Recruiting Mental Health Professionals

Behavioral healthcare organizations, alongside the rest of the health care industry, are struggling to find and keep skilled staff members. The rising healthcare staff shortage and skyrocketing turnover rates are affecting employers, their existing staff, and their clients. In the state of Massachusetts, there are 2,454 jobs listed seeking mental health clinicians.

Partner the growing mental health crisis with a truly unprecedented labor shortage, and we get to this burning question: How are we recruiting mental health professionals in this climate?

When you and your competition are posting the same positions, are on the same job boards, and are offering similar hiring bonuses, the key to attracting top mental health professionals lies in the candidate experience.

Here are seven of the top talent recruitment tricks we like to follow when you need an added boost to your hiring efforts:

1. Make the Call

Working professionals’ inboxes and DM’s are overflowing with messages from recruiters. Everyone is fighting tooth and nail over the same talent, making it impossible to stand out amidst the overwhelming stream of pleas in response to a profile. If you go the extra step and take the initiative to make a phone call and connect with them as a person, you’re already ahead of your competition.

2. Double Down on Candidate Communication

A one-and-done cold call will not cut it here. These candidates are burnt out on the surface-level conversation and impersonal offers. Even when you’re managing high-volume hiring, make an effort to follow up with your candidates and truly understand their job seeker motivation. This might seem like a small thing, but this showcase of effort will go a long way in building trust when recruiting mental health professionals.

3. Default to Transparency

As if it needs to be said, mental health pros can usually spot a farce from a mile away. Transparency in the form of the good, the bad, and even the ugly is absolutely critical in recruiting therapists and the like. This honesty also ensures a better quality candidate for the role you’re filling because they know what to expect upfront. If you sugarcoat it, you’re contributing to your 90-day attrition rate in the worst way.

4. Know Your Differentiators

What sets your company apart from the competition aside from what the candidate sees upfront? How’s your mentorship program or your company culture? Student loan forgiveness options or continuing education stipend? If you’re unsure what to highlight, ask current employees which benefits matter most to them. Those same benefits will likely appeal to prospective hires, so don’t forget to capitalize on them.

5. Simplify the Application Process

Stop losing out on top talent because your application process feels too much like doing your taxes. The hiring market is still moving at lightning speed, and if you’re not making the offer quickly, you’re almost certainly losing out to those that are. Speed up the process by eliminating unnecessary hurdles, and you’ll notice that you’ll cut your time to hire in the process.

6. Nail the Onboarding

There’s nothing worse for a new employee than experiencing a quick hire and a sluggish onboarding process. This is especially true when recruiting mental health professionals due to the particularly high demand. Have your strategy in place to ensure their success from day one, and they’ll be mentally prepared to succeed from the start.

Nowadays, many organizations are embracing a paperless onboarding process since it enables you to begin the onboarding experience before they even step into the role. With countless options for digital paperwork, eSignatures, and virtual walkthroughs, you can complete your most boring and tedious aspects (like reviewing the handbook, signing forms, and setting up direct deposit. Ensure success before their first day, so your new hire has a more enjoyable experience.

7. Continue the Relationship

Mental Health professionals are absolutely the client to follow up with. Once you have placed a candidate, check in on them regularly from the first week, week 6, and again around 3 months. This not only helps build trust with the candidate but also bolsters the likelihood that they’ll stick with the position instead of jumping ship for a better offer.

BONUS: Technology on your Side

Hiring in this market is tricky enough, but hiring a niche group like mental health professionals requires a unique set of resources.

The PREDICTIVEHR approach to RPO significantly increases the number of qualified hires while decreasing expenses and lowering the time it takes to fill open positions—saving hiring managers hours each day and getting right-fit candidates into your organization. Trust an RPO with dedicated behavioral health subject matter experts to understand your industry needs.

Get started with your free demo today.