Candidate Experience is the New Competitive Edge in Healthcare

The healthcare recruitment landscape has undergone profound transformations in recent years, driven by shifting workforce dynamics and evolving candidate experience expectations.

HR leaders and Talent Acquisition teams are facing pressure not only from other health systems in their recruitment efforts but also from alternative healthcare providers and, most notably, the growing gig market. With this fierce competition, embracing innovation in technology is not merely a choice but a necessity to ensure healthcare organizations remain agile and capable of attracting and retaining the best talent. Central to this transformative change is the pivotal role Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) can play in reshaping recruitment efforts and giving your organization a competitive edge. 

Historically, ATS platforms have been instrumental in managing the application process and optimizing hiring workflows. They streamline processes by organizing applications, managing candidate data, and facilitating communication. However, ATS software remains an “application-focused” solution designed to drive internal efficiencies for talent management teams, with little attention paid to the applicant experience it offers. Furthermore, while the state of healthcare recruiting has changed drastically, there have been only a few improvements to ATS technology over the last decade. 

The shift towards prioritizing the candidate experience represents a significant change in recruitment practices. However, rigid ATS solutions can inhibit the ability to customize the experience to jobseekers, leaving TA teams with limitations and leading to applicant frustration and application abandonment. According to research, an astounding 92% of applicants don’t complete their applications. Some of this dropoff can be attributed to the challenges or limitations inherent in the functionality of an Applicant Tracking System (ATS).

Navigating the challenges posed by legacy technology is a pressing concern however, enterprise solutions represent a significant investment for a health system, and replacing them is typically cost-prohibitive. Fortunately, health systems can easily differentiate themselves in a competitive hiring market by leveraging new technologies such as Prolucent’s Talent Digital Front Door, which is designed to enhance, not replace, existing ATS software. Prolucent’s Talent Digital Front Door has revolutionized the hiring industry by bringing an Amazon-like experience to the job search. Forward-thinking CHROs are embracing integrable recruitment solutions like this, which enhance existing workforce tools and deliver maximum return on investment – ones that are not viewed in isolation as just another point solution but rather as a part of a larger holistic workforce strategy. This approach is the foundation of Prolucent.

Dartmouth Health, for example, faced a variety of challenges in recruiting and retaining employees. As a rural academic medical center with an aging population, Dartmouth Health was compelled to rethink its approach to recruitment. Enhancing current ATS technology with the Prolucent platform gave their team the agility and sophistication to focus recruitment efforts and to be much more strategic and tactical about the way they invested precious recruitment dollars. Through visionary leadership and Prolucent’s next-generation technology, Dartmouth Health strengthened its employee value proposition and hired more employees in the first two years of its partnership with Prolucent than at any time in its history.

Healthcare organizations allocate significant resources to strategic recruitment marketing efforts annually. Therefore, it is crucial to adopt a targeted approach to ensure that every recruitment dollar contributes to the development of a resilient and cost-effective healthcare workforce. Innovative healthcare-specific technology, such as Prolucent’s Talent Digital Front Door, directly addresses the needs of today’s healthcare leaders by optimizing existing solutions to provide better data and insights at minimal cost. In the evolving recruitment landscape, leaders who incorporate technological advancements to reshape recruitment efforts and modernize the traditional application process will position themselves as frontrunners in attracting and retaining top-tier talent.