People passionate about hiring the right professionals for a job go above and beyond to seek suitable candidates. Employers consistently struggle with staff shortages, so this is a generation where employers and owners should first attract the best people for the job.

Behavioral health professionals are expected to be short-staffed by 250,000 come 2025. The competition now lies in the employers seeking valued behavioral health professionals they can retain in the long run.

Where to find behavioral health professionals

Access to behavioral and mental health care is more critical now than ever. Here are some resources where you can find behavioral health professionals in the job market:

Social media sites

Established in 2003, LinkedIn has become the go-to online job portal site for job seekers and recruiters to find and connect with the world’s professionals. LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional network, with over 850 million members worldwide. As an individual recruiter, finding the best behavioral health professionals in a portal site like LinkedIn is like finding a needle in a haystack. Still, with the right strategies, LinkedIn is more like a goldmine than a haystack of unparalleled talents.

Staffing agencies

Engaging staffing agencies is also an option for those who don’t mind the extra expense of recruiting talent. Staffing agencies act on behalf of businesses and organizations and advertise job openings on job boards or directly connect with potential candidates through LinkedIn.

Professional organizations

Another great way to connect with behavioral professionals is with behavioral and mental health organizations. You can seek referrals from your medical care providers or health insurance companies.

If you are looking for behavioral health professionals to join you, you should reach out to behavioral and mental health organizations that can refer you to members of their organization who are looking out for new opportunities as behavioral and mental health professionals.

How to attract and hire highly skilled behavioral professionals

Here are some points you would want to remember to hire the best person for the role:

Streamline the hiring process

From the initial interview down to the final recruitment process, offer your candidates a streamlined hiring process that takes a few days or doesn’t take up much of your and the candidate’s time. Are you or the candidate not available for a face-to-face interview? Do a zoom interview instead. Prepare all relevant questions ahead of time. Schedule exams and tests like cognitive and caliper assessments.

Make attractive job ads and descriptions

Job seekers actively read job descriptions before deciding whether to consider applying for a position in your organization.

To make attractive job ads and descriptions, make sure to:

Include specific skills necessary for the job that is attractive to your potential candidates
Tell them the kind of people you’re looking for
Include employee feedback on your job ads
Provide the benefits and perks your organization offers
Provide attractive compensation packages

Compensation is more than just your yearly salary. There are many ways to provide benefits and compensation to behavioral health professionals that you can include in their packages to seal the deal.

Health benefits. Mental health professionals are more prone to mental health struggles as they try to cure everyone else. Giving them access to healthcare benefits because of job hazards is very important.
Career development programs. Healthcare professionals seek growth inside the organization and in their educational advancement. There is an endless barrage of updates and information to keep up with the changing times. Providing them with free seminars or academic scholarships will help them and your organization.
Bonuses. Give as much bonus as your financial capacity can carry. Bonuses are very attractive for job seekers and motivate them to perform well and stay longer, especially for performance-based or length-based bonuses.
The role of behavioral health professionals

While mental health is mainly related to cognitive issues, behavioral health is the behavior or action people take due to these cognitive issues. The medical specialty of behavioral health embraces both behavioral and mental health issues.

Behavioral health professionals address issues like:

Drug, liquor, and gambling addiction
Marital issues
Seasonal affective disorder
Self- harm
Eating disorders
Mental disorders caused by physical disabilities

Behavioral health professionals can also help in assisted living of seniors, from dementia to sleep and behavioral disorders due to cognitive deterioration.

Making sure that your organization is more than just a four-walled structure that helps behavioral professionals earn, but at the same time, a place they can thrive in, grow, and be appreciated is an essential factor in attracting highly skilled personnel and them having long-term careers with your organization.

Qualifacts EHR Solutions for Behavioral Health

Qualifacts believes that the approach to behavioral and mental health must be streamlined through a robust suite of configurable and comprehensive EHR (Electronic Health Record) capabilities. Our web-based EHR solutions for your entire organization are equipped with a variety of capabilities that help achieve interoperability goals, improve efficiency and productivity, and provide better client outcomes.

We believe we can build healthier communities through individualized care. From clinical appointments to organizational management, financials, and IT services, our behavioral and mental health EHR solutions will help you improve the quality of people’s lives.

Request a demo today to see how we can help.