With changes in the industry coming hot on the heels of Covid, how do you scale your medical device recruitment to deal with product demand?
The medical device industry changed more in the time of Covid-19 than probably any other time in its history. Countries were desperate for ventilators across the first half of 2020 (the UK alone upped its ventilator numbers by 22,600 in 2020), but that wasn’t the only area affected.
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During the pandemic, people put off seeking treatment, upping demand for medical devices when each country’s situation calmed down. And, with the lingering popularity of remote appointments, medical tech looks like it will continue to be in demand for a while.
The demand for medical information to guide public health also forced more data to be gathered in 2020 than ever before. Data gathering is a trend that’s set to continue. In the US, The FDA has stated that since the 2016 21st Century Cures Act, real-world data (RWD) is playing an increasing role in health care decisions.
This means more technology and people to handle and analyse this data, and links between medical devices required to store and transport data. And that was before Coronavirus hit.
How Has this Changed the Medical Devices Landscape?
Many processes in the medical device industry has gathered pace, quickly.
Rapid deployment is now vital as the industry reacts to changing circumstances. But this situation has created complex logistics that need dealt with quickly.
The Pandemic Has Had a Knock-on Effect for Medical Device Recruitment
The demand for equipment and data hasn’t just caused logistical problems, it’s also caused staffing issues. Many roles are highly trained and finding new employees to facilitate this demand hasn’t been easy.
Add economic uncertainty and competitors also facing the same issues, and finding top talent in medical device recruitment has been a challenge.
So How Do You Find New Medical Device Talent?
Look at other industries would be our first tip. By searching in other highly rated industries, you can tap into talent that understand the value of standards like ISO13485.
Industries like automotive, aerospace, and even pharma to an extent are good places to begin.
However, how do you know where to look in these markets? What locations have abundant talent? What the salary expectations will be?
Talent Mapping can help here. This provides a comprehensive overview of talent pools in specific locations or markets and shows where opportunities and risks lie. At Solutions Driven, we often create talent maps for businesses breaking into new sectors or changing location. Talent Maps provide them with a comprehensive view of the talent pools available. From a talent map, recruiters and hiring managers can make a hiring plan, taking the data and insights to inform their strategy.
But don’t expect these markets to be easy pickings. The automotive industry has had a difficult couple of years but things are picking up with electric vehicles. Obviously pharma is going through a lot of the same changes too.
How to Attract This Talent
Engage Candidates
One of the best ways to attract passive talent across all industries is to engage them properly. According to Talent Board, negative candidate experience will cause 69% of candidates to never work with your company again. Having candidates who speak well of your business is vital so word of mouth is an important factor.
That means putting more energy and resources into engaging with candidates throughout the process. Candidates like to feel sold to. If hiring managers or recruiters can explain your business and the role comprehensively, and give the candidate a positive impression, that goes a lot of the way to attracting them.
But many businesses don’t have the resources for this. So they bring in outside recruiters. However, when doing this, they need to ensure their recruiters will embody their Candidate Value Proposition, engage candidates properly, and work as a partner, rather just just another recruitment supplier.
Offer Job Progression
Nazma Qurban from Sales Impact Academy said in a recent webinar that progression is vital for employee satisfaction. If people feel like they’re moving forwards, they’ll work harder to reach their goals.
Progression is something the medical device industry can currently offer candidates. After all, they’ll be gaining experience in a new field. Medical devices are fast-paced and exciting right now so they have the chance to move up the career ladder.
Future-Proofing Medical Device Recruitment
If the changes of the recent past have taught us anything, it’s that this sector is constantly evolving. In two years, requirements in medical device recruitment will be different to what they are now.
The skills and attributes required will continually change as the tech and software changes. Which means hiring for potential, rather than current skills.
Hiring for Potential
But how do you hire for potential? It’s easy for recruiters and hiring managers to see how qualified or experienced someone is. How do you figure out if they have the capacity to learn, to grow in their role, and to make quick decisions based on the information and evidence they have?
One of the best ways to identify future potential is the 9-box grid. The grid shows where a candidate currently sits in their capabilities and where they will go in future. At Solutions Driven, we use it regularly for sectors like medical devices as it’s particularly useful for industries with uncertain futures where situations may change fast.
It can help give hiring managers peace of mind that the person you’re hiring will be able to help them grow and won’t stagnate in their position.
Psychometric Testing
The other option here is to use psychometric testing to gauge how people will react to common situations in your organisation.
For example, a DISC PPA test can tell you how people will behave in the workplace. If you need someone with a cool head who will make decisions quickly to match the fast-paced market, DISC tests can help you identify these people.
Or if you need to find out who will be a great future leader, a High Potential Trait Indicator test can tell you where on the open, conscientious, extrovert, agreeable and neurotic scale your candidate lies.
When you’re looking to ramp up or find fresh talent, it can often be difficult to do it in-house. Other priorities take hold and your internal team might not have the time or the experience to do a comprehensive search for great talent.
That’s where a trusted external partner who works as an extension to your current team can be useful to your medical device recruitment. They’ll have the ability to conduct in-depth searches on your behalf, engage top talent, and present you with shortlists that can take your business forward.
