5 Ways Home Health Providers Can Stand Out From The Competition & Hire Top Talent

When it comes to hiring in home health, competition is at an all-time high. In fact, our most recent Workforce 360 Report found that 67% of healthcare professionals cite finding and hiring qualified candidates as a top workforce challenge.

As the unemployment rate continues to stabilize, people now have more job options than ever before. So, how can you cut through the noise and stand out in a sea of competitors? Here are five ways home health organizations can become an employer of choice.

1. Wow Them With Your Employer Brand – Ask yourself – is your online presence compelling enough to get a job seeker to apply? Your employer brand makes the first impression and can make or break a candidate’s interest in your organization. Start by making a list of every benefit, perk and employee-centric program you have in place and make sure to clearly display it on your careers page and job descriptions. Ask your current employees what they like best about working at your organization and share their testimonials and video clips online to help draw in new candidates. OnShift Employ, our end-to-end talent acquisition software, allows users to customize their job portal to help their company brand and culture come alive.
   
   
2. Make Applications Easy – 60% of job seekers quit in the middle of filling out an online application due to length or complexity. Don’t let your organization become a part of this statistic, especially since it’s easily avoidable. Online applications should collect the basics – their name, contact information, credentials and licensure, and a few details about their work history. Recruiters can have candidates fill in the rest of the details once the interview process begins. Not only will this help you capture more applicants on the front end, but it will also give recruiters more viable options to evaluate.
   
   
3. Follow Up Fast – One study found that the best candidates are off the market 10 days. As applying to jobs has become easier, faster and more streamlined, applicants are able to apply to many jobs in a short period of time. And many of them end up working for the first employer to reach out. That’s why it’s critical that your hiring managers connect with applicants as soon as possible. Send an email or text message to the applicant confirming you received their application and will be in touch. Some organizations have even begun offering conditional job offers during on-the-spot interviews (pending a background check and drug screen) to get applicants in the pipeline. To help speed up your process further, consider using customizable workflows like those in OnShift Employ, to prompt hiring managers to follow up with applicants immediately so top talent donesn’t slip through the cracks.
   
   
4. Get The Recruiting Process Right – Provide each candidate with a consistent, considerate and streamlined recruiting process. Hiring workflows, nudges to create next steps and automated background screenings help quickly move candidates through the hiring funnel. This ensures candidates know where they stand in your process at all times and creates a faster path to hire. OnShift Employ even allows organizations to create a consistent experience across all locations and use key hiring data to optimize results over time.
   
   
5. Build Excitement & Engagement Through Onboarding – Study after study shows that a strong onboarding program is correlated to higher employee retention. Once your candidate accepts their job offer, kick-start their onboarding experience and get them excited to start. OnShift Employ uses automated prompts to encourage new employees to complete pre-hire paperwork via their candidate portal before day one. That way, their first day can be spent learning the ins and outs of their new role and meeting new coworkers. Other best practices include assigning new hires an onboarding buddy and holding routine check-ins to see how things are going to make sure they are on the path to success.