Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, many businesses and health care organizations have been forced to put a halt on hiring.

However, Sanford Health and the Good Samaritan have unveiled Brazen, a new recruitment software aimed at appealing to future health care workers.

“It allows us to access candidates through the sourcing process through virtual career fairs, online chats, and really engage our future workforce through that platform,” says Darren Walker, Sanford Health chief human resources officer.

Meeting the need

Darren adds that the new technology is needed “because of today’s environment.”

“We needed a platform that we could engage with people virtually across our footprint. To be in 26 states across the country, it allows us to do that in an efficient manner,” says Darren.

Find jobs: Search open positions at the Good Samaritan

Because of the pandemic, Sanford Health and the Good Samaritan had to cancel over 100 employee recruitment events.

“That’s had an impact on our ability to get out and have a presence in the recruiting world. This technology allows us to still get that reach and go out and connect with these people.

“Brazen allows us to attract a lot of people across the country at one time, and have meaningful interaction with them. Regardless of where they’re at, we can reach a lot of people in an engaging way.”

Benefits of going virtual

The biggest benefit the health care providers have noticed is a reaching a broader pool of candidates, says Darren.

“It allows us to have a much larger reach, with many more people. It allows us to do it in a way that’s still engaging. We’re finding that candidates really enjoy it because that’s how they interact in a lot of their personal lives,” he says.

Brazen also allows Sanford Health and the Good Samaritan to directly communicate with candidates through online chats.

“Candidates come in, ask questions, questions about the role, questions about the organization. We can have people there that are answering those questions. Many of those chats turn into more discussions, further appointments, people wanting to know,” Darren says.

“Naturally, it turns into a recruitment. We found a lot of success in just going out there and setting these up as an opportunity to learn more about the organization. As we do that, people learn more and become interested in opportunities that we have,” he adds.

The recruitment software also gives job candidates interested in Sanford Health and the Good Samaritan the ability to participate in virtual career fairs. These allow workers to meet hiring managers in the same in-person format, but in a virtual environment.

“We’re not restricted by space. We can attract people from anywhere across the country.

“It seems to be a much more natural interaction than you might experience in person where you’re going from booth to booth. This seems to be more engaging, and more interactive talking specifically about roles,” says Darren.

Being innovative

Utilizing this new tool is yet another example of Sanford Health and the Good Samaritan being innovative, especially during the pandemic, according to Darren.

“We’re willing to look at ways to do things different than what we’d normally do. I think that’s what sets us apart and people recognize and see that. It’s been great to have the opportunity to do that, but then to have the team to execute on it, and then start to see results because of that.”