5 Major Challenges in Healthcare Recruitment Today

A Conversation with Jason Campbell, Talent Acquisition Manager, by Chad Harrington

A Conversation with Jason Campbell, Talent Acquisition Manager, by Chad Harrington

For this post I interviewed Jason Campbell, Talent Acquisition Manager at Mount Carmel Health System. He shared the top challenges and solutions of healthcare recruitment today. This blog provides specific solutions to some of the current top healthcare challenges.

Jason Campbell, who manages half of Mount Carmel’s 30-member recruitment team, shared with me industry challenges and his top solutions for delivering top patient services within the Trinity Health network of health organizations. This was part of a healthcare hiring blog series I’m doing right now, in which I conduct phone interviews with practitioners and share their knowledge in healthcare recruitment.

This piece is a case study of Mount Carmel Health System.

For context, Campbell’s vision as Talent Acquisition Manager at Mount Carmel Health System is “to help bring the very best talent to the organization.” The ultimate purpose of this is “to have a really engaged, excited workforce that delivers incredibly impeccable service to our patients and to each other.”

With regard to the changes in health care, I asked Campbell about the top challenges in healthcare Talent Acquisition today. He gave five:

1. Baby boomer retirement
2. Tough nurse labor market
3. Business changes
4. Low unemployment rate in the area
5. High competition in the area

1. Baby boomer retirement

“Baby boomers are headed toward retirement, so a very large part of the population is going to start using health care a lot more—the need is there.”

2. Tough nurse labor market

“Then you have some head winds from a staffing or recruiting point. We’re heading into what is called by the Department of Labor probably one of the toughest nurse labor markets that we’ve seen.”

3. Business changes

“We have a lot of market forces that are changing the way we do business. The Affordable Care Act is leading the way in changing the way in which healthcare operates and changing the way it looks.”

4. Low unemployment rate in the area

“In the Columbus area, the unemployment rate is low. We are very fortunate to be working a 3.7 percent unemployment rate, so that alone creates an environment where it is very competitive for great talent. The talent has a lot of options as far as where they choose to work.

5. High competition in the area

“Then also, here in Columbus, we have some competitors that are very excellent. We’re very fortunate (and it makes us better) that we have some great competition here.”

He finished this thought by saying, “When you combine stiff competition, low unemployment, and the baby boomers, the conditions create a perfect storm. 2020 is supposed to be the apex of this, and we have a very strategic vision of how we get through that to retain talent and attract talent to make sure we deliver great service.”

What is your talent aquisition strategy to overcome those challenges?

• Be aggressive about retention
• Remain active on social media
• Stay focused on relationships

Be aggressive about retention

“There are a couple of ways we try to retain the great teams and staff we already have. Retention goes directly with culture, which has to be aligned. Even before that, we’ve got to attract folks that align with our culture and values. It’s kind of like the chicken or the egg. We’ve got to get the folks here that align with the values and then also are committed to the environment. Under those conditions, they are traditionally much more engaged, which drives down turnover. We’ve got a great, incredible core that’s already here, and then we’ve got to get out there and tell our story. We’ve got an incredible story to tell folks and attract them to the business.”

Remain active on social media

“Additionally, our strategy means we’ve got to be very active on social media. The way candidates communicate now is not like it was even five years ago, ten years ago. It’s not about post and pray; it’s all about engaging folks and telling them about who we are. Then hopefully that lights something in their soul or they feel engaged with the organization and apply to work here. That makes a great employment relationship.

“The strategy is, we’ve got to get out there, talk to folks the way they want to be spoken to—meaning connecting with them – whether it’s Facebook, LinkedIn, Snapchat – whatever that is, connect with them and then draw them in.”

Stay focused on relationships

“In addition, there are strategic things like going to colleges and things like that, but it really comes down to the relationship.”

My reflections on healthcare recruitment challenges today

Campbell embodies a great posture for a recruitment team leader, and demonstrates an ideal way to approach the top challenges facing healthcare recruitment today.

I appreciate his well-rounded and broadened perspective, so as to not miss the forest for the trees. It’s not just about recruitment, although talent acquisition is always important for organizational growth; it’s just as much about retention and workforce development.