How to Build a Resilient Talent Pipeline in Healthcare
The healthcare talent shortage isn’t going anywhere.
Nurse recruiting remains particularly competitive, with the number of job posts on LinkedIn for nurses jumping 14 times between the summer and the fall in 2024. Nurses are currently the third most in-demand job on LinkedIn. Even among healthcare leaders I speak with who feel they’re getting a handle on nurse hiring, many are struggling to find enough allied health professionals such as radiologic technologists and phlebotomists.
Healthcare leaders everywhere are reimagining how to recruit the talent that is crucial to patient care. LinkedIn surveyed nearly 400 HR professionals, over 400 nurses, and over 100 allied clinical professionals at mid-to-large U.S.-based healthcare organizations to learn how forward-thinking companies can build a resilient talent pipeline. Here are three key tactics that have been embraced by the top performers.
1. Proactively build your pipeline
Nearly half (48%) of clinical workers and 38% of nurses say that staying in their current job is their top career goal — and overall attrition rates have fallen 32% compared with last year. While employee loyalty is great for retaining your workforce, it significantly reduces the pool of active healthcare job seekers who might apply to your open roles.
“We have many areas where we have less than one applicant per opening,” says Rachel Hawksworth, the vice president of talent acquisition at HCA Healthcare. She adds: “To be successful, there are many strategic levers that need to be pulled. There’s not one magic lever that will get you the right applicant flow and the right talent to hire.”
Proactive sourcing strategies, such as creating employee referral programs, promoting internal mobility, and offering internship programs can help you overcome an applicant shortage and build a robust talent pipeline.
Encourage employee referrals
Your current team members can be instrumental in encouraging their connections to pursue a new opportunity at your organization — even if those connections aren’t actively job searching. This can help you reach hidden talent pools of passive candidates for your open roles, leading to more successful hiring outcomes. In fact, 67% of best-in-class healthcare recruiters encourage employees to refer talent.
Your recruiting team can encourage more referrals by promoting your job openings internally and offering compelling incentives. Get creative with reminders so you can maintain a steady pipeline of referral candidates. For example, South Shore Health maintains active participation in their referral program by passing out sweets and swag during shift changes to encourage nurses to recommend a friend.
Offer internal mobility
The most qualified candidates for your current or future roles might already work for your organization. Offering internal mobility enables you to fill your challenging roles while retaining talent long-term.
“Before you backfill any position, stop and look at your bench,” suggests Brenda Welch, the director of talent acquisition at South Shore Health. “Who’s here? Who’s been working really hard and might be ready for that stretch opportunity?”
Internal mobility works best when paired with employee learning and development. Nearly a quarter of nurses (23%) say they want to explore certifications in different clinical specialties and 19% of other clinical talent want to develop expertise in emerging fields. Creating clear advancement tracks and offering appropriate employee development resources are great ways to help your team members grow within your organization.
Build strategic partnerships
Strategic partnerships with schools and professional associations can help you stay top of mind with nurses and allied health professionals, as well as instructors, administrators, community leaders, and the wider healthcare community.
These partnerships can help you connect with potential candidates and build long-term relationships with those who aren’t ready to join your team right away.
A few ways to bring this to life include:
- Hosting gatherings at your hospital for students
- Inviting potential candidates to recruitment events
- Offering internships and clinical rotations
The proof of these efforts lies in the outcomes: LinkedIn data shows that 41% of successful healthcare recruiters offer internships or clinical rotations, compared with only 15% of those seeing lower hiring success.
2. Showcase your employer brand
Healthcare workers have many job opportunities available to them, and your employer brand shows them why they should consider yours. Build engaging employer branding content that demonstrates why your team members joined your organization — and why they stay.
Most healthcare candidates are particularly interested in your compensation package, with 68% of nurses and 66% of other clinical talent saying their job search was motivated by better salary and benefits. Even if your hands are tied on compensation, your talent acquisition team can focus on communicating employee benefits like health insurance and employee development.
“It’s hard not to focus on the hourly rate,” says Brenda Welch, “so it’s important to take the time to explain the value of your overall compensation package.”
Healthcare candidates are also motivated by a flexible work location, work-life balance, and scheduling flexibility. Highlight what your organization offers so you can engage candidates in your recruitment process and encourage them to join your team.
For example, Mercy allows nurses to choose their own hours and work locations using an app that lists available shifts and pay rates. As a result, nurse staffing has increased by 20% in two years with a 94% fill rate.
3. Provide a positive candidate experience
Your candidate experience is indicative of your employee experience. Treating your candidates well throughout your hiring process is crucial to keep them engaged and increase the chances they’ll accept a job offer.
You can offer a more engaging candidate experience by:
- Ensuring candidates feel valued, respected, and supported during the recruiting process. “When you engage with a CommonSpirit recruiter, or a leader, we want you to understand you are locked in with human kindness,” says Wanda Cole-Frieman, the SVP of talent acquisition at CommonSpirit Health. “I think that’s our uniqueness.”
- Listening to what candidates have to say about their current career stage and the challenges they may face juggling work and other priorities. “We invest time in speaking with our candidates and getting to hear about their priorities, their struggles, why they’re leaving the job they have now, what they’re looking for to be different in the next place,” Brenda Welch says.
- Following up with candidates in a timely manner. “We want to make sure that no one ever feels like they’re in a black hole,” says Yvette Hansen, the director of talent acquisition and DEIB at Baylor Scott & White Health. “We want to make sure that they feel like they’re not only being considered for this job, but any other job that might be a good fit.”
Final thoughts: Proactive recruiting strategies create a competitive advantage
Building your talent pipeline requires more sophisticated approaches than posting jobs and hoping qualified candidates apply. A more proactive talent acquisition strategy can help your organization create a competitive advantage that will ultimately lead to improved patient care.
Highly successful healthcare recruiters are building a smarter hiring infrastructure that uses upgraded recruitment technology to improve the recruitment process and streamline workflows. For example, talent intelligence tools can help you forecast hiring needs so you can address current and future skill gaps, identify opportunities for career mobility, and build a more resilient workforce strategy.
Healthcare staffing challenges will continue to evolve, but organizations that take a proactive approach to recruiting can future-proof their talent pipeline and continue to thrive.
