One of the foremost challenges facing healthcare organizations is workforce-related—according to symplr’s 2023 Compass Survey of healthcare leaders. The demand for healthcare services has surged due to population growth and aging. Over the next thirty years, the population of Americans aged 100 and older is expected to increase more than fourfold. However, the industry is witnessing more professionals leaving due to burnout—53 percent of physicians are burned out, compared to 42 percent five years ago—or retirement. Consequently, healthcare faces talent shortages and high turnover, making it difficult for providers to find and hire qualified candidates.
The state of healthcare talent acquisition
The state of healthcare talent acquisition presents a notable challenge—scarcity of skilled professionals. In a hypercompetitive recruitment space, healthcare recruiters struggle with an average of 61 open roles per recruiter—leading to a 59.5-day time-to-fill—surpassing the national average of 42 days. Shift work, organizational workflow issues, and technology gaps contribute to this delay, highlighting the ineffectiveness of current strategies. To address this, a shift from reactive role-filling to proactive talent sourcing is essential, necessitating a skilled and strategic talent acquisition team and the integration of modern candidate sourcing techniques. Even top healthcare recruiters may face challenges without these optimized processes in place.
Related: Optimizing Talent Acquisition: Strategies for Maximum Efficiency
Demand outpaces supply
The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects the growth rate of employment in healthcare occupations to surpass the average for all occupations until 2032. Approximately 1.8 million job openings are forecasted annually, on average, driven by employment growth and the need to fill positions vacated by employees permanently leaving the workforce.
Hard-to-fill positions in healthcare include nurse practitioners, general practitioners, physical therapists, registered nurses, and psychiatrists. Specialized areas like geriatrics, rheumatology, and various surgical fields also face staffing issues due to shortages, demanding workloads, and the specialized experience required.
Replacing an employee in a regular position typically incurs a cost equivalent to six to nine months of the employee’s salary. For highly specialized healthcare professionals, the replacement cost can escalate to as much as 200 percent of the employee’s annual salary. Certified Nursing Assistants (33.7 percent), Patient Care Technicians (32.3 percent), and Staff Registered Nurses (22.5 percent) have the highest turnover rates based on symplr survey results.
The effects on patient care
Understaffing not only contributes to longer patient wait times but also poses the risk of conditions progressing to emergencies due to delayed care. Additionally, it places heightened administrative burdens on healthcare providers. Clinicians, crucial for direct patient care, find a substantial portion of their day consumed by administrative tasks. The failure to strategically manage talent, including a dedicated focus on retention during the hiring process, perpetuates a cycle of employee turnover. This turnover disrupts the continuity of care and adds to the overall challenges faced by healthcare organizations in delivering efficient and effective services.
Overcoming talent shortages
To attract and retain healthcare talent, a five-pronged approach is recommended:
1. Establish a talent pipeline: Proactively engage with potential candidates to establish a robust talent pipeline. This involves active participation in conferences and networking events, and the dissemination of information through newsletters, webinars, and regular updates. Build relationships with educational institutions and develop internship programs. By implementing these strategies, your organization can establish a talent pipeline that ensures a steady flow of qualified and skilled professionals into the workforce.
Related: Applying a Candidate-Centric Approach to Talent Acquisition
2. Improve the candidate experience: Enhance the overall experience for candidates throughout the recruitment process. Why? Employee retention starts during the hiring process. Streamline procedures to reduce delays, maintain transparent communication at every stage, and eliminate unnecessary steps that may deter potential hires. A positive candidate experience not only reflects positively on your organization but also plays a crucial role in attracting top talent, as it demonstrates a commitment to valuing and respecting job seekers.
Related: Bridging the Communication Gap to Offer an Exceptional Candidate Experience in 2024
3. Leverage technology: By leveraging cutting-edge technology, healthcare organizations can cast a wider net, tapping into an extensive pool of top candidates. This strategic utilization of the latest tools and resources ensures a dynamic approach to identifying and engaging potential healthcare professionals. The integration of advanced technology broadens the search, streamlines the recruitment process, and automates repetitive tasks, enabling a more efficient and agile hiring workflow.
4. Provide professional development opportunities: Offering avenues for skill advancement, training programs, and career growth initiatives demonstrates a commitment to employees’ long-term success, making your organization more appealing. These include continuing education programs, specialized training and certification, career pathing, research opportunities, mentorship programs, cross-training initiatives, and the option to attend conferences and networking events.
5. Implement employee referral programs: Encourage your current employees to actively participate in the recruitment process by implementing referral programs. Incentivize staff to refer qualified candidates for open positions within your organization. This not only capitalizes on the existing workforce’s knowledge of the organization’s culture and requirements but also fosters a sense of involvement and ownership among employees.
The healthcare industry faces pressing staffing challenges, driven by increased demand, an aging population, and rising burnout rates among professionals. The scarcity of skilled healthcare workers results in prolonged time-to-fill positions and higher turnover rates, impacting patient care and service delivery. Recognizing that the hiring process shapes employee retention, healthcare organizations can integrate a proactive five-pronged approach to attract and retain top talent, navigate the current shortage, optimize recruitment, and ultimately improve the quality of patient care.
Worklink Group offers comprehensive consulting and staffing solutions to attract, retain, and develop top healthcare talent, ensuring seamless service delivery and improved patient care.
