The health and care industry is facing major challenges due to increasing cost pressure and a shortage of skilled workers. In this article, Dr Anja Konhäuser, Partner and Co-founder of the digitalisation consultancy, OMMAX, discusses the future viability of companies increasingly depends on their digital infrastructure, especially in the area of personnel search, where digital processes already play a key role.
The social work and nursing and healthcare sectors have been suffering from a significant shortage of skilled workers for years. A main reason for this is the decline in the birth rate between the 1990s and 2000s, which is leading to a decline in the workforce, while at the same time baby boomers from the 1960s are increasingly retiring. In the adult social care sector in particular the job vacancy rate – one measure of workforce shortages – fell from a record 10.6% in 2021/22 to 9.9% in 2022/23, a situation termed as ‘dire’ by The Health Foundation. An additional challenge is the negative image that social professions often have in the media. Low salaries or increasing workloads are often highlighted. Healthcare companies that could hold their own in the competition for suitable personnel through attractive benefits and a good working environment also find themselves in this water.
A must: increase online visibility
The big challenge is twofold: providers not only have to find and appeal to innovative talent, but also ideally have to retain them in the long term. Younger workers today prefer companies that offer flat hierarchies and innovative systems. You also want to communicate with employers exactly where they spend most of their time: in the digital space. In order to meet the expectations of this highly digitally oriented generation, healthcare companies must be prepared to consistently question their status quo. Without offering a seamlessly digital applicant journey, they will probably have little chance of asserting themselves in an increasingly competitive talent search environment in the future.
The basis: Digital go-to-market approach
For companies that want to make their talent search fit for the future, the following strategies are fundamental:
- Overcoming digital barriers: Many companies in the health and care sector are blocking the expansion of their digital reach, which is so important today, through outdated, sometimes even paper-based systems and infrastructures. This is costly and hinders Digital Transformation. Building a reliable and transparent database is one of the essential prerequisites for the digitalisation of your recruiting processes.
- Realign recruiting processes: Modern applicant management must meet the greatly changed expectations of younger target groups. The integration of digital technologies plays a key role here – it not only enables an improved approach to potential talent in the short term, but also creates the conditions for the development of further benefits for employees, which can also bind these talents to the company in the long term.
- Prioritise positioning: In an employee market in which traditional application channels are becoming increasingly less important and applicants are increasingly able to choose their employer, providers cannot avoid presenting themselves to potential applicants as attractively as possible, but also authentically. Through continuous, data-based benchmarking compared to competitors, providers continually gain valuable insights to evaluate and analyse their own positioning.
- Quick and easy contact as a ‘must-have’: A ‘social first’ approach is now mandatory – in order to reach talent efficiently, contact must take place exactly where they are: on digital platforms.
- Use efficiency advantages: If the targeted use of data analyses is implemented, providers have numerous opportunities to make applicant recruiting processes more cost-efficient – savings that in turn create scope for making working conditions more attractive for employees.
Insight into practice: Reach qualified applicants in a targeted manner
Aiutanda, an association of outpatient healthcare companies founded in 2017 and operating throughout Germany, wanted to reorganise its application process by implementing uniform and integrated applicant management. The care specialist prioritised its new recruiting strategy right from the start. A crucial first step was the development of a high-reach positioning in order to make the care provider widely visible as an attractive and modern employer brand in the care sector. The newly developed digital setup now enables the group to have data to continuously improve its recruiting campaigns. The company can now precisely measure which campaigns are successful on which channel. This data-driven approach makes it possible to receive an increasing number of applications. The following measures were taken in detail to ensure that the application process was as targeted as possible at potential employees:
- Modernised website for higher conversion in the targeted audience. The company’s advantages as an employer are now immediately apparent.
- Improved user-friendliness of the website: The nursing specialist’s unique selling points are immediately apparent to potential applicants the first time they visit the website.
- Creation of a new, emotionally appealing and, above all, data-based design with a convincing imagery that runs through the entire brand communication and all digital channels.
- Uniform communication of the corporate culture, values and vision at all levels of presentation – right up to the design of online job advertisements.
- Creation of new digital contact points across various social channels, including the company website, in order to make the benefits visible to future Aiutanda employees as broadly as possible.
- Revision of the entire employer profile and its seamless integration into all communication, including the design of online job advertisements.
- Continuous development of recruiting campaigns based on current data analyses in order to continue to expand the pool of applicants reached.
Today, all HR processes are based on central HR structures and are seamlessly digitally integrated – from the first contact to the conclusion of the contract. This tailor-made application process is reflected in impressive success figures: the relaunch of the website led to an increase in website visits by 966%. Through targeted employer branding, the number of qualified applications increased by 179%.
Direct communication interface to the applicant pool
The focus of the new recruiting strategy was also on building a community on Facebook and Instagram in order to make the company known specifically on these channels. The community was able to be significantly expanded by creating and implementing target group-specific and visually striking social media campaigns. Nowadays, Aiutanda receives a significantly higher number of applications via these very channels through its social media activities. By optimising the careers page and using social media such as LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram, a direct communication interface was created with potential applicants. Today, this forms the foundation for efficient applicant management, the success of which can also be proven quantitatively: By expanding the social media presence on Facebook and Instagram, the nursing specialist was able to gain almost 20,000 relevant new followers.
Flexible campaign alignment as a long-term success factor
The advantages of digital recruiting management become a ‘game changer’ in a highly competitive applicant market. Companies benefit from access to an expanded pool of applicants and can make themselves widely visible as an employer brand. Integrated and holistically digital applicant management is significantly more cost-effective in the long term than previous measures, as digital processes can be adapted to changing environmental conditions at any time in almost real time. Applicants also have the opportunity to actively track the progress of a recruiting process via digital platforms, which offers companies the opportunity to retain potential talent even during longer application phases. However, an unbeatable advantage is the ability to check digital recruiting measures at any time without much effort. Based on detailed data analysis, employers can continuously optimise their strategies and adapt them to the needs of their applicants.