In today's competitive job market, attracting and retaining top healthcare talent is a priority. The landscape of Talent Acquisition solutions has evolved significantly, and in this digital age, the importance of a strong employer brand cannot be overstated – it’s a powerful differentiator and has direct impact on the success of the organization.
Companies that have strong employer brands are winning in every way. Couple a strong employer brand with the current digital marketing trends, and you’ve got the competitive edge you need without the abundance of funds that some large organizations have.
However, according to Talent Acquisition leaders, financial and capital resources are the biggest barriers to building and nurturing an effective employer brand. That response is no surprise, but it goes much deeper than that. It also has a lot to do with the personnel on your team, their expertise, workloads, and available time, and how you engage and enable your employees to be part of the Talent Acquisition process.
So how do you do better without increasing headcount and budget? By understanding the following truths and considering partnerships that fit into your Talent Acquisition budget and make the assets and resources you already have more effective. Things are changing rapidly, and it's already too late if you don’t start now.
Build A Strong Employer Brand
Talent Acquisition professionals are aware that they’ll need to do more with less in 2024. And it’s no secret that employers perform better in terms of their recruitment marketing efforts when they have a strong employer brand. Better outcomes also improve the internal perception that an employer brand is working. That positive outlook further enhances your brand, incentivizes your employees to communicate it externally and stay with the organization, and impacts the bottom line in terms of less spend and time on recruiting outside talent.
Employee and candidate surveys, retention rates, Net Promoter Scores (NPS), and engagement with your brand on social are great ways to measure your brand internally and externally.
Your Employer Brand is not something you write; it’s what you are – that’s why the voice of your employees is such a crucial part of getting Employer Branding right.
Authenticity and transparency are key in shaping a compelling employer brand that resonates with prospective candidates. From your career website headlines to your calls-to-action and your job descriptions. How are you unique, and how do your employees thrive? These are the questions an effective Employer Brand should answer.
Overcome Barriers
Oftentimes, Employer Brand strategy and Recruitment Marketing are managed by different teams. HR controls day-to-day management, marketing controls design and messaging, talent acquisition controls strategy & execution, and leadership controls the budget. This synergy requires teamwork, recognition of one another’s value, and clear expectations of deliverables.
The most essential part of this alliance is securing leadership buy-in for the strategy developed. This will likely require a business case, competitive intelligence, and an ROI evaluation. A polished, business goal-oriented approach will ensure a seat at the table when budgeting decisions are made.
Job advertising is getting more competitive and expensive every year, and while metrics are abundant, recruitment marketing leaders rarely feel that paid advertising works. Indeed and LinkedIn drive the lion's share of traffic and applications to jobs, but there is so much volume on these sites it’s difficult to really stand out.
Leverage Digital Marketing Trends Skillfully
For Talent Acquisition & Recruitment Marketing professionals in 2024, it’s imperative that you understand what AI tools such as Chat GPT, Microsoft Copilot, and Google Bard can do and what they can’t do. AI should not be used to write your content, social posts, or job descriptions. Still, it can be used for inspiration, data benchmarking, boosting SEO performance, predictive modeling, and optimizing media buys. AI will not replace your TA team, but that team will evolve into a blend of creative and analytical thinkers using AI models to become more efficient and more quickly.
In a future "cookieless" world, zero and first-party data will be crucial, and companies need to start adapting to the new norm and get creative with tracking marketing efforts. With upcoming changes to Google and iOS to launch soon, building email and mobile # lists, conducting website and social surveys, and re-engaging networks already built are several ways to collect and leverage this type of data.
Personalization has been a strategic pillar in career website development for several years. In 2024, it will become even more prevalent. With the right tracking mechanisms and technology in place, job seekers no longer have to search for jobs, or indicate location, or select preferences. When used correctly, entire experiences can be customized to any aspect of a visitor’s characteristics, demographics, and behavior.
Prioritize The Candidate Experience
Your career website is still the core of the candidate experience – nearly 90% of job seekers will use it to learn more about working for your organization. It’s imperative that the site is branded, user-friendly, full of engaging content, including videos, informative, and integrated with your Applicant System (especially on mobile devices since that is likely where most of your traffic comes from) and that it encourages action.
High applicant drop-off in the 80-90% range for healthcare is not unusual but can be easily reduced with an ATS experience audit and restructure. Organizations can’t let the most important part of the applicant process be the very thing that alienates, discourages, or frustrates job seekers into not beginning or completing an application.
How your organization communicates with applicants post-apply is also important. Design your Thank You page to make it engaging and use it to encourage applicants to stay connected to you while you are reviewing their application. Don’t make applicants enter the same data multiple times, and ensure resume parsing is working correctly. Let your applicants know their application status at every step of the process. If your ATS does not have these capabilities, you may need to look for a new one that meets the needs of your applicants.
Recognize That Job Seekers Are In Control
Job seekers have many options to connect with companies and apply for jobs. Sometimes there are so many options, making it difficult for recruiting teams to manage and measure many sources. Healthcare companies have made changes to work practices, shifts and schedule flexibility, remote and telework jobs, and job sharing at the location and unit level to meet candidate and employee expectations and to stay ahead of competitors.
The reality is that healthcare professionals want to work for an organization based on brand recognition and experience. The requirements, responsibilities, skills, and qualifications for a similar role at one organization or another are not very different. Our research has shown that healthcare professionals, more than those in other industries, seek out specific employers and will work hard to get a job at a certain company.
The Gig Economy is prevalent in the healthcare industry, with independent clinical & non-clinical professionals monetizing their knowledge and experience in roles like Per Diem, Traveling Nurses, and Technology. This can help lower recruitment and staffing costs by giving you the flexibility to hire short-term based on specific staffing needs.
Embrace A Multi-Channel Approach
Design your multi-channel approach to Employer Branding and Recruitment Marketing in this order: Owned, Earned, and Paid. Advertise and engage on channels you OWN; then by leveraging the channels, you EARN visibility & credibility, augmented by PAID advertising when you need it. This approach relies on the least amount of external spending at the start of your journey.
Employee Referrals remain the most popular method to attract, hire, and retain healthcare talent, but many companies don’t make it easy for employees to refer the right people. 50% of hires is a good target for the total number of hires that can be attributed to an employee referral. That requires a program that is visible, accessible, and usable for every employee everywhere.
A company with a strong Employer Brand is likely to use social media, actively participating on employer review sites, and engaging on industry-specific platforms. Search Engine Marketing, Display Advertising, and In-App Advertising are also channels where organizations can attract the talent they need with precise targeting and messaging control. And, of course, for high-volume visibility and conversions, LinkedIn and Indeed job postings perform well.
Invest in Continuous Improvement
Building a strong employer brand is an ongoing journey that requires continuous improvement and adaptation. Companies must track performance metrics, solicit feedback from employees and candidates, and remain agile in response to evolving market trends and candidate preferences. Organizations that commit to innovation and continued learning are better equipped for long-term success and sustainability.
Infinitee Healthcare – Employer Branding, Amplified
We provide hospitals and healthcare systems with customized solutions and flexible strategies to help you navigate today’s complex labor market and maximize your recruitment marketing performance. Our consultative approach blends proven healthcare talent acquisition solutions with data-driven insights to build, deploy, and optimize recruitment marketing plans tailored to your specific hiring goals and challenges—fortifying your employer brand and boosting candidate volume at every level.
Contact Vince@infinitee.com for a free, high-level audit of your overall candidate experience journey. It will include insights into brand visibility, career site performance, and application conversions.
