It's well known that recruitment in the NHS is a complex and diverse journey that culminates in the clearances stage. The clearances stage: the critical phase where candidates have accepted a job offer but have yet to commence their duties. It's often a period fraught with uncertainty and unfortunately, it's also the stage where many NHS Trusts see new hires drop out before they start.
Through our partnerships with NHS Scotland and other Trusts in England, we understand the gravity of this issue and recognise the need for effective solutions. In this blog, we delve into the role of pre-employment checks and by doing them right (and with efficiency!) how they can be a game-changer in reducing the dropout rate of new hires before their first day.
- The critical role of pre-employment checks
- Types of pre-employment checks
- Avoiding delays in pre-employment screening
- Utilising technology to automate and speed up the processes
- How an ATS like Jobtrain can help
- Tailored ATS solutions for the NHS
- NHS-specific ATS and service - what to look for
- Conclusion
The critical role of pre-employment checks
In a 2023 blog from NHS Employers, they noted how a streamlined recruitment process can significantly reduce the time from job offer to start date. Reducing the time from job offer to start date is crucial as candidates often drop out if they can secure a quicker start date elsewhere.
Pre-employment checks are the backbone of any robust hiring process, especially in a sector as crucial as healthcare. The checks can range from criminal record verifications to qualification validations and even in-depth reference checks. Conducting these checks are an essential component to ensure the suitability of candidates. Simply by streamlining some of the pre-employment checks stage, it can significantly reduce the waiting time for candidates and therefore minimise the chances of them seeking opportunities elsewhere.
We understand the importance of a smooth recruitment process and fast onboarding - that's why we've developed our applicant tracking system to help NHS organisations achieve just that.
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Types of pre-employment checks
- Criminal record checks: Ensuring that each new hire has a clean record is paramount for roles that involve patient interaction.
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Identity checks: validate identification to prove their new hires' identities. This is usually done through documents like a passport, driving licence or birth certificate.
- Right-to-Work checks: Ensures that new hires have the legal right to work in the UK.
- Qualification verifications: Confirming and proving that new hires hold the necessary qualifications to avoid future complications.
- Reference checks: Past employment references can provide insights into candidates' suitability for a role.
Avoiding delays in pre-employment screening
As noted in guidance from NHS Employers, "one effective way to avoid unnecessary delays is to give overarching responsibility for pre-employment screening to one department". For instance, DBS application forms are often returned due to missing information. Providing a guide for applicants can help avoid this pitfall.
Utilising technology to automate and speed up the processes
Internal changes can be made to streamline and speed up clearance processes, but utilising technology to automate can bring about real results for both NHS organisations as well as their new hires.
"An Onboarding Powerhouse"
Our applicant tracking system's Onboarding and compliance hub, which also manages pre-employment checks, is often described as an "onboarding powerhouse". It's designed with features that enable swift and effective onboarding of new hires at the clearance stage, a critical factor in reducing candidate drop-off. Getting candidates over the line and making their first day is the number one priority. But making sure the journey to their first day is informative and stress free ensures they feel integrated into the organisation and less likely to reconsider their decision early on in their employment.
What's typically included in a Onboarding platform can vary, but we'll detail below what typically should available and use our own ATS, Jobtrain, as an example.
Key features of our Onboarding and compliance platform for clearances
- Automated and digital document verification: Thanks to partnerships with leading organisations, our integrations with Yoti and First Advantage ensures automatic verification of the authenticity of documents direct from the Jobtrain ATS, speeding up the clearance process.
- Gaps in employment: with CQC guidance stating that candidates must have a full employment history, this feature alerts organisations of any gaps in a candidate's application.
- NHS ESR integration: A seamless integration between our ATS and NHS Electronic Staff Record system, ensures bottlenecks are reduced in the recruitment process.
- Real-time updates for candidates: A dashboard view of everything that's going on with receive real-time updates on where they are in the Onboarding journey helps keep candidates engaged throughout the clearances process.
- Interactive Onboarding plans: Customisable onboarding processes and features can be created to engage new hires from day one, like a Welcome Hub to keep new hires engaged whilst pre-employment checks are ongoing.
How an ATS like Jobtrain can help
Streamline processes
Automation is at the heart of our ATS. It takes over many of the repetitive tasks involved in pre-employment checks, making the process faster and more efficient. This can significantly reduce the time between the job offer and the first day, thereby reducing the dropout rate.
Enhanced communication
With the help of our Onboarding platform, it allows for seamless communication between a recruitment team and their candidates. Regular updates can be sent regarding the status of their pre-employment checks and from their own dashboard they can also see how progress is coming along too, helping to keep candidates engaged and less likely to explore other opportunities.
Data-driven insights
Included as standard, our ATS is equipped with reporting tools that provide valuable insights into the onboarding and compliance process. By analysing the data and identifying bottlenecks they can help confirm the stages where candidates are most likely to drop out, enabling proactive measures.
Tailored ATS solutions for the NHS
At Jobtrain, we're proud to offer a tailored applicant tracking system that is specifically designed for the NHS. Both our ATS and service is backed up by our extensive expertise working with a range of NHS providers and is aligned with the unique needs and challenges of NHS recruitment.
NHS-specific ATS and service - what to look for
- Key worker recruitment: Look for an ATS that's designed to facilitate the recruitment of key workers - the backbone of the NHS.
- Bulk recruitment functionality: Designed to support organisations who need to manage volume recruitment campaigns, a bulk recruitment feature presents a pre-defined list of specialisms and/or locations to candidates at the application stage. Candidates mark their preferred choices and recruiters use this information to filter based on candidates' preferences. This supports a targeted shortlisting and interview arrangement process.
- Does the ATS provider have a proven track record of working with NHS and Care providers - what's their key differentiator?
- Integrations and partnerships: What does ATS provider integrate with? For most NHS Trusts, key integrations to look out for are NHS Jobs and NHS ESR.
- Comprehensive Onboarding platform for clearances - as detailed above.
- Support: Look out for the level of support available. From implementation right the way through your partnership, support should be ongoing, unlimited and freely available to both you and your candidates.
Conclusion
Losing NHS hires at the clearances stage is a challenge that many trusts face - and it's both costly and time-consuming. However, with the right strategies, utilising technology and setting clear expectations this issue can be effectively addressed.
If you're grappling with high dropout rates at the clearances stage, don't hesitate to get in touch for a no obligation chat about how Jobtrain can help you in retaining your NHS new hires.