Client Challenge

The leading national $1 billion provider of healthcare information systems launched an IT and Process Improvement Consulting Division to enable its clients to use their technology investments more effectively.

The new division’s growth was limited by only one thing: its ability to find, recruit, and hire the highly specialized healthcare IT talent required to lead the complex assignments its customers needed to execute. However, the company did not have the capability in-house to identify and recruit a large number of specialized IT professionals with skills in specific technologies for roles with an 80% national travel requirement.

To meet the need of hiring 100-125 specialized consultants annually, this client engaged DoubleStar to design and execute an end-to-end recruiting solution.

Our Solution

At the outset of this engagement, DoubleStar conducted a detailed needs analysis to determine current needs and likely near-term hiring needs. From that analysis, DoubleStar developed a national recruitment plan that prioritized both talent and geographic needs. We also created customized recruitment plans to account for the local talent market differences and a plan for efficiently screening and interviewing candidates to shorten hiring cycles.

DoubleStar then executed direct and indirect recruiting campaigns in Southern California, Chicago, Phoenix, Dallas, Atlanta, Boston, Philadelphia, and South Florida. The solution included centralized sourcing and direct recruiting, on-site interview teams at each location, recruitment consulting services to the client’s regional consulting directors, and strategic staffing planning services to the Division’s Vice President.

To support the direct-recruiting initiatives, DoubleStar also developed a national advertising/branding campaign, an accelerated employee referral program, and standardized interviewing templates for all positions recruited.

Business Impacts

This partnership, originally contracted for six months, was extended for over five years because it delivered continuous results, including:

• 125 hires were executed annually, ranging from $90,000-$150,000 in compensation, at a fully loaded cost per hire under $5,000.
• Turnover was reduced to under 10% annually due to enhanced pre-screening and more accurate selection practices.
• The division was enabled to aggressively seek new business and prevail over the competition on the strength of its solid talent pipeline.
• Hiring costs for this division were reduced by 50% annually, representing an annual savings of $600,000-$700,000.
• The cost of recruitment became a fixed, predictable expense, enabling the growing division to better forecast talent acquisition investments.