If you read our last blog, you learned four of our top strategies for successfully navigating today’s difficult talent landscape. In this blog, we’ll present the final four strategies and wrap up the series.
Our recent blogs have frequently addressed the low unemployment rate and the impact it’s having on the health technology industry from many angles. If you’d like more background on this subject, our free research report dives deeper into the driving forces behind this trend. The four strategies presented in this blog aren’t meant to replace the previous list – they should be referenced hand-in-hand to help you determine the combination of strategies that will work best for your organization’s unique situation.
If implemented correctly, these four strategies (alongside the initial four), can drastically improve your talent acquisition/retention strategy:
Increase compensation & rewards
The challenging labor market is forcing many employers to reevaluate their compensation budgets. According to a recent Mercer study, employers are projecting an increase of total compensation by 3.4% — up 3.2% from the previous year. Base salary is also expected to increase by 3%. We haven’t yet seen significant national increases in compensation in response to the competitive labor market; however, the health technology market historically increases compensation at a rate above the average. This is especially true of companies involved in software engineering and regulatory affairs. To supplement their compensation strategy, many employers are relying on short and long-term incentive plans and/or “pay-for-performance plans.” These programs effectively differentiate top performers from the rest of the pack. To remain competitive in the health technology job market, ensure your wages and reward programs are compelling enough to keep your existing employees as well as attract new talent.
Build brand awareness
Brand awareness is important for more than just attracting clients – a strong brand should attract talent as well. This process starts by focusing on your current employees and ensuring they have the best possible experience with you and your organization. Utilize online review platforms like Glassdoor and address any complaints/issues you may find. You can also survey your employees to better understand their sentiments and perspective. From there, use this data to make changes to improve the employee experience. Once you’ve established a strong people-focused brand, begin to market that externally. A common strategy for achieving this is to implement video on your social media feeds. A good example would be creating a “day in the life” series highlighting your employees and company culture.
Incentivize education
While this is a long-term strategy with delayed gratification, the most certain method for ensuring future talent is to create it. Government and educational institutions have made providing students with both research and workplace experience in health technology a priority. Most universities offer masters programs in biomedical engineering, many which provide stipends for internships to give students experience in the field. There are also local government and independent organizations that partner with companies to offer paid internships for these students. By entering a partnership and offering paid internships, you could provide a student with experience in your company along with an incentive to remain in the industry.
Collaborate with a reputable partner
Not everyone has the expertise or capacity to implement all these strategies for managing talent. If you can’t dedicate your time to focusing on talent acquisition, partner with a reputable recruiting/staffing firm to provide the top-tier talent you need. When you decide to pursue this route, make sure you understand the difference between implementing a contingent versus retained search firm and the impact this will have on your success. To learn about the pros and cons of each option, watch our video “Crash Course on Contingent and Retained Search.”
If you are a health-technology company looking to hire new talent and you want to partner with an organization that specializes exclusively in the health-technology industry, Talencio can help. Talencio is comprised of a diverse team of health technology professionals with extensive industry experience. Our unique partnership approach enables us to be your safety net whenever anticipated or unanticipated staffing needs arise. Talencio has been the preferred provider of vetted, accomplished professionals to the Health Technology Community for over 11 years. To learn how other companies have partnered with Talencio, tap into our skilled professional talent pool, or learn about career opportunities, contact us at 612.703.4236 or by email.
Written by: Ben Kvale, Talencio Marketing Intern
Sources: Paula Norbom and Benjamin Kvale. 2019 Health Technology Driving Forces: Navigating the Talent Crisis. Minneapolis, Minnesota: Talencio, 2019
Lauren Manson and Mary Ann Sardone. Mercer’s 2018/2019 US Compensation Planning Survey. Mercer, 2019