Leading Trends in Physician Recruitment, Part 1 – Employer Branding

This text, prepared by Marcin Giełzak (ShareHire) and Agnieszka Mikołajczyk (HealthThink), is the first part of a three-part series on recruitment in the medical industry. The next articles are coming soon.

Problems with attracting specialist staff

We are seeing a steady deepening of the problems with attracting specialist staff in the medical industry. We decided to look at some of the most interesting ideas for recruiting physicians that could help reverse this trend.

Employer branding in the medical industry

It is nothing new to say that in a candidate-driven market, companies should strengthen their employer branding and recruitment marketing efforts. In this respect, however, the medical industry still has considerable ground to make up. Few hospital networks make sure to formulate a unique value proposition and position themselves as a desirable employer. It is also hard to find examples of promotional campaigns in social or traditional media. Meanwhile, employer branding, like medicine itself, has three functions: maintenance, prevention, and treatment. Directed inwards, it is meant to sustain staff retention and satisfaction; directed at candidates, it is meant to anticipate their questions and doubts, encourage them to get to know our brand better, or, where necessary, change a negative opinion of it.

The younger generation of physicians

Young physicians in particular are a group receptive to employer branding communication. Their lifestyle, the way they obtain and absorb information, and their familiarity with new media are factors that significantly distinguish them from their older colleagues. By directing image-building activities at this audience, we have a chance to enter their awareness while they are still at university, encouraging them to start their medical career at our hospital.

How to reach young physicians?

How to reach them? Traditional, proven methods should not be dismissed out of hand – it is worth taking an active part in medical job fairs such as the MedPharmJobs Careers Fairs in Warsaw (the fairs are international and take place in Europe's largest capitals) or the Medical Job Fairs organised at medical universities (around 2,000 participants per edition). You can also organise competitions (modelled on the "Medical Cases" contest run by IFMSA, or the Polish Archives of Medicine award for the best original paper) and open days (modelled on the cooperation between Connecticut Children's Medical Center (CCMC) and the School of Nursing, allowing future nurses to learn about research conducted directly at the medical centre).

Social media in recruitment

There is nothing to stop you, however, from including social media in your communication, e.g. showing the interiors of our hospitals and the equipment we want to showcase on Instagram, or conducting short interviews with our "star physicians" and posting them on YouTube so that the younger generation of doctors can see who they could work with and learn from. Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube can also be used to show all the additional activities we offer our employees – from training to sports classes. You can also organise a knowledge competition via Facebook or a Facebook app, with a postgraduate internship at our facility as the prize.

An employer branding strategy

The key to building the image of a good employer is preparing a strategy based on the needs of students who are about to leave the university building for the last time. "Good diagnosis, good treatment." Research conducted by manBase in cooperation with the portal interia.pl, as well as the Sedlak&Sedlak agency, showed that more than half pay attention primarily to salary levels. A higher salary is also often the main argument when we want to encourage a physician to take a job in a smaller town. Physicians are also aware that in their industry, pay ranges, even for identical qualifications, are very wide. This builds their openness to offers from competing hospitals, which can and should be used.

Factors that matter to younger physicians

In second place come aspects related to organisational culture, i.e. development opportunities, a bonus system, a clear career path, independence in decision-making, and respect for private life (work-life balance). The younger generation of medics, particularly those born after 1981 – Generation Y – are characterised by a greater need for independence, distrust of rigid hierarchies, and a sense that their work must have a deeper meaning. Experienced physicians may also be looking for an opportunity to escape the bustle of the big city and the overload of duties in a huge hospital, which is why they may be willing to take a job at a smaller, quieter clinic.

Creativity and innovation in the workplace

Next come creativity (authorities and the facility's reputation) and innovation in the workplace. These can be highlighted by showing the modern equipment our hospitals have, the research and development they carry out, or the research programmes they are involved in. It is also worth showcasing the publications and successes of our most recognisable physicians. Building an image also means cooperating with industry media. An employer branding partnership can be established not only with a single title but with an entire publishing house, which often multiplies the benefits, especially if the publisher actively participates in the life of the medical community. Thematic articles about the facility's innovation, new ideas for employee conveniences, and surprising HR solutions will help build our image and promote us as an employer worth recommending. It is important to stick to the adopted strategy. If we talk about innovation – we write about IT solutions, modern equipment, digitised equipment inspections, and so on. If we say about ourselves that we only employ highly experienced physicians – we include statements from a chosen ambassador, emphasising their scientific achievements. If we talk about a good atmosphere – we write about family picnics for employees, internal communication activities, and the activities of the physicians we employ.

Auditing the hospital's website

It is important to precede any employer branding activities with a thorough "audit". Does our hospital have a "Careers" page, and if so, do its content and aesthetics meet the standards that, say, a bank or an IT company would follow? Does the content we publish there help distinguish our offer from the competition and position us as an employer of choice? Does our website look good on mobile devices? Is it properly positioned in Google search results?

If the answer to any of these questions is "no", it may be a good occasion to rethink the role of employer brand building as a factor supporting our organisation's recruitment processes.

‍