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Healthcare Recruitment Tips for Staffing Agencies in the COVID-19 Pandemic

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No industry is being impacted more by the COVID-19 pandemic than the healthcare industry. It might be overwhelming to recruit in that industry, so we wanted to create a guide for healthcare staffing agencies of areas to focus on to find success.

To find the best healthcare talent for your staffing agency, follow these seven tips to create the best recruitment marketing possible for your company.

Keep Your Current Employees Safe and Pay Them Well

Before looking at bringing new employees to your company, it’s imperative to not forget the members of your team right now. The first area to take care of them is ensuring their safety.

Ensure the healthcare facilities where your employees work are following correct safety procedures. Do everything in your power to make sure personal protective equipment is available.  (Suggestion: can you get branded PPE for your team?) Communicate with your team about the steps you are taking to ensure their safety and how you’re only sending them to safe assignments.

On the pay scale, how can you increase their hourly rates? Are healthcare facilities offering higher pay rates? For healthcare workers on the front lines, COVID Crisis Rates are fully in effect. For other healthcare workers, determine if more money is available due to being in locations where COVID-19 is present.

Showcase Your Team on the Front Lines

Talk to your team and determine which employees want to be showcased. This content directly builds your employment brand and shows how your staffing agency is making a difference in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

Create a graphic with one of your employees and a quote mentioning the impact they are making. Find a way to stay within HIPPA to share content of your team in healthcare facilities.

For the employees who are willing to go that extra step, create a short video (30-60 seconds) (this is a GREAT example) on the impact they feel they are making each shift. Talk to them about why they got into healthcare and why this is their career.

Avoid making the content self-serving and about your company. That’s not the point today. Now is the time to showcase the impact your team is making. That’s what healthcare workers want to see. Maybe they can mention the pay rates and safety, but “joining the fight” is the key takeaway in showcasing your team.

Update Job Descriptions

The best tip for job descriptions is to follow WIIFM – What’s In It for Me? The Me in that quote isn’t you or your client. It is your job candidate. Why should they apply for an assignment with your staffing agency and not your competitors?

Building off that tip, what can you put in the opening 2-4 sentences of your job description that focuses around your current job orders? Is this a Crisis COVID Pay Rate? What is the availability of PPE? Is it on the front lines? What’s your interview process?

Answer all the questions that healthcare job seekers want to know right away. They typically will click on a lot of assignments and quickly evaluate whether it’s worth applying for the assignment.

Have a COVID Resource Center

Yes, it seems the situation changes every single day. Creating an online COVID resource center proves valuable for your current employees and for job candidates.

What should you include? Here are some areas to consider:

  • CDC Guidelines – provide help right now on how people should monitor symptoms
  • Unemployment – what’s available? What is new? How can someone apply
  • Paid Sick Leave – what are your guidelines?
  • Communication – create content from your company leadership about how much you appreciate what everyone on the team is doing. Be inspirational!
  • Interview Protocol – what is it? Did it become virtual?
  • Onboarding – has it changed?

Think about the basic content someone wants to read right now. People are uncertain. They are scared. No one knows what is coming next. Be a human and be helpful!

Make It EASY for People to Apply and Get Credentialed/Licensed in Another State

Two areas to really focus on when trying to get someone new to work.

Your job application needs to be as simple as possible – name, email, phone number, resume. That’s it. That’s all you need right now. It’s not the time for a long application. The barrier to entry needs to be low. It needs to be easy. Don’t make it too much work for someone to apply when you need their information desperately.

Once you have their information, keep everything moving forward. How can you make it easy for someone to get credentialed or licensed in a new state? (even better if you are in a compact state!) What can you do to make that process as short as possible to get them working as soon as possible? What information do you need? This could be the perfect information to include in a job description, in the COVID-19 Resource Center or in your initial follow-up communication after the receiving the job application.

Showcase Your Recruiters

This tactic will go a long way to boosting the spirits of your internal team. The recruiters on your staff are also in a difficult situation. Yes, it’s not working on the front lines of a COVID unit in a healthcare facility. But they are being tasked with finding qualified and available workers in an industry that already had a talent shortage before the global pandemic.

On your social media, what can you do to showcase your recruiters? Highlight one per week, or even more often if you are a larger company. Get their testimonials about why they feel they are making a difference. (Bonus points if they post on their personal social media pages.)

Really make them feel important and that they are doing everything they can to end this global pandemic.

Go Where Your Audience Is Spending Time

With this AWESOME content that you are creating, what do you do with it? We don’t want to over think it. The same principle applies as with any marketing – share your content where your audience is spending time.

Start with your website. That’s your front door. It’s your property. You control it. Share your blogs. Share videos. Post your COVID-19 Resource Center. Make it easy to find jobs. Make it easy to convert. Have multiple calls-to-action on each page. Create a fly-in for your hot jobs.

Then go to social media, and the first place to go is Facebook. Healthcare professionals are active on Facebook:

  • Create a content strategy for your company Facebook page. Share content that is relevant and empathetic. Videos. Graphics. Testimonials. Jobs. Blogs
  • Go to Facebook Groups for your audience. Is it respiratory therapists? Is it nurses? Is it a geographical group? Search on Facebook and post your content in those groups.
  • Post your jobs. It’s free and becoming a more popular place for active job seekers to look. (and follow up quickly!)
  • Consider advertising. We have a client right now that is sourcing hundreds of candidates by the day though an aggressive Facebook advertising plan. You don’t have to be that aggressive but the right tactic by targeting the right audience will work wonders.

Continue to Do the Right Thing

It’s an overused word, but we truly are in unprecedented times. However, the basics continue to work:

  • Take care of your team
  • Communicate
  • Go where your audience is
  • Be a good person

Yes, it’s a challenge to find the right talent. But keep focusing on doing the right thing and helping people out.

 

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