With unemployment rates projected to drop even further in 2019, the market is likely to favor job seekers for some time. Since low unemployment means fewer candidates for you to choose from, you’ll need to rethink your strategy if you want to attract some quality talent to your facility – especially in a market as specialized as community healthcare. These tips, however, will help guarantee a successful recruitment process during your next hiring round.
Community Healthcare recruiting strategies for a tough market
1. Introduce creative compensation structures
The first question any candidate asks about a potential workplace is simple: What’s in it for me? Especially for executives and other high-level candidates, however, more is expected than just a competitive salary. Highly motivated candidates (that’s who you’re trying to attract, right?) are thinking about their future, about how they can grow professionally and increase their earning potential. One way to attract such candidates without putting your facility at risk is to offer MBO-based compensation structures.
Management by objective (MBO) implies your potential hire’s compensation will be based on their performance. When objectives are met, your new hire can expect a compelling reward, making this the perfect pay structure for confident, driven candidates, while also protecting your facility from paying too much for a lackluster performance.
2. Be flexible with your budget
When the market favors candidates over employers, the burden is on you to set yourself apart from your competitors. Since your facility’s success depends on quality leadership, it’s better to be flexible with your budget than with your standards. After all, paying more for the right employee is better than taking risks with an applicant who is underqualified hoping their skills gap won’t cause problems. Though the initial sting can be hard to stomach, never lose sight of what matters most: high-quality leadership for your team.
3. Focus on fit
Having fewer candidates to choose from shouldn’t make you change your criteria for the right candidate. Put simply, not everyone is a good fit for every team, and your company culture is a large factor in determining the right fit. When all else is equal, this cultural fit is the defining force that determines how smoothly the onboarding process will go, how likely the candidate is to stick with the job, and how successful they will be on your team.
Be open to individual candidate’s reason or desire to work with an FQHC. We will need to continue to bring in experienced professionals from outside the Community Health arena to match growth and attrition. If their skill set is in line with the position you are recruiting for and they have a desire to serve our underserved populations, be open to exploring how this might be a candidate that can positively impact your organization… or others will.
4. Consult with recruiters that understand your market
With just under 1400 Community Health providers in the country, Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) form a niche market that is poorly understood by many professional recruiters. As such, you should partner with an agency that not only understands the recruitment process, but the unique demands of community health centers.
At UHC Solutions, we specialize in providing placement services to community health centers across the nation, and we’ve dedicated the last 20 years to developing effective staffing solutions to facilities in need of great leadership. To learn more about connecting with your facility’s future leaders, contact our top FQHC recruiters today.
