5 Recruitment Strategies in Healthcare to Address Long-Term Challenges

Healthcare organizations continue to face severe workforce shortages. Hospital employment dropped by nearly 94,000 jobs in the early years of the pandemic, and an analysis of Emsi data projected a critical shortage of 3.2 million healthcare workers by 2026. That forecast is now reality. The Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA) continues to project significant physician and allied health shortages for years to come, while the American Hospital Association (AHA) warns that the nursing shortage shows no signs of easing without sustained action.

In healthcare, recruiting and hiring decisions shape patient care quality, workforce stability, and long-term financial performance. Even so, focusing only on how to recruit healthcare professionals misses the big picture: Organizations need to establish strong processes that draw in high-performing workers while reducing attrition and promoting engagement.

The five strategies below address the full recruiting cycle — from EVP development to candidate experience — with approaches that support both attraction and retention.

What recruitment strategies help healthcare organizations compete for talent?

One obvious solution for improving recruitment is to increase compensation and total rewards. If your organization offers a competitive total compensation package with excellent pay, benefits, and perks, that’s an important selling point. However, while total compensation might attract employees, it won’t necessarily retain them, and the increased compensation for traveler nurses has made it difficult for many healthcare systems to compete with these high wages.

At the same time, the growth of telehealth, hybrid care models, and expanded mental health services has changed what candidates expect from employers. Workers increasingly seek flexibility, digital fluency, and roles that align with modern care delivery. Organizations must find methods beyond total rewards to attract (and retain) talent.

1. Develop and communicate a strong employee value proposition (EVP)

In my article on healthcare employee retention, I noted the importance of having a comprehensive employee listening strategy to identify the factors that drive commitment. Those factors are closely aligned with the Employee Value Proposition (EVP): the benefits employees receive from their employers in exchange for their hard work and commitment. An enticing EVP is a competitive advantage during this talent war, communicating benefits in the employee experience that applicants won’t find elsewhere.

Communicating a strong EVP that aligns with peoples’ goals and desires not only helps improve recruiting of active applicants, but it can also help attract passive candidates to your organization, expanding your applicant pool. Key aspects of your organization’s EVP beyond total rewards (compensation, benefits) can include:

• Company culture and values and how collaboration, coworkers, and leaders support that culture

• Opportunities for development and advancement

• Opportunities for empowerment and well-being

• Feelings of accomplishment and contribution to meaningful work

• Trust in leaders and their vision for the future of the organization

• Diverse, equitable, and inclusive experiences where all can thrive

A strong EVP improves employee retention, and it’s also critically important when recruiting and hiring. What advantages does your organization offer nurses, doctors, and technicians that they can’t find elsewhere? What can it provide to maintenance workers, coders, and interpreters?

To find out, ask your engaged employees for insights into why they joined the organization, what they love about their experiences, and why they stay. Leaders must revisit these questions regularly — Perceptyx research shows that what employees value in their employee experience shifts over time. Surveys can help revamp your EVP, which can make your organization more appealing to qualified candidates.

2. Create targeted messages for different types of candidates

You’ll need to clearly communicate your EVP to every applicant in order to fill roles. Even so, each candidate has different priorities, and an effective recruiting process will take these differences into consideration.

Consider adopting a persona-based strategy to tailor your approach. Personas identify trends among current employees and applicants, allowing recruiters to tailor their strategies and messages by highlighting certain aspects of the organization’s EVP that are most important and appealing to different types of applicants.

For example, organizational culture is especially important for attracting Gen Z workers, who are now approaching 30 and represent a growing share of the healthcare workforce; if an organization doesn’t empower diverse perspectives and offer opportunities to thrive, they will look elsewhere. A recent study found 99% of Gen Z (defined within the study as born after 1996) identified diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in the workplace as an important factor, and 87% defined it as “very important.”

Similarly, candidates increasingly differ in their expectations around technology, telehealth readiness, and flexibility. Some prioritize hybrid care settings and digital tools, while others value traditional in-person roles. Tailoring your recruitment messages to reflect these preferences helps your organization stand out in a crowded market.

When communicating with recent graduates, your organization might highlight its achievements in building an equitable, inclusive environment. You can demonstrate how your culture rewards workers and facilitates feelings of belonging, helping to attract and retain workers who share these same values.

3. Prioritize internal hiring to support employee growth

Employees won’t stay if they can’t grow within your organization. Although career growth does not only mean vertical advancement – continuous learning, special projects, training programs, and other stretch assignments can be similarly effective – hiring existing talent rather than external applicants to fill roles not only benefits the organization but also fulfills employees’ desires for career advancement.

By hiring from within, you’ll reward highly engaged, productive employees for their work. Additionally, the strategy shows other workers that career growth is possible. You’ll also maintain organizational knowledge and talent, which limits the costs of training and onboarding.

When promoting employees, performance review surveys and career development surveys can offer useful insights. You’ll need to determine whether employees remain engaged after promotions, whether engagement increases within their department, and whether your career development programs generate the intended benefits. For workers, these moments matter – and you’ll need to listen to ensure their expectations are aligned with your organization’s intentions.

4. Build academic partnerships to reach emerging healthcare talent

Every healthcare organization should maintain a presence on job boards to draw experienced applicants. However, it’s also important to establish relationships with academic institutions; many talented candidates left the healthcare field entirely in 2021, but enrollment in medical schools.) and nursing programs increased substantially over the past year.

Unlike other industries, much of the healthcare workforce requires extensive training. By building relationships with academic institutions, healthcare organizations can generate excitement about the healthcare space and shape curricula to reflect modern needs. As telehealth and hybrid care models continue to grow, these partnerships also provide an opportunity to ensure emerging professionals develop the digital fluency and communication skills required for virtual care alongside traditional clinical competencies.

Leading organizations are building talent pipelines through strategic partnerships:

• Marshfield Clinic Health System: Partnered with the University of Wisconsin’s school of nursing and UW-Stevens Point to provide onsite clinical training.

• Norton Healthcare: Established an academy with Jefferson County Public Schools to offer high school students job shadowing, internships, and volunteering opportunities.

5. Streamline your hiring and recruitment processes

In healthcare, applicants are also customers: Each potential hire may have been your patient in the past, or they might be your patient in the future. With this in mind, organizations need to build modern, simplified hiring and onboarding processes that make applicants feel valued. In a market where skilled candidates often evaluate multiple offers simultaneously, speed and engagement throughout the hiring process can determine whether you land your top choice.Even if an applicant isn’t accepted, a strong process can help you avoid negatively impacting their feelings about the organization.

Candidate experience surveys can be useful for identifying gaps between what the organization believes it does well and candidates’ expectations. Key aspects of an efficient hiring and recruitment process include:

• Quick, user-friendly applications

• Clear communication regarding job expectations

• Clear communication of total compensation and EVP

• Responsive recruiters with clear expectations of next steps

Remember, realistic job previews are also critical to ensure applicants understand the role. Don’t oversell a particular position. When worker expectations are misaligned with reality, early employee turnover is virtually inevitable. Accurately describing a role might reduce the number of applicants in the front end, but it’s a more cost-effective approach in the long run.

Onboarding surveys provide an opportunity to ask questions about the transition to the workplace and the accuracy of job descriptions. By understanding the candidate and new hire experiences, you can refine your messaging and processes when needed.

Frequently asked questions

What are the five recruitment strategies for healthcare organizations?

The five recruitment strategies covered in this article are:

• Develop and communicate a strong employee value proposition (EVP)

• Create targeted messages for different types of candidates

• Prioritize internal hiring to support employee growth

• Build academic partnerships to reach emerging healthcare talent

• Streamline your hiring and recruitment processes

Compensation matters, but salary alone will not close the healthcare talent gap.

What are the different types of healthcare recruitment strategies?

Healthcare recruitment strategies typically fall into two categories:

• Internal strategies: Promoting current staff, supporting career development, and using performance data to identify growth opportunities

• External strategies: Using job boards, academic partnerships, employer branding, referral programs, and candidate experience improvements to attract new talent

Most healthcare organizations need both internal and external strategies to build a stable workforce.

How can AI improve healthcare recruitment?

AI tools can streamline healthcare recruitment by automating time-consuming tasks and improving candidate matching. Organizations can use AI to screen resumes more efficiently, identify qualified candidates based on skills and experience, and reduce unconscious bias in initial screening stages. AI-powered chatbots can also enhance the candidate experience by providing immediate responses to applicant questions and scheduling interviews. However, healthcare organizations should balance automation with human touchpoints — especially when communicating your EVP and assessing cultural fit — to ensure candidates feel valued throughout the process.

Should healthcare organizations recruit non-traditional candidates?

Yes. Non-traditional candidates — including career changers, military veterans, and workers from adjacent industries — can bring valuable skills and fresh perspectives to healthcare roles. Many administrative, technical, and support positions don't require clinical backgrounds, and candidates with experience in customer service, logistics, or technology can excel in healthcare settings. Organizations should evaluate transferable skills and provide clear pathways for training and development. By expanding your talent pool beyond traditional healthcare backgrounds, you can fill critical gaps while building a more diverse workforce.

Is rehiring former employees (boomerang employees) an effective recruitment strategy?

Rehiring former employees can be highly effective for healthcare organizations. Alumni who left on good terms often return with enhanced skills, broader perspectives, and renewed appreciation for your organization's culture. They require less onboarding, already understand your systems and values, and can contribute immediately. To support this strategy, maintain positive relationships with departing employees through exit interviews and alumni networks. Stay connected through periodic outreach and make it easy for former staff to explore opportunities when they're ready to return. However, it's important to understand why they left initially and ensure those concerns have been addressed before extending an offer.