Healthcare Recruiting

Diversity and inclusion (D&I) are imperative to driving bottom-line results in healthcare, but those initiatives frequently stagnate at the organizational values stage. A survey from PwC found that 68% of respondents cited D&I as a stated value or priority at their organization, but half of respondents felt that diversity was a barrier to progression. 

Real change requires an integrated action plan. 

Healthcare organizations around the world face a growing pandemic, and with it, the need to quickly staff for a surge of critically ill patients. 

With high turnover and staffing shortages, healthcare recruitment can be challenging in the best of times, but now countries face the critical need to quickly bring thousands more healthcare workers into their health system.

Healthcare organizations across the country face stay-at-home orders that make it difficult to deliver in-person care. But even outside of the urgent need for providers to provide care to critically ill patients with COVID-19, patients need access to care when they are ill or injured by other causes. 

Talent recruitment and retention remain among the top challenges facing healthcare organizations in the new decade. According to a SHRM survey, 46% of HR professionals rated highly skilled medical positions as very difficult to fill.

It’s no secret that the healthcare industry is facing a hiring crisis. An aging population has increased demand for health services, while the supply of healthcare workers is in decline or leveling off. Amid these challenges, healthcare recruiters are struggling to find quality candidates.

Employee turnover comes at a high cost, especially in healthcare. In 2017, turnovers in nurse staffing cost the average hospital between $4.4 million and $7 million. And the research shows that turnover is more of a risk when dealing with new hires. In 2018, more than 32 percent of new hires lasted less than one year. 

As we begin a new decade in 2020, here’s a look back at the most popular posts from the previous year. 2019 was a year with a heightened focus on compliance for employers as I-9 and E-Verify updates are enacted combined with no shortage of state marijuana legislation limiting how employers can drug test their workforce. The nursing talent shortage, healthcare compliance and recruitment conference takeaways, workforce diversity, and employment drug testing are all topics that were most popular among our readers in the past year.

I recently attended a Healthcare Talent Symposium with a group of organizational leaders in the healthcare industry and had the unique opportunity to hear from both speakers and participants about their most significant concerns, challenges and struggles in talent acquisition today. One thing stood out above the others, and it’s something every HR leader and team member faces: workforce planning.

Today’s workforce is more age-diverse than ever before. Age is often the forgotten demographic, but maintaining workforce diversity means hiring multi-generational employees.

The 2019 American Society for Healthcare Human Resources Administration (ASHHRA) Conference took place this past week in the Windy City of Chicago, Illinois. This year’s theme was “Connect. Innovate. Transform.” In the midst of constant change in the healthcare field, fostering professional connections is more important than ever before. Sarah Fredrickson, ASHHRA President, discussed how healthcare HR must lead an engaged workforce to innovate.