If finding and hiring the right clinical talent at your facility has become increasingly taxing, you’re not alone. Most healthcare entities are grappling with a widespread shortage of talent and a more complex labor market. In fact, the United States will see a shortage of up to nearly 122,000 physicians by 2032, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges. And, a study by Georgetown University projects the economy will create 1.6 million job openings for nurses and a shortfall of roughly 200,000 nursing professionals by the end of this year.
As healthcare organizations face longer and longer fill times and increasing numbers of vacancies, many are evolving their talent acquisition strategy from being supplier-driven to talent-driven – considering the entire spectrum of available talent to deploy to meet their business and patient care needs.
An integrated total talent management model can help healthcare organizations determine the resources most appropriate for their needs, regardless of worker classification. In this holistic model, talent is provided regardless of worker or recruitment type – through one consolidated solution with a trusted recruiting partner. This approach is delivering a wide range of valuable benefits to healthcare enterprises across the country and solving many of their top recruiting-related challenges. Here are 5 of the most significant challenges a total talent management solution can help alleviate.
High Costs of Recruitment.
Deploying a total talent management solution offers a wide range of cost savings across the recruitment and hiring process. The most obvious being greater cost effectiveness through a better operational approach to talent sourcing, engagement and management. By standardizing talent operations and gaining economies-of-scale, healthcare organizations can cut costs on nearly all aspects of the talent management function, including:
- Reduced spend on recruiting suppliers
- Reduced investments in HR technology
- Lower service fees from volume discounts and rationalized pay rates
- Faster time-to-fill rates and delivery of patient care
- Reduced turnover costs through better-fit, higher quality healthcare talent
Long Time-to-Fill Rates and High Vacancy Rates.
By taking a total talent management approach, healthcare leaders move from a traditional focus on hiring based on category of worker or recruitment type to focusing on the right worker for the job at hand. Simply put, the traditional siloed approach leaves organizations unprepared for skill shortages and changing dynamics of the healthcare marketplace.
Using a total talent management solution provides a more integrated view of talent, the ability to reach more candidates on many platforms and access to more high-quality talent and experienced resources who can apply advanced technologies to secure more hires.
Interruptions in Productivity and Patient Care Delivery.
The seasonal and 24/7 nature of healthcare delivery means hospital systems must have flexible recruiting models that enable them to meet variability in demand and maintain productivity and patient care. Through a total talent management solution, the organization becomes far more agile and nimble, able to respond to market and business demands by accessing and allocating the right talent resources, with the right business requirement, at the right time.
In addition, a total talent management solution delivers a consistent orientation and onboarding for all clinicians, allowing organizations to improve their speed to productivity. This also saves managers time when trying to get staff up to speed on the expectations of their role and ensure that every new hire can focus on their role in the patient experience vs. the minutiae of new-to-hire paperwork and processes.
Lack of Visibility into Talent Utilization, Compliance and Costs.
In a traditional, siloed recruiting model, hiring is managed and conducted by multiple departments and functions resulting in a lack of accurate workforce and staff utilization data. With many functions engaging travelers, per diem, temp-to-perm or other arrangements, it’s difficult to maintain compliance and governance as well. This lack of visibility can lead to organizational inefficiencies, higher workforce costs and poor decision-making. Simply put, you can’t effectively manage what you can’t see.
Total talent management solutions provide the visibility required to ensure that all talent has the correct qualifications and credentials, health record and immunizations are up to date, and pinpoint improvements in utilization trends to reduce headcount and spend. Effective total talent management partners will bring organizations improved analytics and visibility through advanced technologies and centralized data.
Poor Culture Fit and Patient Experience.
Particularly in today’s value-based care environment, every type of worker must be equipped to properly represent the organization’s culture and help drive outcomes for patients, regardless of whether they are FTEs, travelers or contingent. In addition, current hiring methods tend to minimize or even skip essential engagement and onboarding strategies for some segments of the workforce.
Meanwhile, the consistent employee experience offered by total talent management solutions ensure greater cultural and mission alignment that connects every person hired in their commitment to deliver an outstanding patient experience.
Turn Your HR Function from Operational to Strategic.
As economic, demographic, workforce acquisition and technology continue to evolve, it is more important than ever for organizations to reevaluate and revamp their approach to their workforce.
That’s why Cross Country Search offers total talent management solutions through one trusted partnership. As part of Cross Country Healthcare, a national leader in providing innovative healthcare workforce solutions and recruiting services, we’re able to manage all or select components of your clinical workforce needs through one consolidated solution. Our recruitment specialists act as advisors to our clients by understanding your business objectives and the best path to reaching them. We can recommend the right channels to build your healthcare workforce as a whole, rather than in several disparate parts, giving you the benefit of access to the entire talent spectrum to meeting your goals.
Contact Cross Country Search today to learn more about our total talent management solutions.
