Human resources and talent acquisition are key pillars for companies, no matter the size. Digital health companies are booming and looking at growing and expanding their teams. But where do you find the right talents and what should be the profile of those people joining your digital health company? Remote work has become the new norm for many companies and brought new challenges to human resources, talent management and company culture.

In this episode, Aline Noizet, Chief International Officer of Barcelona Health Hub, hosted the current installment of the #BHHSeries and was joined by guest panelists to address the talent challenges in digital health. Francois Lejolly, Founder of Digital Selection, moderated the discussion. Panelists included Carlos de Paladella Salord, Director Clinical Solutions – Europe South, Israel, and Latin America at Elsevier, Kim-Fredrik Schneider, CEO at Abi Global Health, and Paz Alvarado, Marketing Director, Digital Business & Innovation at Unilabs. 

The discussion centered around talent acquisition, remote work and helping digital health companies thrive post COVID.  The panel of experts discussed talent challenges in digital health: benefits and challenges associated with remote work, recruitment of digital health talents, the evolution of profiles and what can be done to grow and retain your team.

Some of the key takeaways were –       

Recruiting 

• In the new virtual environment, talent pools are not limited by geographic location creating new opportunities. 
• As the competition for talent intensifies, companies will have to articulate the benefits and culture of their respective work environment. 
• Storytelling plays a crucial role in the hiring process to replace the one-to-one interviews and onsite visits.
• Create brand ambassadors passionate about what they do in the company to explain the culture and work environment.
• Exciting, cutting-edge technologies will attract talent who want to be on the bleeding edge.

Work Environment 

• Maintaining the cohesiveness of workgroups in a virtual environment through flexibility and remote work. 
• Remote work supports locations with limited talent pools. 
• Moving forward will be a hybrid between the office environment and remote work.
• New hires will focus on purpose and their role in achieving the company mission. Managers will have to convey their importance in the overall process and success and potential growth and career paths to retain talent.
• Hiring people who want to learn and offering an environment where they can learn.

Customer Experience 

• Creating long-term relationships requires human resources and talent acquisition to part of marketing. 
• Social marketing is essential for promoting services, products as well as attracting talent. 
• Companies need to employ innovative ways to connect in a digital medium. 
• It is no longer about being the hottest company in your city but about creating an international perspective to attract talent.

Ideal Candidates 

• Self-learners – people who read, who listen to podcasts, who subscribe to journals. 
• Trend leaders – those who write about trends in the market and technology, etc. 
• They can demonstrate that they can learn what we are going to show them. 
• Experienced with the company’s cutting-edge technology in some way.
• Embraces new technologies demonstrating a path for personal development.
• Have critical thinking skills understanding what you need to learn and how to apply it.

The #BHHSeries are online events organized by Barcelona Health Hub. You can watch the previous episodes online here. Join us on June 16th for the next #BHHSeries installment “Apps for Surgery Patient” in collaboration with B. Braun.

And of course, as always you can watch the episode here: