Challenges of Hospital Staffing
The shortage of personnel in the healthcare sector is forcing companies to use different recruiting channels (platforms) to find staff. In hospitals, this applies to physicians, nurses and other employees. It is therefore important for companies to launch a successful recruiting strategy. This raises the question of which channels are preferably used and by whom. Sinceritas launched an internal survey in 2020/21 to find out more about the hospital sector. The results are surprising.
Staff Shortages in Hospitals in 2023
With demographic changes, many physicians will retire in the next few years. Tens of thousands of retiring physicians are being talked about in the press and in the Ministry of Health. The job market therefore offers many open positions for applicants. It is apparently no longer a problem to find a job in the medical sector.
After all, there is also a great shortage of well-qualified workers in the nursing sector. Time and again, affected facilities and unions complain about an undersupply of skilled nursing staff and the worsening working conditions as a result.
Hospitals must therefore make an effort to pick up candidates where they are. A good strategy helps to create an employer brand that is attractive to employees and also visible on the respective platforms. An employer branding strategy should support all channels in order to reach as many interested parties as possible. This means that advertisements can be placed on various channels at the same time to achieve the widest possible reach (keyword: multiposting). But it is worth taking a closer look.
In an internal survey conducted in 2021 / 2022, Sinceritas asked hospitals which channels candidates prefer to use for their job search. This survey was answered by 470 participants and 48 hospitals.
Print Media
Surprisingly, according to this survey, print media are still the most popular among physicians.
This analog medium is said to be becoming less important. According to a survey with 40,000 applicants, which is quoted at "praktischarzt.de", this recruiting channel is on the last place of the popularity scale. It should be emphasized, however, that not only physicians participated in this survey and that the situation is not the same in other professional groups.
In the case of the Deutsches Ärzteblatt in particular, many physicians are also attracted to the print edition.
Career Websites
On the company's own platforms such as career websites, companies can use good employer branding and present themselves with the corporate philosophy, benefits, videos and professional expertise. The differentiation into different professional groups is possible and appeals specifically to candidates.
It is equally important to display the contact prominently and to be able to reach them with a simple click. There are even Whats - app - Nummern for the application of nursing professionals.
Career websites are also called internal career portals. Here, the external career portals will be considered from a social networking point of view.
Social Networks and Career Portals
Nowadays, it is taken for granted that companies are present in social networks. These include Instagram, Facebook, Indeed, Stepstone, Twitter and YouTube. As well as in career networks such as Xing and LinkedIn. Here, too, the employer branding strategy described above is important.
Applicants can thus get a comprehensive picture of the respective company. According to the Sinceritas study, social networks and career websites are ahead of external career portals for administrative employees.
For nursing professions, they are slightly ahead.
Xing is mainly used to find candidates from the DACH region (Germany, Austria, Switzerland), while LinkedIn has an international network and places great emphasis on content.
Since the shortage of specialists in the healthcare sector means that the search is also international, for example for nursing specialists, LinkedIn should not be neglected.
Active Sourcing
With both, it is also possible to do Active Sourcing. This is a way to turn the tables, so to speak, and find candidates by directly addressing them. Here, too, it makes sense to be able to refer directly to websites and your own profiles. Moreover, a pool of possible employees can be formed, who seem to be suitable for the company.
Direct contact with candidates has many advantages. Here, too, it is important to find the right approach (wording) and a good profile of the company. It may also be possible to bind future employees at an early stage. This is also possible and interesting, especially in contact with training centers or trade fairs.
Active Sourcing is especially good with headhunters who keep a low profile. This is because the contact persons should be approached with sensitivity via various channels and an interest should be established at the same time.
University Collaborations
Through university clinics, future personnel can already be recruited during their studies. Here, even the choice of the place of study can be decisive in finding the future possible workplace.
The AMEOS Group, for example, offers a dual study program for nursing specialists. In addition, the German license to practice medicine can be acquired in an international study program in Croatia. This allows students to bypass the difficult entry requirements in Germany. It is not guaranteed that the students will actually stay in the clinics, but it is possible and common.
Career Fairs
Graduates can also find out about career opportunities at trade fairs. This also offers companies the opportunity to make direct and personal contact with applicants. Here a company can present itself and recruit new candidates at the same time. For example, a trade fair is held in Halle to advertise for a Practical Year (PJ) at the UMH | Universitätsmedizin Halle. With its own website, the new generation is already being wooed during their studies and in connection with a trade fair.
Again, it is important to present yourself as a hospital with the appropriate branding.
Conclusion
In summary, the challenges for hospital staffing are very high. Organizations must strive to develop a strong employer branding strategy in order to stand out from the competition and attract suitable candidates.
For recruiting, under the difficult current conditions, it is very important to closely examine the various channels.
In the same way, direct contact with candidates should not be neglected. Active Sourcing could thus also become more important in the future for individualized recruiting. In this way, companies can respond well to the coming generations and sometimes retain them at an early stage. The search for the right personnel also goes hand in hand with a future personnel policy.
