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- How to Recruit Care Workers
How to Recruit Care Workers
- Recruitment
Peninsula Group, HR and Health & Safety Experts
(Last updated )
Peninsula Group, HR and Health & Safety Experts
(Last updated )
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From COVID-19 outcomes to the aftermath of Brexit… The health and social care sector is one area that struggles to attract and retain a fully functioning workforce.
It falls to healthcare employers and their HR teams to focus on recruiting talented and skillful employees, who are determined to stay in the business and support its continuity.
Finding such investible individuals can be difficult. One wrong move and you could end up with underqualified, unsuitable, and unsatisfactory employees – which can reflect negatively on your business.
For further advice, contact one of our expert HR advisors free of charge today. Now, let’s look at what steps healthcare employers need to take when recruiting care workers:
What are the biggest challenges when recruiting care workers?
Many industries face numerous struggles when it comes to hiring (and keeping) talented workers – including the healthcare industry. Some the biggest recruitment challenges employers face include:
Staff turnover: Working in the care sector job can be both physically and mentally draining. A combination of demanding, stressful work duties along with an absence of employee welfare can result in high turnover rates. It leaves businesses in a vicious recruitment cycle that’s hard to rectify without the right means.
Increased patient demand: Society is facing an increased prevalence of chronic illnesses that’s impacting the healthcare industry. Adding an ageing population into the mix leads to additional pressures to meet patient demands and satisfaction.
Stiff competition: There’s a vast number of health and social care services across the UK – each eager to hire top-talented individuals. And yet the sector still suffers from staff shortages which the sector is struggling to rectify. It’s resulted in stiff competition between businesses and decreased access to talent pools.
Career stagnation: There are numerous positions found in the healthcare sector, each requiring expert knowledge and qualifications. HR teams regularly struggle to find candidates who possess necessary skills and experience; and who are ready to work from the start.
How to recruit care workers for your business
Whether you need administrative support or medical doctors, health and social care employers should follow the right recruitment procedures. From here, your business is set to gain full schedules, work continuity, investible staff, and patient satisfaction.
Let’s take a look at what steps employers should take to recruit the very best care workers for their healthcare business:
Widen your talent pool
If you want to attract candidates who are competent and distinct, you’ll need to widen your talent pool. A great way to do that is through creating job adverts that aren’t extremely restrictive with its specifications.
Make sure your job adverts follow inclusive language, especially of those who are already under-represented or disadvantaged in workplace environments. For example, you can offer a guaranteed interview procedure for disability groups.
It’s also important to attract candidates who wouldn’t primarily apply for healthcare roles, like young people. Not only does this diversify your talent pools, but it also helps create a workforce that’s investable and can grow with your business.
Use a range of advertisement platforms
HR teams cannot afford to ignore digital methods when it comes to advertising vacancies . Use a range of platforms to attract potential care candidates, ranging from the traditional to modern.
Within the digital realm, utilise social media platforms, jobsites, and even your own websites. It also never hurts to use paper-form advertisements, like newspapers, magazines, and notice boards.
It’s also a good idea to consider partnerships in your local area. Try advertising in local job centres, community hubs, and at job fairs in universities.
Offer health and social care apprenticeships
Another great method for attracting candidates is offering health and social care apprenticeships. These individuals are given the best tools, education, and experiences to carve out a permanent career for themselves.
Apprentices get to learn on the job, which piques their interest and evokes a motivation to learn. They’re often paid and have flexible working conditions which means they’re gaining more from their job than they thought.
Those who show great aspirations or complete their probation periods are often considered for permanent roles. Investing in career development like this helps create a workforce that shares the same goals, values, and ethics as the business.
Offer employee benefits and rewards
Candidates aren’t solely attracted to job roles and wages these days. They often look for additional perks that’ll convince them to apply for one company over another. That’s where employee benefits and rewards come into play.
Job adverts often include work benefits that their staff generally receive. For example, like free lunch, uniforms, and healthcare discounts. Potential rewards like company cars, additional annual leave, and even commission pay are attractable qualities to offer.
Personal benefits are also deemed attractable for candidates. For example, offering flexible working not only provides better work-life balance, but it can also lead to higher motivation, retention and productivity.
Focus on career development
The health and social care sector predominantly hire people with expert knowledge and certified skills. This practice isn’t just about investing in talented individuals; it’s a matter of health & safety when it comes to patient care.
Whilst you can recruit people who already have appropriate credentials, it's good to focus on career growth for your own staff. Make sure both potential and existing employees are aware of personal learning and development.
You can use eLearning platforms, work shadowing, probation periods, and even lateral work experiences. Employees will appreciate the ability to enhance their own skills, whilst the business benefits from building an investable and faithful workforce.
Improve your selection processes
It’s not enough to just present eye-catching adverts and attractive job benefits – you need to make sure candidates fit the role. It’s important to shape your selection process to help your HR teams gain a good idea of a potential candidate’s suitability.
As health and social care jobs often involve direct patient care, it’s important to see soft skills – especially on behaviour, attitudes, and values. For example, do they understand how important bedside manners, patience, and sympathy are in care roles?
With the right candidates, you’ll be able to grow both patient satisfaction as well as business productivity. Work alongside your HR teams to ensure you’re selecting the very best people for working in health and social care.
Get expert advice on recruiting care workers with Peninsula
The health and social care sector thrive on a highly skilled and talented workforce. Hiring the right people doesn’t just include those with the correct accreditations. It includes those who have the right personal skills to promote patient satisfaction on a daily basis for the business.
Peninsula offers expert advice on recruiting care workers. Our 24/7 HR advice is available 365 days a year. We also offer free health and social care risk assessment tailor-made for your business needs.
Want to find out more? Book a free chat with one of our HR consultants. For further information, call 0800 051 3685.
- How to Recruit Care Workers
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