During these unprecedented times, every healthcare organization should have a strategic crisis recruitment plan in place that includes the right hiring strategy, technology and resources. From where you engage with talent to how they are being sourced, every factor in the recruitment process during COVID-19 is vital to your company’s success. As the pandemic continues, recruiters across the country are rising to meet the challenge of filling the talent gap in the fastest and most cost-effective way.
Connect with displaced workers, retired workers, out-of-state workers and former employees.
As COVID-19 has continued to plague our country, displaced workers, retired workers, out-of-state workers and former employees have stepped up to the front lines. If you are a healthcare recruiter looking to quickly fill positions during a pandemic, accessing an often underutilized candidate pool with qualified candidates will help your organization. From COVID-19, we are learning what trends exist and what types of healthcare workers need jobs.
- Over 21 U.S. states are calling upon retired workers to help fight the pandemic, including New York where Governor Andrew M. Cuomo urges healthcare organizations to, “Go back to the retirees….”
- 227 hospitals have furloughed workers that can help support other states and healthcare systems
- Travel nurses with specialties in RNFA have increased by 64%
- 33 percent of hiring managers agree that familiarity with the organization’s culture is the biggest benefit to hiring back former employees
Actively connecting with a talent pool of candidates who are looking for work can save you a great deal of time and money. If you have access to a strong recruitment database, you can reach eligible healthcare workers who are willing to work for your organization.
Use digital technology to recruit talent online.
In a COVID-19 world, traditional face-to-face interviews and hiring events are a thing of the past, so now more than ever, success is determined by how well you can adapt to our new digitally-driven environment. If you are a healthcare recruiter still hiring during COVID-19, chances are that you are now sourcing candidates online. With the challenge of social distancing at hand, recruiters are turning to digital technology and using a plethora of marketing channels to make candidates aware of relevant, new opportunities.
Digital advertising
The rippling effect of COVID-19 trickles down to digital advertising and also impacts consumer behavior. The most effective form of advertising has always been word of mouth, but COVID-19 has confined people to their homes, making digital advertising the best alternative. Forbes reports that since COVID-19, total internet hits have surged by between 50% and 70%. This is promising for healthcare recruiters, who are responding to the crisis by replacing foot traffic with site traffic to keep business moving in the midst of the pandemic.
Emails
Since COVID-19, inboxes around the country have been flooded with emails addressing COVID-19. In addition, email scams have been circulating and causing panic, but data suggests that people are still opening emails at a particularly high rate. According to HubSpot, once COVID-19 began to reach its peak in March, email open rates increased by 21%. This is a good sign for recruiters, who may be wondering if they should continue to incorporate email into their recruitment strategy.
Live chats
Before COVID-19, hiring events were held to connect with potential candidates, cultivate relationships and convert passive job seekers. Now, an overwhelming amount of recruiters are turning to live chats as a virtual solution to grow the candidate pipeline. According to SuperOffice, live chat is the leading digital content platform and 46% prefer it over any other contact channel. Many recruiters are now replacing face-to-face interaction with live chats to build meaningful relationships and engage with candidates in real-time.
Landing pages
Personalized landing pages are a great way to leverage the interests and preferences of prospects to drive results for talent acquisition. According to WordStream, the average landing page conversion rate is 2.35% across all industries. Landing pages that include contact forms, captivating CTAs and were created for a specific audience, personalizes the candidate experience, so recruiters can increase conversions and generate high quality leads.
Build a team of talent sourcers.
When crisis strikes, overcommunication is key. Verbal communication is considered to be the most effective method of communication and building a team of talent sourcers to engage with prospects makes it easier to reach and screen the right candidates. Sourcers help to create pipelines of the right talent by engaging, answering questions and pre-screening candidates to increase the quality of leads. According to the NAQC Issue Paper, 60% of respondents cited live screenings as the most effective pre-screening tool. But now that COVID-19 has hit, patience is low and the call volume is high, leaving many sourcers uncertain on how effective each interaction would be.
Nicole Rice, Sourcing Manager at Katon Direct, shares her experience communicating with prospects during COVID-19 and says, “The candidates are more receptive, nicer, and are willing to help more than ever. This is a true testament that what we are doing is truly purposeful work.”
Conclusion
In a world of communication barriers like social distancing and advertisement bans, a recruiter’s success is determined by how well they can adapt to the effects of COVID-19. Bill Santulli, COO of Advocate Aurora Health in Downers Grove, Illinois, advises healthcare recruiters to, “Adopt a resilient mindset. When an organism faces a major change to its environment, it must rapidly adapt or risk survival.”
If you’re a healthcare organization looking to recruit talent in a COVID-19 world, we can help. Get in touch with us at sayhello@katondirect.com.
