7 Tactics to Embed in Your Hiring Strategy
Medtech jobs are becoming increasingly difficult to fill. You may have noticed. The reason is two-fold.
First, in the United States, the medical devices industry employs around 2 million people, with 300,000 of these employed in medical technology jobs. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, eight of the top 10 areas which will experience the highest rate of jobs growth are related to health and medical services.
Second, there is a shortage of skills to fill the jobs that are being created by the evolution of technologies such as wearable devices, Software as a Medical Device (SaMD), robotics, and integration of IoT into Medtech platforms. In its research, SHRM has noted that the skills shortage in STEM fields is particularly acute:
- 75% of HR professionals report a talent shortage among candidates
- Tech skills are particularly short
- Science, engineering, and medical skills are among the top shortages of technical skills
In addition, the soft skills of problem solving, critical thinking, and communication are also scarce.
To combat the combination of high jobs growth and a widening skills gap – and ensure you hire the most talented people into your organization – you must take a strategic approach to hiring. Here are seven key tactics to bake into your approach.
1. Hire Temporary Employees
Hiring temporary employees can help to plug gaps while you are hiring for permanent vacancies. This tactic will help avert drops in productivity and maintain quality of work. This is also a tactic that you can employ to ensure you are fully staffed during project work when specific skills are needed.
A temporary-to-permanent hire allows you to ‘try before you buy’, and is often an exceptional method to learn about potential new employees before hiring them.
2. Outsource
For jobs that can be done remotely, outsourcing will enable you to access a global talent pool. You will, of course, need to ensure that those you hire are highly skilled. Other challenges include time zones and cultural differences. You will also need to have effective processes and technology in place that help you to manage a remote team and its members to collaborate effectively.
3. Maintain an Employee Referral Scheme
Reward your employees for referring talented people by developing an employee referral scheme. You employees understand the work you do and the culture that new employees must fit into, and so can be a good source of referrals. You will still need to carry out comprehensive screening of potential employees though, to make sure you are hiring the talent you need.
4. Develop Your Employer Brand
A long-term strategy to attract talent is to develop a positive employer brand. To do this you must focus on a range of activities, such as using social media to share the latest industry news, discussing trends, and connecting with industry professionals. This requires commitment and dedication – it’s a continuous undertaking, not a one-time magic wand.
5. Develop Your Talent Pool
Your talent pool includes internal and external resource. Internally, seek to upskill your current employees by delivering targeted training and coaching.
Externally, as well as developing your employer brand and using these connections as a source of talent, you should also consider keeping a database of previous candidates that you rejected. Just because they weren’t quite right for a role before does not mean they should not be considered next time.
6. Provide Great Candidate Experiences
It’s crucial to provide a slick, seamless hiring process. Make sure that you keep candidates informed at all stages, treating them with the same respect that you would your clients. When making a hiring decision, be decisive. There are many stories of hiring companies missing out on top-quality candidates because they were too slow to make an offer.
7. Partner with a Specialized Staffing Agency
A specialist staffing agency will give you immediate access to a broad and deep talent pool. Candidates will have been vetted, and presented to you as a match for the skills and experience you need, as well as for fit on personality and culture.
A staffing agency will also be able to fill roles to the contract types you need – from temporary to permanent. Here at ACG Resources, we offer a variety of staffing solutions, including:
- Interim management
- Temporary staffing
- Retained search
- Contingent search
- Hybrid search
You should never suffer from a shortage of skills in your Medtech jobs. We are here to make sure you don’t.
These seven tactics are integral to a successful hiring strategy. To learn more about how we help our clients overcome their hiring challenges, contact ACG Resources today.
