Difficulties Faced by HR Managers in Finding Qualified Candidates for Healthcare Jobs

It has become increasingly difficult for HR managers to find qualified candidates for healthcare jobs even though there is an abundance of people looking for work. With the job market still rebounding from the recession, many industries are turning candidates away at the door for jobs they simply do not have available.

But, in the healthcare industry, human resource managers are struggling to find qualified candidates to fill jobs that either become available frequently or have just been created by their employer. In this post, we will discuss the common difficulties HR managers face when they try to fill open healthcare jobs.

Shortages Occurring in Healthcare Employment

In what does not seem possible, there will be a major shortage in multiple employment areas of the healthcare industry by 2020. Data released by the Association of American Medical Colleges’ Center for Workforce Studies show that there will be a shortage of 45,000 primary care physicians and 46,000 surgeons and specialists within the next decade. In that same decade, United States healthcare providers will require more than 103,000 additional nurses and more than 7,800 additional physical therapists each year in order to keep the same standard of care that is already in place.

Another area moving towards a shortage is that of nursing. The American Association of Colleges of Nursing said that some 78,000 qualified applicants were turned away from undergraduate and graduate nursing programs in 2013 because of a lack of funding, teachers, and classrooms.

What is Driving the Shortage?

As with any shortage, there needs to be an underlying factor or factors that cause it to occur. In this case, there are four underlying factors involved. Those four factors are:

• A stronger economy
• Baby Boomers who are seeing an increase in their medical needs due to aging
• Millions of newly insured Americans because of the Affordable Care Act
• Caregivers who are approaching and those who have reached retirement

Hiring Challenges Faced by Hospitals

Hospitals are not immune to the challenges of finding qualified candidates for their healthcare jobs either. In fact, hospitals might struggle the most when it comes to finding talent to fill open jobs. The Bureau of Labor Statistics released data that shows from 2008 to 2018, employment in the healthcare industry will increase by 23 percent. Because of this growth, hospitals will need to compete with other healthcare facilities when hiring them for the following positions:

• Licensed vocational and licensed practical nurses, which will grow by 20.7 percent
• Registered nurses, which will grow by 22.2 percent
• Surgeons and physicians, which will grow by 21.8 percent
• Attendants, orderlies and nursing aides, which will grow by 18.8 percent
• Home health aides, which will grow by 50 percent

According to the American Hospital Association, 89 percent of hospitals across the country have job openings for registered nurses that they have not been able to fill. Many of these hospitals are also having trouble finding qualified pharmacists, laboratory technologists, and radiology technicians.

Projected Nursing Growth

As you will see in the next section, nursing is one of the top 10 jobs in healthcare for 2015. Nurses do not all fall under one category though. There are at least five different categories they can fall under when it comes to employment. For the decade of 2008-2018, the following growth is expected for nurses in their respective categories, according to a special report by Courtney L. Vien, PhD entitled Critical Conditions: Preparing the 21st-Century Nursing Workforce:

• Nurses working in hospitals, both public and private, at a rate of 17 percent
• Nurses working in employment services, at a rate of 24 percent
• Nurses working in care facilities, at a rate of 25 percent
• Nurses working in home health care, at a rate of 33 percent
• Nurses working in physician offices, at a rate of 48 percent

Top 10 Jobs in Healthcare for 2015

Even though HR managers are struggling to find qualified candidates for healthcare jobs, there are still some very hot jobs within the industry. In fact, here is a list of the top 10 jobs in healthcare for 2015:

1. Audiologist: Salary is an average of $70,000 annually and growth will be 34 percent
2. Dental Hygienist: Salary is an average of $70,000 annually and growth will be 33 percent
3. Dietitian: Salary of $55,000 annually and growth will be 21 percent
4. Medical Lab Tech: Salary of $34,000 annually and growth will be 21 percent
5. Medical Technologist: Salary of $48,000 annually and growth will be 22 percent
6. Optician: Salary of $33,000 and growth will be 23 percent.
7. Pharmacist: Salary of $117,000 annually and growth will be 14 percent through 2022
8. Physical Therapist: Salary of $80,000 and growth will be 36 percent
9. Physiologist: Salary of $43,000 and growth will be 19 percent
10. Podiatrist: Salary of $116,000 and growth will be 23 percent

The Skills Gap Actually Exists

Whether you want to believe it or not, the skills gap actually exists today. It is prominent in almost every industry in the country, including healthcare. In fact, the skills gap is a major reason why HR managers are having difficulty finding qualified candidates for healthcare jobs. Peter Cappelli is from the National Bureau of Economic Research. He feels that the skills gap today is not entirely because of a lack of schooling.

Cappelli claims that there is not a shortage of workers who have trouble reading or who have poor math skills. He also said that there is no problem with a shortage of workers who do not have technical or engineering training. He feels that there are too many candidates out there today who are overqualified or overeducated for jobs. For the most part, employers are struggling to find workers who have the skills necessary to handle new and advancing technologies in healthcare.

Candidates Losing Interest

In quite a few instances, it might take longer to fill an open healthcare job than many would expect. Because of this, the candidates who applied for the job might lose interest in your company. As an HR manager, you cannot let this happen. One such position that takes a long time to fill at many healthcare providers, including hospitals, is that of nurses. Some healthcare providers take upwards of 56 days to fill an RN position, while others might take around 36 days to fill the same position. As an HR manager, you need to do everything in your power to keep the candidates interested in the job so you pick the right one when it comes time to hire.

Healthcare Recruiting Trends for 2015

We have reached the midway point of 2015, but that does not mean that healthcare recruiting trends will change. The trends for 2015 include increasing salaries for open jobs, hiring temporary employees, hiring recently retired candidates, recruiting graduates fresh out of school, hiring per diem or travel staff members and providing an increased on-the-job training.

Do you see anything your company utilizes to recruit qualified candidates for open healthcare jobs? If so, you are on the right track. If not, your company should consider using one or more of the trends made popular in 2015 for healthcare recruiting.

Healthcare IT Staffing Shortages

Who would have thought that there would be a shortage of IT workers in the healthcare industry? Well, this is another profession within the healthcare world that HR managers are struggling to fill when jobs become available. The HIMSS Analytics Workforce Survey from 2013 found that three of every four health care providers planned to hire an IT professional in the following year, but 31 percent of those companies had to stop a project because of issues with their IT staff levels.

How to Find Qualified Candidates for Healthcare Jobs

So, how does an HR manager move past the difficulties discussed in this post and find qualified candidates for their open healthcare jobs? There are plenty of options out there, including changing the way the company recruits and moving more towards social media. Social media can be a blessing and it can be a detriment, but it all depends on how your company uses it when looking for candidates when jobs become available.

Other options for fixing this problem and finding qualified candidates is taking a risk with an inexperienced candidate whom you can train and develop at your organization. You run the risk that he or she will leave at some point in their career, but it might be worth it in the long run if you are having trouble finding candidates that meet your job requirements.

Have you come across any of the difficulties in finding qualified candidates for healthcare jobs as an HR manager mentioned in this post? If so, start the discussion below this post by sharing some of your issues and how you have solved them. Or, if you still have not solved them, how you hope to fix them in the near future.

Business Continuity: The Complete Guide

While the future is impossible to predict, every company should have a plan in place to deal with situations that could occur so as to minimize harm to the company, its employees and get back to “business as usual” as quickly as possible. A business could be significantly affected by such things as fire, an earthquake, major data breach, an attack on employees, terrorism, or a flood. Is your company prepared for any of these events? If one occurs, do your employees know what to do to protect themselves and their co-workers? What can you do to protect your company’s assets so that the company can be back up and running as quickly as possible? A business continuity plan can answer these questions for you and provide you with some peace of mind while operating a business.

What is Business Continuity?

Business continuity is the ability of a business to continue to deliver its products and services despite suffering a disruptive incident such as a storm or a data breach. With business continuity is that of business continuity management, which is when a business identifies potential risks that could affect it and how to remain resilient should those risks occur.

Many businesses follow a business continuity management lifecycle, which continues to repeat throughout the lifetime of the company. The life cycle typically includes the design, implementation, validation, and analysis of the plan.

Why Does My Company Need a Business Continuity Plan?

The answer to this question is more simple than you might think. Your company needs a business continuity plan in order to resume operating procedures not long after a disaster strikes your business. With so many risks out there today, including natural disasters, terrorism and data breaches, companies need to have a plan in place should one of these issues arise and prevent your company from operating.

The worst thing you could do is assume that your employees know what to do when an emergency strikes your company. If you allow your employees to respond to the emergency in their own individual ways, it will only add to the confusion occurring at your company. A predetermined business continuity plan will ensure that all employees and management personnel stay on the same page following an emergency.

What Does a Business Continuity Plan Protect Against?

A business continuity plan can protect against anything your company deems to be a risk to its normal operations. These items can include any of the following:

• Natural Disasters (Hurricanes, Tornadoes, Floods, Fires, Earthquakes, Ice Storms)
• Man-Made Disasters (Terrorism, Data Breaches)
• Loss of Life due to a natural disaster or man-made disaster

Having a business continuity plan in place prior to an emergency will enable your company to respond effectively and return to a predetermined level of operations. That level of operation might not be as high as it was prior to the emergency, but it might be higher than that of your competition should an emergency occur that affects a large portion of your service area. You can even incorporate disaster planning into your business continuity plan.

Does my Small Business Need a Business Continuity Plan?

This seems like a harmless question, but it is a very important one that needs to be answered. Yes, businesses of all sizes should have a business continuity plan in place, even a small business. Just because you run a small business, it does not mean that you can afford to miss even a day’s worth of production due to an emergency. Small business owners invest too much of their time and money to lose even one day on the job. That is why a business should have a business continuity plan in place.

What Does a Business Continuity Plan Contain?

Depending on the size of your company, a business continuity plan might contain different elements, but the majority of them will be quite similar. The differences will lie in the risks your company identifies as potential emergencies that could affect daily operations. The following 10 items should be included in your business continuity plan.

Responsibility Areas

This part of the plan establishes a chain of command and areas of responsibility that take effect either at the time of an emergency or immediately after, which is important when dealing with crisis management.

Identification of Threats

Your plan must identify the possible threats to your business and the potential scope of those threats should they strike your company. For example, a hurricane could completely destroy your company’s physical location, while a lengthy power outage could prevent you from operating, but leave no lasting damage to your business.

Emergency Contact Info

The plan must also include updated emergency contact info for every single employee should an emergency strike your company. Contact information should also be included for local fire, police, EMS, utilities and other entities in the area. You do not want to scramble for this information when an emergency strikes.

Data Backup Off-Site

Your company must determine prior to an emergency where it will backup data off-site. All companies should have data backed up off-site in the event of a natural disaster or a data breach so it can be recovered in a timely manner.

Disaster Recovery Teams

The business continuity plan must define who will take part in disaster recovery teams at your company. These teams should include experts and specialists from your company who can help with safety issues, IT issues, security, communications, personnel and more.

Arrangements for Backup Power

Does your company have a backup generator system that will kick-in during an emergency? If not, the plan must have an answer for how power will be restored. If there is a backup generator on your property, make sure you designate personnel who will be responsible for activating it in an emergency and make sure they know how to do so ahead of time.

Alternate Operations Site

Should the building that houses your company is deemed uninhabitable, you need to have an alternate operations site named in the business continuity plan in order to continue operations following an emergency.

Alternate Communications

As we all know, communications in a natural disaster or terrorist attack can be limited or impossible altogether. Your BCP must have an alternate communications plan in it so your employees know how they can get in touch with each other.

Equipment Backup/Restoration

Equipment might be damaged or destroyed during an emergency, which is why your business continuity plan must include information about equipment backup and restoration.

Recovery

The final item in a business continuity plan should be information about recovery. This includes assessing damage, estimating the costs of recovery, dealing with insurance companies, monitoring the recovery process and transitioning management from the recovery team to normal managers.

Is a Business Continuity Plan the Same as a Disaster Recovery Plan?

A business continuity plan is not the same as a disaster recovery plan, but a disaster recovery plan is a small subset of a business continuity plan. Every business continuity plan should have a section that includes the company’s disaster recovery plan. When it comes to the data of a company, there must be backup of the data at a secondary off-site location that the employees can access during a disaster. If the secondary site cannot be accessed, then the disaster recovery plan was not an effective one.

What Can I Do Before a Disaster Hits My Business?

As a business owner, you are always thinking ahead, but are you thinking about what you can do before a disaster hits? For starters, you need to have an emergency preparedness plan in place, a pandemic preparedness plan in place, an emergency response plan in place, the incident command system in place and perform a safety and security audit.

Emergency Preparedness

Part of your business continuity plan is an emergency preparedness plan. This plan should detail where your employees can meet up after an emergency, what numbers they can call, how they can help and where safe places are in the building.

Pandemic Preparedness

Another important aspect of a business continuity plan is a pandemic preparedness plan. If a pandemic strikes, it will affect life, not your physical business. Your building and machinery will still be intact, but your employees might be sick and unable to perform their duties. You need to have a plan that deals with such an emergency.

Emergency Response Plan

An emergency response plan will allow your company to implement actions and steps needed following an emergency. You do not want to waste time after an emergency occurs. Instead, the quicker you move to assess what happened and begin recovery, the sooner your company will be back up and running.

Incident Command System

Not many people outside of emergency services know what the Incident Command System (ICS) is, but all business owners and management teams should familiarize themselves with it. The Incident Command System was established in 1968 by fire chiefs in Arizona. It has evolved over the last handful of decades and evolved to include the National Incident Management System (NIMS) following the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001.

The Incident Command System has a multitude of levels of certification, with the highest level of certification being held by FEMA officials, FBI officials, CIA officials and other high-ranking emergency services personnel. With the varying levels of ICS, you should designate one or two people within your company’s management to be responsible for certification. Classes are offered at police academies and fire academies across the country for ICS. Send managers to these classes to become certified at various levels of ICS so they can implement the system at your company should an emergency occur.

Safety and Security Audit

All companies need to perform a safety and security audit prior to an emergency occurring that affects the daily operations of the business. As you would expect, an audit of your company’s safety and security would be a review of the policies and procedures already in place and what should be added. The audit will take a look at your business’ internal and external security features, such as cameras, locked doors, keycard entries and much more. It will also examine the safety procedures in place for your employees and what needs to be improved or removed in order to keep your company running during an emergency.

What Should I Do After a Disaster Hits My Business?

Now that a disaster or emergency has hit your business, you might be wondering what you should do, even though you have a business continuity plan in place. You need to begin with emergency management, implement the ICS system, implement your disaster recovery plan and then analyze the impact the disaster had on your business.

Emergency Management

A disaster has struck your business, whether man-made or natural and now it is time to manage the emergency situation. Make sure all of your employees are safe and accounted for during and after the emergency. Make sure your recovery teams are in place and operating effectively at either the site of the disaster or at the secondary site for your business.

Activate ICS

If you know a disaster is going to hit, you can prepare accordingly, which includes activating the ICS ahead of time. But, if a natural disaster occurs with little warning, such as a tornado or a terrorist attack, you cannot activate ICS until after the disaster strikes.

Implement Disaster Recovery Plan

As mentioned earlier, you need to have a disaster recovery plan within your business continuity plan. The disaster recovery plan should be implemented once the disaster comes to an end so your company can begin to recover and move forward as soon as possible. This can include crisis management, which is how you and your employees manage a crisis during and after it happens.

Business Impact Analysis

The final aspect of your efforts following a disaster striking your business is to conduct a business impact analysis. This analysis will take a look at how your company was affected by the disaster as a whole and as individual departments. The analysis will also provide reports as to what aspects of your business are going to be down for an extended period of time and which ones will be able to return to normal operations quickly. The analysis can also provide the ownership and management of the company numbers on how much money has been lost due to the disaster and how much additional money will be lost in the coming days, weeks and months as the company recovers.

As you can see, a business continuity plan is a vital document for businesses of all sizes. Do not wait until the last minute to create your BCP because it could mean the difference between returning to normal operations and closing your company forever.