The battle to fill shifts
Despite the country slowly returning to pre-COVID “normalcy” there are still huge workforce shortages in the healthcare and social assistance sector, particularly aged care – regardless of whether talent is needed in residential care settings or in regional/remote areas, there is a continued battle to fill shifts.
In a sector that is already struggling financially, the pressure on recruitment teams and managers to fill vacancies is an ever-building crescendo. Reduced candidate numbers, no-shows to interviews and even no-shows on the first day on the job are increasing, leaving managers at their wits’ end.
The need for speed
But with pressure comes risks. The need for speed to snap up any available care staff is a slippery slope to hasty hiring decisions. We’re seeing organisations using fewer reference checks, removing additional screening or going from one (video) interview straight into sending a contract.
Although speed-to-hire is important, preventing hiring mistakes remains critical, as the cost of a hiring mistake is not only front-loaded but continues to ripple long after the bad hire has been dismissed.
Research finds that a bad hire can cost an employer between 15 – 21 per cent of that employee’s salary, with the extent of the impact depending on the industry and seniority of the role. They furthermore found that 61 per cent of employers have settled for a candidate that did not sufficiently match the job role, ultimately hindering growth and incurring additional costs to the organisation.
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Reasons to keep psychometric assessments
Psychometric assessments are becoming increasingly popular for frontline care roles because they effectively showcase a candidate’s soft skills, which can be more challenging to identify through a standard resume. One provider of psychometric assessments for the care sector, Care Advantage, has screened close to 200,000 Australian care applicants in the past seven years.
However, they too have seen a change in how their assessments are being used and a push-back from managers who just want to get their shifts filled. Although it may be tempting to skip additional screening, there are compelling reasons why these types of assessments work:
- There are many different types of assessments that give insight into aspects of a person that are more difficult to uncover otherwise, such as personality style, risky attitudes to work, cognitive ability, level of emotional intelligence and more.
- They can identify people with the right fit for a job without necessarily having relevant experience. Perfect for hiring people from different sectors. Skills can be taught!
- Every part of the recruitment process can be exaggerated or faked by the candidate and it’s estimated that 40 per cent of people lie in their resume and another 45 per cent of candidates admit not having been fully honest in an interview. While psychometric assessments can also be exaggerated, many assessments will mention in the final report if this may have been the case.
- Candidates who complete the assessments are often more motivated for the role than those who do not.
- Psychometric assessments are no longer cumbersome and time-consuming. Many have short-form options, gamification elements and an excellent candidate experience.
Speed and due diligence are not mutually exclusive
Increased speed and efficiency can be achieved by using a recruitment system and automating regular tasks. It is important to keep that human touch when recruiting for frontline care roles. Contacting applicants by phone or text message soon after they apply appears to be best practice. Emails tend to get lost. In addition, many organisations choose to invite applicants to complete psychometric assessments before even looking at a resume. This is particularly handy for passive job seekers who may not have a resume on hand, or for job applicants from different sectors. Plus, it helps sift out applicants who weren’t really interested.
Although the Aged Care Worker Registration Scheme could come into effect this year, due diligence remains important and the responsibility of the organisation. In the end, it is better to get it right from the start than to smoothen the far-reaching ripple of hiring mistakes.
Want to incorporate psychometric assessments in your talent strategy? The Care Advantage is offering readers five FREE candidate assessments – click here to get in touch and redeem.
With nearly two decades of experience in Human Resources, Marleen Galligan is a seasoned professional with a diverse skill set that includes recruitment, change management, training, marketing and communication, EVP, and psychometric assessments. Leveraging her educational background in psychology, Marleen provides valuable guidance to clients through a range of services and tools, including their Employee Referral app, Care Friends, to help turbocharge the power of employee referral and their Psychometric Assessment tool, Care Advantage, to effectively screen candidates.