Has the pandemic launched recruitment into tomorrow’s world?

by Dave Beesley, Talent Director, Cohesion Recruitment. |

The care sector in the UK has been right there on the frontline since March and continues to fight a courageous battle against Covid-19, as a second wave looms going into winter. Naturally this places even more pressure on recruitment, an age-old issue for the sector.

by Dave Beesley, Talent Director, Cohesion Recruitment

The care sector in the UK has been right there on the frontline since March and continues to fight a courageous battle against Covid-19, as a second wave looms going into winter. Naturally this places even more pressure on recruitment, an age-old issue for the sector.  

The numbers of applications from March increased exponentially as the care sector was spotlighted by the media. Added to this positive attention for a hardworking industry; swathes of businesses in other sectors began reducing staffing levels as a reaction to tough lockdown restrictions. There was also increased demand for care workers and support roles to fill gaps left by ill, shielding or isolating staff as well as more older people needing care.

A few weeks in, the media went back to their norm of highlighting problems within the sector. Covid-19 spread rapidly in many care homes around the country with large numbers of residents succumbing to the virus. Lack of PPE was frequently mentioned, which likely contributed to the high numbers of withdrawals of applicants from the recruitment process that began to be seen; higher than the usual for the industry.

Care providers were required to adapt their recruitment processes quickly; speeding up the time to hire, interviewing candidates remotely and onboarding newly appointed staff without delay. Video interviews reduced unnecessary in-person contact and online induction processes allowed candidates to complete training and induction virtually, saving time and increasing candidate engagement. Providing online training after offer acceptance and before the start date kept candidates engaged, reducing the likelihood of applicants starting a new job elsewhere whilst waiting. It was possible to start a worker before full compliance checks had been completed whilst these were going through in the background.

In one instance, utilising these processes, Cohesion, a specialist recruitment and workforce solutions business for the health and care sector, supported The Orders of St John Care Trust with hiring over 450 applicants in a three-month period during the pandemic. This involved managing over 3000 applications with an overall time to hire of 16 days on average, and a 97% offer acceptance rate.

On the 19th November Cohesion will be hosting a Care England webinar to discuss a successful recruitment campaign for Care England Member, Fairlie Healthcare. Cohesion and Fairlie Healthcare will explain; how they digitalised recruitment, their thoughts on the legacy of Covid-19 and recommendations for keeping talent in a Covid-19 world. Cohesion are requesting that anyone involved in any part of the recruitment process take part in their survey – Futureproofing Care Recruitment. The results of this survey will be shared as part of the session on the 19th November.

So has 2020 launched recruitment into Tomorrow’s World? Perhaps the jury is still out as Covid-19 impact continues to be analysed, but as a sector we’ve adapted, which will stand us in good stead for the winter pressures to come. It certainly seems that everyone, whether in the care sector or not, will in some way need to embrace our ‘new normal’.