Working at digital health startup can have its challenges. Not only are you wearing a lot of hats, you’re also trying to find the right healthcare talent to help your organization grow. Every hire within a digital health organization makes a major impact since you are working on such lean teams. If you don’t hire the right candidate for the role, you could face turnover— preventing your startup from growing.

“If you want to find and recruit healthcare professionals for your organization, you can’t use the same formula you’ve used to attract technical candidates or administrative employees,” says Becky Litvack, Managing Director at ES Healthcare, a division of The Execu|Search Group. “Healthcare professionals have their own set of needs and expectations when it comes to their work, and startups need to account for that when they start the hiring process.”

If you are having trouble hiring the top healthcare talent for your organization, Becky has a few tips to keep in mind for boosting your offer acceptances:

Showcase perks that other companies may not offer

Many healthcare professionals are used to working in hospitals or clinics with great healthcare benefits and a lot of paid time off. If you want to convince them to apply to roles outside of a typical healthcare facility, you’ll need to showcase your organization’s unique perks. For example, a work from home policy, unlimited vacation days, or free snacks around the office are all perks you’ll want to showcase in your job descriptions. They can be the deciding factor that encourages a healthcare professional to apply to your job!

Highlight opportunities for growth

Another aspect startups can leverage over healthcare facilities is the potential for growth. Unlike hospitals or clinics that may have a very structured timeline for promotions, many startups allow their employees to wear a lot of hats since their teams can be very lean. If your startup is in a position to promote from within or give additional responsibilities to their healthcare employees, make sure to showcase this throughout the hiring process.

Showcase your organization’s fast-paced environment

Along with less structured guidelines on promotions, many healthcare organizations can have a lot of red tape that can prevent employees from making an impact. With many startups, red tape isn’t an issue. This can enable employees to make a change and help patients in a faster way. If your startup is a fast-paced environment, you’ll want to showcase this to your potential candidates. Not only could it help you stand out from the other job opportunities for healthcare providers, you’ll also attract the type of candidates that want to make a difference.

Showcase your passionate leaders throughout the process

Many digital health startups have a passion for changing the healthcare industry, and they have leaders that exemplify this message. If you have these types of employees at your organization, you’ll want to have them talk to your potential candidates. “When you have passionate employees, make sure to have them talk to your potential new hires. It could be the deciding factor for many candidates to accept the role,” says Becky. “For example, a nurse we placed at a Google Venture-Backed healthcare startup was at first uncertain if she wanted to be the first nurse at this organization. However, she decided to take the offer because she really enjoyed speaking with the CEO of the organization and knew she wanted to work with her.”

Work with a staffing firm

If you’ve followed the tips above and still aren’t able to recruit healthcare professionals for your organization, you may want to consider working with a staffing firm to help fill your open positions. Not only will a staffing firm have the market intelligence to attract healthcare talent, they also make the process more seamless and can speed up the hiring process. Feel free to reach out to us today if you want to learn more about working with a healthcare staffing firm to ease your hiring needs.