The healthcare industry has been on a continual rollercoaster ride. Just in the past three years, the industry has seen the initial crippling impact of the global pandemic, a healthcare worker shortage, supply chain issues, high inflation, an uncertain economic outlook, and a pandemic that is now endemic.
Despite these seemingly constant challenges, overall employment in the healthcare industry is “projected to grow 13 percent from 2021 to 2031, much faster than the average for all occupations,” resulting in close to two million new jobs over the next ten years.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), healthcare opportunities will also arise from workers permanently leaving the industry. In fact, BLS reports that annually, about 1.9 million job openings will result from “growth and replacement needs.”
Recruiting professionals have their work cut out for them – something not new in the healthcare industry. One strategy that allows recruitment pros to embrace efficiency without sacrificing personalization is texting.
Most people no longer answer calls from unknown numbers, meaning recruiters' calls may go unanswered or to a never-listened-to voicemail. With mobile users in the U.S. sending roughly two trillion SMS or MMS messages annually, texting has become more accepted in employer-employee communications, including recruiting and hiring.
Reaching healthcare candidates first is key when competing in a still-hot job market. Recruitment professionals need to embrace efficiency and personalization through texting while recruiting top talent.
Keep reading to learn more about how using texting in healthcare recruitment can highlight an organization’s employer branding, while emphasizing the candidate’s experience and meeting healthcare professionals where they are.
The pandemic made people across all industries reconsider their professional futures, including healthcare employees. From how they work to where they work, job candidates’ priorities have shifted. Workers are demanding a greater sense of purpose while prioritizing their mental health.
Add to that the extreme burnout in the healthcare industry. The U.S. Surgeon General recently sounded the alarm on healthcare worker burnout and resignation. According to a 2021 Mercer report, more than 6.5 million healthcare workers will leave the field over the next five years. Only two million are expected to fill those spots, exacerbating the already challenging hiring market.
This continuing resignation and reshuffling in the workplace has “put increased pressure on organizations to think about the nature of the workplace, their organizational relationship with the workforce, and how to position themselves to attract top talent,” according to LinkedIn.
Now, more than ever, employers should focus on their employer brand, moving them to the front of top talent’s consciousness. For example, a healthcare company’s brand allows “hiring professionals to clearly express the health system's values and offerings, ensuring potential candidates understand what it's like to work at the organization.”
Texts aid recruiters and hiring managers to gain a deeper understanding of prospective employees even before they attend a formal interview, ensuring that the candidates are a suitable match for the position. Also, text messaging allows recruiters to engage with candidates and address any questions they may have about job opportunities. This can ensure that their qualifications and interests are a good fit for the position before advancing their application.
With 82 percent of job seekers evaluating a company’s brand and reputation before applying for a job, maintaining an employer brand is critical.
Here are some tips for using effective texting in an employer branding strategy:
Text messaging in recruitment can also improve the candidate’s experience by helping recruiters build relationships with candidates, both active and passive. Using text messaging in healthcare recruitment can revolutionize the hiring process while drastically reducing the number of no-shows.
Through texting, companies can get a candidate’s attention through a single text message. This is especially important for healthcare employees who are on their feet all day. Some text messages can even be automated, making it easier for recruiting professionals to time their text messages for ideal times of the day. Professional recruiters don’t want to be off-putting by sending messages at 6:00 AM or 11:00 PM.
Texting can shorten the recruiting process allowing recruitment professionals to quickly and easily schedule interviews while providing additional information and updates to candidates, keeping them informed and engaged.
Text messaging can also send reminders to candidates, reminding them of next steps in the recruitment process (i.e. completing hiring forms, etc.), encouraging them to show up for interviews, cutting the percentage of no-shows.
And, as recruiting professionals hire high volumes of healthcare professionals, what better way to communicate en masse than texting?
Want to boost healthcare recruiting? Add an omnichannel engagement strategy using text messaging, video, chatbot, and social media. An omnichannel approach allows companies to connect with candidates on how and where they wish to be communicated. Learn more about creating a seamless candidate experience through omnichannel recruitment here.
Through texting, employers can nurture talent who face a fast-paced job all day with no downtime – meeting them where they are and keeping them engaged with a company’s brand and hiring needs.
Being able to connect with a recruiter quickly helps companies’ brand. This helps healthcare candidates respond quickly to a text message whenever possible, meeting them where they are. Text messages should be short and sweet, allowing busy healthcare professionals to glance at the message and garner the necessary information without scrolling through lengthy emails.
With most job seekers using mobile devices in their job searches, texting is ideal. According to recent studies, job applications submitted via mobile devices surpassed those submitted via desktop computers for the first time in 2020, with mobile submissions making up over 60 percent of all job applications.
Further, hiring professionals can intelligently target job seekers through recruitment technology such as programmatic advertising, reducing costs and effort when hiring. Programmatic advertising can not only distribute and optimize ad spend across top healthcare job sites but also help balance market-level worker supply with consumer demand, specifically in the healthcare industry.
Here are some best practices to consider when integrating texting into a healthcare recruitment strategy:
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Many healthcare companies are hiring in volume, which becomes a lot of people for hiring professionals to contact, onboard, train and schedule.
As companies review their recruitment strategy for the upcoming year, including texting in recruitment plans might be beneficial. If your company is interested in getting started with texting for recruitment, feel free to connect with Recruitics!
