GQR Healthcare was facing a problem that is familiar to most healthcare staffing and recruiting firms: cumbersome, manual lead distribution was slowing down their ability to respond quickly to candidate and client leads.
Heather Jennings, Global Head of Revenue Technology for GQR, was determined to solve this problem. As an 18-year veteran of the healthcare staffing industry, she knew lead distribution was a long-standing gap in the recruiting process.
“Driving down candidate and client acquisition costs is a concern of every staffing firm, whether a small startup, mid-sized or large multibillion-dollar agency,” said Jennings. “What some may not realize is how much connecting the right leads with the right people internally in real-time is a key factor in this – and we were on the hunt for the right partner with industry-leading AI and technical expertise to develop the solution.”
Matt Dichter and Jay Cutler from the Staffing Engine team were the perfect match and agreed to build out the solution to meet this challenge head-on. As soon as Heather started talking to Matt and Jay, they knew she was on to something.
Here’s more on the problem GQR was facing – one that should be familiar to anyone in staffing and recruiting – and how they solved it.
Manual lead distribution led to recruiting delays and missed opportunities
Prior to partnering with Staffing Engine, a member of the GQR leadership team would manually distribute inbound leads. Leads arrived through various channels including their mobile app, website, niche job boards like Travel Nurse Source, and automated database regeneration email campaigns. This meant that the process was extremely manual and leads were sent from all sources to recruiters’ and business development inboxes.
No matter how efficient and proactive GQR’s distribution and recruiting teams were, they were still missing out on opportunities.
“Emails were lost constantly,” said Jennings. They got stuck in secondary inboxes, routed to spam, or overlooked in between the deluge of daily messages. Recruiters were forced to constantly refresh their inboxes, remaining hypervigilant and losing even more time.
What’s more, manual distribution meant that leads went indiscriminately to recruiters, without taking factors like out-of-office status or average response time into account.
This wasn’t the first time GQR tried to solve this problem, but other vendors had always fallen short. Some didn’t understand the particular nuances of staffing and healthcare. Others provided solutions that were just as slow or lacked real-time notifications. And some vendors required an additional, unfamiliar platform, creating a cumbersome workflow for recruiters.
In the ten months leading up to partnering with Staffing Engine, GQR had been averaging four placements per month from the shared inbox with a nine-hour response time using their old routing methods.
Heather knew there had to be a solution.
GQR and Staffing Engine tapped the power of AI to accelerate the lead distribution process
GQR Healthcare fosters the kind of innovative thinking that encourages its employees to take smart risks. Their team is free to run with experimental solutions, especially those that feel promising.
Staffing Engine plugged their AI into all of GQR’s lead channels and funneled leads into one central location.
Here’s GQR’s new AI Distribution flow that now happens instantly:
- Staffing Engine AI listens for all inbound leads and parses data
- Performs a reverse lookup to add a note to the candidate or contact in the ATS
- Formats the lead data into an easy-to-read notification including links
- Intelligently distributes the lead based on GQR’s routing rules
- Sends a real-time notification to the correct channel in MS Teams
From there, GQR’s recruiters and sales reps can easily claim the lead with a click of a button. Once claimed, the lead is then automatically assigned to the appropriate owner in the ATS, and a note is added so GQR can see when the lead came in and how long it took to respond.
Using Staffing Engine AI Distribution, GQR increased their conversions by 4x and cut their average response time by 66%
With Staffing Engine, GQR was able to 4x their placements, averaging 16-17 placements per month. “Additionally, we are doing this with ½ the number of submittals that it would typically take to reach this volume of placements from inbound lead generation efforts,” says Jennings.
GQR has also decreased their average response time from 9 hours to under 3 hours, including weekends.
Alexis Kennedy, Head of Account Management for GQR Healthcare, commented on the additional value this brings health systems from a time-saving and efficiency perspective.
“A pain point of hiring managers is how time-consuming it can be to review and interview candidates, only to then have candidates accept other positions by the time the offer is made,” said Kennedy.
“Since this new process allows us to send the most qualified candidates 66% faster, our clients are also reviewing 50% less submissions to make the equivalent volume of hires.”
The team has fully rallied around the new workflow. Heather says the system has created both fun competition and increased teamwork among recruiters. They jump at the chance to claim a new lead, knowing that whoever is quickest will get the candidate.
The new system also encourages follow-through. If recruiters don’t reach out to candidates quickly, they can be suspended or removed from the lead channel altogether.
In Microsoft Teams, already a familiar platform for the firm, recruiters can collaborate and comment on incoming leads. “An unforeseen outcome has been an increase in team unity, culture and support as everyone encourages and even cheers each other on to connect with each candidate as quickly as possible,” said Jennings.
The solution also provides leadership with increased visibility, as managers have a new eagle’s eye view of the entire lead ecosystem and can easily reassign leads if team members aren’t available.
GQR and Staffing Engine discovered a solution that is a game-changer for the healthcare staffing industry
GQR’s culture of innovation and experimentation have far-reaching implications.
“In today’s competitive market landscape, staffing firms are focused more than ever on how they can enhance the candidate experience, increase client satisfaction through faster delivery, and improve agency efficiency,” said Jennings.
“This was top of mind for us when designing the solution with Staffing Engine to raise the bar on industry standards within the entire healthcare ecosystem.”
You can learn more here about Staffing Engine AI Distribution.
About GQR Healthcare
GQR’s Healthcare team specializes in connecting experts within the industry to highly skilled healthcare professionals.
In the competitive healthcare market, we recognize that the industry’s common goals of improved quality of care and patient outcomes are wholly reliant upon the professionals directly supporting these initiatives. Leveraging our extensive candidate network, we deliver continuity of care for the communities our partners serve to ensure the patient experience is of the highest quality.
Through deep market specialization and a unique approach to talent acquisition, GQR Healthcare provides an unparalleled and personalized experience across all medical specialties in nursing and within diverse healthcare platforms across the industry.
About Heather Jennings
Heather Jennings serves as Global Head of Revenue Technology for GQR Healthcare and is responsible for delivering strategic planning and execution to increase efficiency, profitability, and scalability within the healthcare business. Heather brings 20 years of experience in sales leadership and healthcare staffing across various functions, including recruitment operations, marketing, account management, and sales.
Ms. Jennings joined GQR Global Markets in 2020 and brings a strong background of blending cutting-edge technology solutions with strategic insight to implement performance improvement and operational excellence to her role. Heather was a key leader and innovator for Onward Healthcare, which was acquired by AMN Healthcare in 2015. She has a successful track record in driving and managing high-performance, high-growth teams with an entrepreneurial lens and passion for continuous improvement.
About Staffing Engine
Staffing Engine is the world’s first Recruiting Acceleration AI Platform that enables staffing firms to increase productivity, operate 24/7, and accelerate growth. With the Engine AI suite of products, staffing firms can leverage the next generation of AI to make their recruiters and sales reps more profitable, speed-up response times, and create an on-demand connection to candidates and clients.