As the healthcare workforce crisis continues to impact facilities across the country, the need for a reliable and effective talent acquisition and placement has become more urgent than ever for many employers. Here’s what leaders of organizations that provide clinical care should know about this important process, and the many ways it can be leveraged to their advantage.
Why Healthcare Talent Acquisition and Placement Matters
The process of sourcing and recruiting workers over a long-term, strategic basis, talent placement is a big-picture approach to workforce management. As opposed to only sourcing and hiring workers when needed, “talent acquisition is an ongoing process that tends to identify and vet appropriate candidates for executive-level positions, leadership roles, and jobs that require specialized training,” as Sarah A. Lybrand explains at the LinkedIn Talent Blog.
And because it represents the entirety of your workforce — including not just nurses and clinicians but administrators and interim executive leadership — this process requires the skills and expertise of specially trained professionals. This can include human resources (HR) professionals or hiring managers who work on-staff for an organization, as well as third-party recruitment companies or agencies.
Ideally, an organization’s talent acquisition and placement strategy will leverage whatever combination of on-site and off-site expertise that’s necessary to maintain optimum staffing levels. While larger hospital networks may have more resources for its own specialized team, smaller or mid-sized facilities may benefit from a balance that’s weighted more toward third-party expertise.
And with a workforce crisis that shows little signs of improving, even larger organizations are turning to third parties to stay fully staffed. For instance, the use of travel nurses has accelerated since 2020, with many organizations meeting unexpected staffing shortfalls by turning to contingency staffing companies that can provide travel workers in every corner of the United States.
Third-party talent acquisition and placement companies have also taken on a greater importance for rural and remote facilities that may be struggling to fill open positions with the pool of available candidates. And for the many states in the enhanced Nurse Licensure Compact (eNLC), those workers arrive quickly and more efficiently than ever.
> Don’t miss: How the eNLC helps employers meet their nurse staffing needs
7 Benefits of Partnering with a Talent Acquisition and Placement Specialist
From access to more workers to a more diverse pool of candidates, here are seven ways that partnering with a third-party talent acquisition and placement partner can directly benefit healthcare employers.
#1: Instant access to thousands of clinical workers
Perhaps the most immediate benefit of partnering with a third-party talent acquisition and placement specialist is being instantly connected to far more workers than a healthcare employer might otherwise be able to access. Even better, the workers are already vetted, verified, and motivated, and span the gamut of specialties and experience levels.
> Looking for clinical workers? Submit a staffing request here
#2: Closing hard-to-fill jobs
Access to thousands of workers dramatically increases a healthcare organization’s ability to find certain specialized clinicians who may be unavailable locally. For instance, the demand for acute-care nurses and respiratory therapists surged during Covid-19 — and while these aren’t exactly niche workers but essential workers, many organizations struggled to find enough to meet their patient care needs.
And given the ongoing staffing shortage, specialized nurses and clinicians with the right level of skills and experience can sometimes take months to fill, even in major metro areas. With a dedicated talent placement partner, you’ll have the resources to anticipate that need as far ahead of time as possible, as well as ensure that you have the fill-in help you need while it’s being sourced.
> Don’t miss: 4 Strategies for Tackling the Healthcare Staffing Shortage
#3: Driving efficiency across the entire workforce
In addition to sourcing and hiring the best candidates to meet each unique job description, a dedicated workforce management solution also provides employers with a better way to tackle the many associated administrative tasks. Streamlining processes like invoicing and contract management can help drive operational efficiency and resource optimization that can directly affect the bottom line.
> Take a deeper drive into how to drive efficiency with a dedicated workforce partner
#4: Helping meet industry quality standards
An established talent placement partner can help you navigate any application laws and regulations on a federal, state and local level, including compliance with Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) requirements.
In addition, partnering with a company that’s achieved Joint Commission Gold Seal Certification can align your organization with the industry’s best-known workforce standards. With independent assessments in the quality of safety measures, information management, performance improvement, and other key factors, Joint Commission Certification is a reliable barometer of a company’s dedication to staffing excellence, and a good indicator of trust and longevity, too.
> Read more about CareerStaff’s Joint Commission Gold Seal Certification
#5: Access to top recruitment professionals
Recruitment has become a highly specialized career over the past decade. As such, the best healthcare talent acquisition and placement partners provide access not just to thousands of job seekers, but also world-class recruitment professionals to help make sure those workers are best matched for their role, and who are standing by to offer support, every step of the way.
At CareerStaff, our dedication to supporting the recruitment profession has been paid back many times over in the appreciation we hear from our clinical workers. “My favorite thing about working with CareerStaff is my recruiters — how they make me feel appreciated and always keep me updated,” as one of our CareerStaff Clinicians of the Month recently told us.
> Related: 5 Ways to Support the Mental Health of Nurses & Clinical Workers
#6: A chance to boost diversity
With access to more clinical professionals comes the ability to recruit a more diverse workforce. In addition, a dedicated workforce partner can also help ensure compliance with equal employment opportunity (EEO) and other diversity requirements.
Employers can take this advantage one step further by partnering with a company with Diversity, Equity, Inclusion Workplace Certification™ — a distinction that helps ensure that an entire organization is dedicated to offering an accepting, encouraging, and inclusive workplace.
> Did you know? CareerStaff has received Diversity, Equity, Inclusion Workplace Certification™
#7: The resources to plan on a long-term basis
A truly effective talent acquisition and placement strategy requires meeting today’s needs, as well as anticipating tomorrow’s. Each facility has a distinct and nuanced set of needs, and entering into a strategic partnership with a specialized partner will go far to making sure they’re met with the best possible talent, in a holistic, forward-looking way that best aligns with your long-term goals.
Clinical Talent Acquisition and Placement Solutions from CareerStaff
Remember, when it comes to talent acquisition and placement, not all companies are created equally! At CareerStaff, we’re dedicated to standing about the rest, offering employers the healthcare workforce the solutions they need to stay focused on quality patient care and safety.
From contingency staffing to full managed services, we’re standing by to customize a solution that meets your unique needs. Joint Commission Certified and an official Great Place to Work®, CareerStaff Unlimited leads the nation in healthcare workforce management solutions for good reason.
Contact us here to learn more about how we can help you achieve your talent acquisition and placement goals, or get the ball rolling by requesting clinical staff now.