There’s More to Healthcare Employer Branding Than Job Ads

Employer Branding in Healthcare

The health and welfare sector is under pressure. Staff shortages remain acute. Even positions such as residential supervisors or caretakers are becoming increasingly difficult to fill. At the same time, there is often a lot of commitment, warmth and professional pride within care and welfare organizations. Only ... the outside world does not always see this. And that is where the shoe pinches.

A vacancy on a jobsite, however well written, is rarely enough. Today, candidates expect an authentic approach in which they are really listened to. They want to know what they are signing up for and especially: why they should choose your organization. It is time to approach the candidate journey strategically, with an eye for the person behind the CV and with an integrated view of HR and communication.

From first impression to first day at work: this is how candidates think today

Anyone looking for a job in healthcare does not go through a linear process. There are doubts, thresholds, exploration, considerations. Candidates today often have several vacancies to choose from and can compare different employers. That means every contact moment counts.

We distinguish four common profiles:

• The school leaver looking for growth opportunities
• The experienced transfer student who values flexibility and recognition
• The lateral starter from another sector who is unsure about the match
• The re-entrant who needs confidence and support

Each of these profiles experiences the candidate journey differently. Investing in them increases both intake and retention.

Why recruitment is not just a concern for HR

Today, recruitment is as much a communication issue as it is an HR process. And that's where many care and welfare organizations fail. The teams involved work side by side, vacancies sound warm but the procedures feel cold, onboarding focuses on administration instead of connection, ...

Strong healthcare and wellness organizations are putting their efforts into collaboration between HR, communications and leadership. They are not just thinking about today's vacancy, but tomorrow's employee experience.

What does work: proven ingredients for a strong candidate experience

Based on our experience in health and wellness, as well as HR, we see that the following elements make a lasting difference:

1. Authentic employer branding

   
   No stock images or slogans, but real employees who share their story through short videos, social media or a blog. Your branding is only credible if employees endorse it and can put it into words themselves. Make it clear who you are, not just what you do.

2. Smart channel choice

   
   Use platforms that resonate with your target audiences: from Instagram Reels for young people to local job fairs for move-on workers. Be visible where your target audience can notice you and connect with valuable initiatives, events or channels that add sparkle to your employer story.

3. Enticing but honest job postings

   
   Bring your values to life in job postings, leave room for recognition, and show what you really care about. Work with testimonials from colleagues. Work briefly and powerfully, you convince applicants in a few sentences, not with a page-long job description.

4. A dynamic selection process

   
   Make sure that the selection process gives you and the candidate quick insight into what you have to offer each other. Provide contact with future colleagues, reduce the process to the bare essentials and provide sufficient time to answer the candidate's questions thoroughly.

5. Onboarding as a key career moment

   Good onboarding is more than a welcome brochure. Provide:

• Flexible customized learning pathways with a good mix of digital and live offerings, group and individual formats, ...
• Structured feedback moments where the employee and organization can discuss and, hopefully, reaffirm their choice for each other.
• A godfather and godmother or buddy operation with clear role agreements.
• A shared roadmap that HR, managers and buddies use together.
• Connect before the start by including prospective employees in newsletters, inviting them to company events, ...
• Recognize and accommodate the experience the new colleague brings.

And finally ... always use the candidate's perspective as a touchstone when redesigning your approach. Approachable, authentic and flexible are the key words here.

How Möbius helps: from insight to impact

At Möbius, we guide healthcare and wellness organizations in designing a candidate experience that really works. We combine our expertise in HR, communications and process improvement. We start from personas and existing customer or candidate journeys, identify bottlenecks and opportunities, and co-create solutions in collaboration with the internal team.

Those solutions are never standard. Sometimes the biggest leverage is in rewriting job postings, sometimes in creating an ambassador program, sometimes in rethinking the selection approach or onboarding process. But the impact is always tangible: on the inflow, on the perception of new employees, on the trust of managers and on the image of the organization.

Ready to future-proof your recruitment approach?

Healthcare and wellness organizations that work on a strategic candidate journey today are building not only a strong employer brand, but also sustainable teams. By building the right bridge between humanity and professionalism, and by bringing HR and communications together in one story.

At Möbius, we'd love to help you do that.

👉 Want to know how you can get started with personas, better onboarding or creative recruitment campaigns? Contact us for a no-obligation conversation.