community what they are looking for in their next job and what it will take to get them to sign on.
4. Engage your current employees in the search
Medical professionals tend to flock together. As such, your employees probably have many professional connections outside of work. If you’re looking to fill a specific position, there is a good chance that they know someone who is interested in the job. Since most people are eager to work with a friend, it shouldn’t be hard to convince them to participate in the search. As an added bonus, you already have a trusted employee who can serve as a reference and vouch for their character.
5. Conduct exit interviews
If you want to attract better applicants to your healthcare facility, you need to iron out any flaws or defects that could turn away prospective candidates. Who is your best source for honest input on what needs to be improved? Your (soon-to-be) former employees. Though exit interviews can be a controversial subject, they can be an irreplaceable source of input when handled correctly. By paying attention to your employee’s viewpoint, you’ll be able to identify your weak spots and fix them.
6. Widen your search
No matter how excellent your facility may be, you’ll never find the best candidates if you don’t get the word out. If you want to connect with as many talented applicants as possible, you need to use every resource that is available. At Quality Medical Staffing, we specialize in finding long-term staffing solutions for facilities like yours. If you’re looking for part-time, contract, or temp-to-hire healthcare staff, our comprehensive services are guaranteed to meet your demands. To learn more about your options, contact us today.