Your physical therapy practice grows in response to your patients’ satisfaction—and their reaction depends on the care provided by your physical therapy team. Thus, attracting top physical therapy talent is critical. With the the healthcare labor shortage continuing into 2023, recruiting physical therapists to your practice can be daunting if you don’t know how to stand out.
Fear not! We’re here with five tips designed to make your organization appealing and attractive towards qualified physical therapy professionals. From creating a strong employer brand to providing opportunities for growth, these five strategies are guaranteed to help you find and retain exceptional candidates.
What Do Top PTs Want?
Physical therapists are in high demand, and they know it. So, what do superstar PTs really want? Here are some things to keep in mind when trying to attract the best of the best this year.
First, a PT who loves their field will want to work in an environment that allows them to provide the highest quality care and excellent patient experiences. This means having access to the latest equipment and technology, as well as a supportive team that shares their commitment to patient outcomes.
Additionally, skilled therapists want a company that values their expertise and invests in their ongoing professional development. This includes opportunities for continuing education, mentorship, certifications, and career advancement.
Finally, high-quality candidates value a company that prioritizes work-life balance, recognizing that a healthy work-life balance is essential for delivering high-quality patient care. In fact, the APTA 2022 Benchmark Report stated that “work-life balance [figures] heavily into [practice] owners’ perceptions of why they [lose] employees, with 77.1% of respondents placing the issue in the top three reasons, and 22.9% saying it was the primary reason for employee loss.”
By keeping these things in mind, you can create an environment that attracts and retains the best physical therapy talent out there.
1. Become a Talent Magnet by Building a Strong Employer Brand
Your reputation in the eyes of employees and prospective candidates is your employer brand. It reflects how you’re perceived by existing employees and by potential candidates. This branding process allows you to shape a positive narrative around your practice, which is how you attract, recruit, and hire top physical therapy talent.
How Your Brand Can Stand Out and Hire the Best Physical Therapists
To build a strong employer brand, you need a solid strategy. Here are some tips to help you develop and optimize your employer brand:
- Provide attractive employee value proposition (EVP). Factors such as salary, benefits, working conditions, job security, and work-life balance define your EVP. Your EVP paints a picture of what it’s like working for you and is critical in attracting and retaining strong candidates for your rehabilitation therapy practice.
- Embrace storytelling. Done right, storytelling can lend authenticity to your brand. Make storytelling work by relating real stories based on actual people within your organization.
- Pay attention to employee feedback. From anonymous surveys to exit interviews to regular check-ins, ensure you gather and respond to employees’ interests and concerns. Honest feedback can help you gauge whether adjustments are necessary.
2. Benefits: Make Staff Say WOW, Not Meh
The compensation and benefits you offer your providers, therapy assistants, and administrative staff is a significant recruiting point. It also helps foster staff motivation, improves retention, and promotes a positive workplace experience.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median salary for a physical therapist is $45.97 per hour or $95,620 per year. In addition, physical therapy positions usually include additional benefits:
- Health Insurance
- Life insurance
- Paid time off, including vacation time, sick leave, and holidays
Additional benefits are the icing on the cake, of course. Some of the more popular offerings attractive to strong candidates include:
- Insurance packages that may include dental, vision, and disability
- 401K plan or other forms of retirement benefits
- Professional support, such as continuing education and job training
- Housing allowance or placement for students
3. Create a Culture Worth Joining
A positive workplace culture cultivates collaboration, encourages productivity, and fosters employee and patient satisfaction.
How do you attract the best talent? By creating a space for the best to succeed.
Your company culture shapes the way team members interact with one another, problem-solve, and perform their roles within the practice. It also means that you’ll more easily find the best fit candidates among your hiring pool.
Maintain a positive atmosphere for prospective and current employees by implementing these tips:
- Incorporate your core values into all aspects of the practice.
- Practice open and transparent communication in decision-making.
- Set clear, measurable, and fair goals to encourage purpose and motivation in your employees.
- Reward employees for outstanding job performance or work ethic.
- Offer flexible scheduling at a pace that won’t leave your staff feeling burnt-out.
4. Reach Candidates at All Stages of Their Search
Social media is a low-priced, high-speed, often free outlet where you can make your pitch to available talent. Platforms like LinkedIn, Twitter, and even TikTok are a goldmine of potential candidates who are active and engaged in their professional lives. When advertising a physical therapy opening on social media, you can include the basic job description and a link to more information.
You can also ask your employees and community to boost the reach of your posts by sharing them far and wide. Word-of-mouth can help your jobs stand out from the competition and make a good first impression, even before candidates are on the market.
Social media not your thing? Job boards allow you to get your name into the rehabilitation therapy job market and grab the attention of applicants while they’re actively searching for job opportunities.
Top sites to list your job posts include: Indeed, LinkedIn, Google Jobs, Glassdoor, and Monster.
Another option that can help you reach the best possible candidates: Partner with healthcare talent recruitment agencies. Though using recruiters may incur some costs, they can help your practice smooth out the hiring process—especially if you’re already short on staff.
5. Find Diamonds in the Rough—and Polish the Ones You’ve Got
Opportunities for training and professional development allow recent graduates and new employees alike to obtain skills and perform their best. It gives employees a chance to refresh their knowledge, keep current on new developments in their field, and maintain the highest level of expertise in PT.
Keep these professional development tips in mind during your hiring and talent management processes:
- Ask employees about their career growth goals.
- Consider an internal mentorship program at your PT practice.
- Recruit new grads by partnering with universities and offering residency opportunities.
- Set up an ongoing lunch-and-learn program to develop the skills and experience on your team.
Attracting Top Talent to Grow Your Practice
Hiring physical therapists means building a workplace they can’t resist. Offer competitive compensation and tempting benefits to your employees while building your brand to market your practice. When your practice becomes the “place to be” for physical therapists, the top talent in the field will come looking for you.
As your practice grows, do you have an EMR that can grow along with you? Using a comprehensive system like Raintree’s All-in-One EMR solution gives you and your staff the tools you need to succeed, from documentation, to patient engagement, to RCM and billing, and beyond.
Treat your staff to a “Best in KLAS” EMR solution.
