What digital technology can—and can’t—do for your talent acquisition process.
Digital technology is changing the way recruiters find, engage and hire talent. At least 86% of recruiters use applicant tracking technology or recruitment software to unearth the best leads and manage the recruitment process, according to Jobvite. As the workforce competition heats up in the long-term and post-acute care (LTPAC) market, recruiters are eager to find better and faster ways to locate and hire quality talent—before a competitor hires them.
But is digital recruitment technology right for healthcare providers and their deeply people-oriented culture? It all depends on understanding the pros and cons of how the tools are used.
Automated searches. Automated candidate search services are popular in online formats, and can be a recruiter’s dream. Put in your required search parameters and sophisticated search features allow organizations to search job applicants for specific sets of skills or other parameters. Automated searches are driven primarily by keywords, so take time to choose the keywords that best describe the attributes of the candidate you seek.
- Pro: Allows recruiters to blaze through piles of potential candidates electronically and do first-pass screening to create short lists more efficiently.
- Con: Just because a search process is automated doesn’t always mean you’re getting the best results. Personality and character really matter in the healthcare profession, and finding the right key words doesn’t mean you’ve found the right candidate.
Centralized documentation. Applicant Tracking System (ATS) technology can store candidate documents, employee records, recruitment history and contact actions all in one central database. Having technology that can track and document the entire recruitment process is vital, especially since recruiters are becoming increasingly involved in salary negotiations and upgrades to posted job offers.
- Pro: Easy to track follow-ups, application documents and the status of each applicant.
- Con: Data becomes outdated quickly and can provide false or insufficient results if not kept updated.
Candidate relationship management. Organizations are becoming more aware of the importance of managing candidate relationships, both as potential hires and as referrals for the business culture.
- Pro: The recruitment and application process matters, even if the person doesn’t get the job. 98% of candidates who had a positive candidate experience would serve as referrals for others in the future, and candidates with specialty skills often know others who have similar skills.
- Con: Candidate relationship management data loses value if it isn’t maintained, and tracking candidate relationships is not nearly as common as employee relationship management.
Interviewing strategies. In many industries, the old-school resume is as outdated as the rotary telephone. Video platforms such as Zoom, Montage and Jobvite are taking on new roles in the recruitment process, providing new ways to screen and interview candidates.
- Pro: Can be done anywhere, any time, with as many participants as desired—no need for travel costs or scheduling individual sessions.
- Con: Requires a relatively high technological comfort level on the part of the candidate, or body language and reactions may not be natural or authentic.
Plenty of software-based and cloud-based applications are available for recruiting assistance. Finding the solutions that work best for your organization depends on your talent acquisition goals, your timetable-to-hire and a precise selection of keywords to match the needs of your open positions.
