Background
‘Nationally the workforce crisis enveloping the NHS could soon eclipse funding as the most serious problem. There are tens of thousands of vacancies, far too few new sta are coming through; the pressure on those in post is relentless and morale is dangerously low.’
Source: The Guardian 20 June 2017
According to NHS Digital, the number of full-time vacancies in the NHS has increased 10% YOY and recruiting nurses via traditional methods can cost up to 30% (or £6,000) of an average £20,000 salary.
Source: Sky News Tuesday 25th July 2017 (figures from NHS Digital)
Brief
We were challenged to put together a digital recruitment campaign to find Band 5 nurses for WHH NHS, in an effort to fill their high number of vacancies and reduce reliance on expensive agency staffing.
Campaign Elements
Brand. Microsite. Social Media. Facebook advertising. Online event booking. Nurse eHandbook. Email Marketing. Video production. Copywriting.
Solution
We harnessed digital technology to create a simple funnel whereby potential applicants were shown targeted adverts on Facebook, inviting them to attend a Nurse Recruitment Open Day where they could interview there and then and walk out with a job offer. These adverts then followed through to a simple event booking system where the applicant could find out more and register their attendance. We then used email marketing to remind them of the upcoming open day, as well as follow up emails to help with retention before their start date.
We also created Facebook and Twitter profiles where we posted engaging content and responded to queries, as well a microsite which gave practical information about the jobs on offer and allowed users to download a Nurse eHandbook, which we also wrote and designed.
Results
Over the course of four quarterly recruitment open days, our efforts attracted:
- 446 sign-ups
- 178 attendees
- 164 jobs offered
with each nurse recruited costing just £470, which represents an 82% saving on traditional recruitment methods
