Behind Every Strong Healthcare Organization Is a Strong Talent Strategy

How healthcare leaders can connect hiring, leadership, and talent operations to support the people behind care.

An open position rarely affects just one department.

A vacancy can shift responsibilities onto a manager, delay a project, or leave an already busy team covering additional work. When several gaps occur at once, hiring decisions become urgent—and finding time to address the underlying challenges becomes harder.

For healthcare leaders, meeting immediate staffing needs and preparing for the future are connected responsibilities.

Mercer’s 2024 healthcare labor market report projected a nationwide shortage of approximately 100,000 healthcare workers by 2028, with substantial differences across occupations and states. That variation matters: workforce planning needs to reflect the roles, locations, and communities an organization serves. Read Mercer’s research.

At JaxsonRiley, we believe a strong healthcare talent strategy connects the people an organization hires with the leadership, processes, and systems that help them succeed.

Look at what sits behind the vacancy

Before beginning a search, take time to understand why the position is open and what the team needs from its next hire.

Is the organization expanding? Has a departure exposed a gap in leadership? Does the role need to change because its responsibilities have outgrown the original job description?

A recurring vacancy deserves particular attention. Hiring another person into the same conditions may leave the original problem unresolved.

Consider the responsibilities, reporting relationships, workload, and support surrounding the position. Those details help define the experience required and give candidates a realistic understanding of the opportunity.

JaxsonRiley’s approach to executive search and direct hire begins with that broader context: the organization’s goals, leadership expectations, culture, and definition of success.

Match the talent solution to the need

Different workforce challenges call for different responses.

A permanent leadership need may warrant a focused executive search. A defined project or temporary absence may be suited to contract support. An internal recruiting team facing a sustained increase in hiring may benefit from embedded recruiting capacity.

The decision should account for the work, its expected duration, and the capabilities required.

For example, an organization preparing to open a new location may need recruiting support before launch, permanent operational leadership, and temporary expertise for a specific implementation phase. Planning those needs together gives leaders a clearer picture of timing, responsibilities, and cost.

Flexible staffing is most useful when it has a defined purpose within the broader workforce plan.

Strengthen the operations that support care

Healthcare workforce conversations naturally emphasize clinicians. The organization also depends on capable people in finance, human resources, technology, administration, and operational leadership.

These teams help maintain the business processes and infrastructure surrounding care delivery. Their capacity and leadership deserve a place in workforce planning.

A technology rollout, financial reporting requirement, or recruiting backlog can compete for the same limited management attention. Identifying those demands early helps leaders determine where specialized talent or additional support could make a practical difference.

The goal is to understand how roles depend on one another and plan accordingly.

Make the hiring process easier to navigate

Even a well-defined position can be difficult to fill when the hiring process creates unnecessary friction.

Unclear approvals, repeated requests for information, slow feedback, and inconsistent communication can make the experience harder for candidates and hiring teams alike.

JaxsonRiley’s Talent Ecosystem Assessment & Optimization service examines recruiting workflows, HR technology, vendor relationships, team capabilities, and candidate and employee experiences.

That review helps identify where effort is being duplicated, responsibilities are unclear, or existing resources are underused.

Our Talent Infrastructure Design & Implementation service helps translate those findings into practical changes: clearer roles, consistent workflows, connected systems, useful reporting, and implementation support.

In a healthcare setting, process improvement should also preserve appropriate review and verification requirements. Clear ownership and well-planned handoffs help teams manage those responsibilities consistently.

Prepare for leadership transitions before they happen

A critical leadership departure can leave an organization making important decisions under pressure.

Succession planning creates an opportunity to prepare earlier. Start by identifying the positions where a transition would cause the greatest disruption. Define the capabilities those roles require and establish how the organization would respond to an unexpected opening.

JaxsonRiley’s Succession Planning & Leadership Continuity service supports that readiness through critical-role planning, external talent market mapping, discreet engagement, and relationships with potential future leaders.

This preparation gives organizations a more informed starting point when a transition becomes necessary.

Measure whether the workforce plan is working

Hiring activity tells only part of the story.

Alongside time to fill, consider early retention, hiring-manager feedback, onboarding progress, recurring vacancies, and the effectiveness of recruiting handoffs. Review those measures by role and department to understand where attention is needed.

Conversations with employees matter, too. Their experience can help explain why a process stalls or why a position is difficult to sustain.

Use those insights to refine the plan rather than waiting for the next vacancy to trigger action.

Build the team—and the foundation around it

Healthcare organizations need talent strategies that address immediate priorities while strengthening their ability to handle change.

JaxsonRiley brings together executive search, direct hire, contract staffing, embedded recruiting, leadership continuity, and talent optimization to help organizations build that foundation.

We start by understanding your needs, then shape a solution around your people, priorities, and goals.

Ready to strengthen the workforce behind your healthcare organization? Connect with JaxsonRiley to build the right talent solution.

Exceptional Talent. Greater Impact.