Actionable Recruiting Strategies for Healthcare Leaders
Want a steady stream of great people? Amplify your connection.
Is your clinic struggling to find high-quality employees?
Recently on Healthcare Leadership Live, I had the pleasure of speaking with Sean DeVore, a true expert in healthcare recruiting and the founder of a successful matchmaking firm focused on connecting clinics with top talent at all levels.
If you’re a leader or owner of a small to mid-sized practice or clinic struggling with staff retention and a constant cycle of bad hires, this conversation provided crucial, actionable takeaways. We discussed everything from locating passive job seekers to leveraging overseas hiring for strategic growth.
Here are the key takeaways from my conversation with Sean Devore that you can implement immediately to transform your healthcare recruiting and stabilize your teams.
Takeaway 1: Abandon Automation for Authentic, Human Connection
In an age saturated with electronic communication, standing out requires reverting to old-school methods: personalized reach-outs. Sean emphasizes that many candidates are tired of receiving cold, automated emails.
If you see a promising resume or profile, pick up the phone. A quick text or a direct phone call works because people crave direct communication, and electronic methods often feel cold and lack warmth. This human touch is especially critical in healthcare, a service profession where candidates should demonstrate warmth and caring toward patients.
Sean’s company ensures a high level of personalized effort by reaching out to a candidate at least five times within two weeks to break through the noise. If you can dedicate even 20 to 30 minutes daily to this labor-intensive process, you will immediately increase the quality of your candidate pool.
Takeaway 2: Focus on Passion For Healthcare and Service
How do you find these high-quality individuals? Sean recommends looking for those who have a passion for the job and who genuinely love what they do. When screening, ask a seemingly simple but revealing question: "Why are you doing what you're doing?". If the answer isn’t convincingly focused on service, that candidate is likely not the right fit. Healthcare requires compassion, treating patients like family, and a sincere desire to help people.
Sean insists on looking for a commitment level, ideally a minimum of one to two years. Hiring someone lacking this drive only results in issues that HR professionals (like myself) often have to clean up later, such as performance improvement plans (PIPs) or disciplinary action.
Furthermore, rigorous reference checking is non-negotiable. Don't rely on the candidate's prepared list; probe deeper. When you get a reference on the phone, ask them, "Would you hire them again or recommend them for another company?" If the feedback is lukewarm or they only confirm the candidate is "eligible for rehire," consider that a red flag. I always aim for at least one enthusiastic reference from a credible source.
When staff are motivated by internal drive, they are less likely to become disciplinary issues and are more likely to positively contribute to your clinic's culture. This is the difference between adding to your culture versus subtracting from it.
Takeaway 3: Follow-Up to Eliminate No-Shows
One of the biggest pain points for healthcare administrators and hiring managers is the candidate no-show. This wastes valuable time and disrupts the workflow of busy clinical staff.
Sean provided an amazing piece of practical advice: Implement a meticulous follow-up protocol to ensure candidates show up. His firm checks in with candidates before the interview—the day before and even an hour before—to confirm their attendance.
While few small practices have the bandwidth for this level of personal attention, the goal is clear: make it a priority to confirm commitment. If a candidate won't return a text or call to confirm an interview, they certainly won't demonstrate reliability once hired. This small effort drastically reduces administrative waste and shows respect for your hiring manager's time.
An HR partner can help you audit your current hiring process and implement tools—whether manual or automated—to ensure fewer wasted interviews, setting a tone of professionalism from the very first interaction.
Want HR support without the full-time price tag? Contact me to chat!
Takeaway 4: Embrace Global Talent
The availability of quality, committed remote talent has changed dramatically since COVID. He has had tremendous success sourcing talent from overseas, noting their high commitment level, warmth, and cost savings (up to 60-70% less than local hires).
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This isn't about replacing all your local staff, but about strategic augmentation. Remote staff can handle numerous essential tasks, including marketing, medical scribing, accounting support, handling patient test results, and remote monitoring. By saving money on these critical but non-patient-facing roles, you can afford to hire another person locally, reducing the chronic short-staffing that leads to burnout in the office.
A critical caveat to this strategy, however, is that leaders must treat remote staff exactly the same as local employees. Sean emphasized that he personally visits his overseas teams to build strong, personal relationships with them and their families, fostering the same trust and commitment he expects from local hires.
If you are exploring overseas hiring, Sean recommends two things:
Define your "wish list" of tasks (e.g., social media management, data entry, patient appointment reminders).
Require a video clip or interview alongside the résumé to assess their personality, warmth, and communication style before moving forward.
Leveraging remote or global talent is a powerful growth hack, but it introduces complexities in compliance, contracts, and integration. Enlist an expert to help you find the right person and to get the contracting and compliance completed properly.
Propelling Your Clinic Forward with Strategic HR
Sean DeVore’s core message is that effective healthcare recruiting is a relationship business requiring patience, strategic follow-up, and genuine human engagement.
As an HR service provider specializing in clinical environments, I see the ripple effect of poor hiring every day—from overwhelmed physicians to high staff turnover. Implementing the type of strategic, relationship-driven hiring process Sean discussed directly impacts your business's ability to onboard staff effectively, maintain high performance during management, and secure long-term retention.
Sean can be found at seandevore.com.
To learn more about optimizing your staff retention and getting better results from your payroll expense, message me today.
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