Recruiting and retaining caregivers is a big key to success in the home care industry. Small agencies often struggle to grow because they lack the staff to fill cases, while larger agencies understand the importance of having a reliable team of caregivers.
The ability to respond quickly to client inquiries, meet with prospects, and staff cases promptly, sets successful agencies apart from their competitors. Delaying the process can result in missed opportunities and being left behind in a rapidly growing market.
That all said, "the process" begins and ends with attracting, recruiting, nurturing, and retaining a strong team of folks who know their jobs, feel engaged and supported in their roles, and work well together.
That all said, "the process" begins and ends with attracting, recruiting, nurturing, and retaining a strong team of folks who know their jobs, feel engaged and supported in their roles, and work well together.
Finding Great Caregivers is the Start, Nurturing Them and Their Career Path is "The Ballgame"
While I'm confident that we can agree that finding and retaining a strong team for our agency is an important key to success, from there you may think to yourself: "Okay, but how do we do that?" Many business owners or those in a supervisory role likely can share their experiences with putting a lot of time and effort into recruiting folks and can share how frustrating it can be to find strong candidates to fill roles.
Beyond that, let's say that you are able to recruit a team of "Rock Star" employees, from there, your job is still not done. It is your responsibility and the responsibility of your supervisors to make sure that each employee feels uniquely motivated, appreciated, and that they continue to grow (and be supported in that growth) in their role.
Support+Training+Nurturing Employees = Better Retention and Less Recruiting
Business owners and supervisors, both of whom likely have far more tasks on their "to-do" lists than they have time for, may wish that it just a matter of finding good folks to be on their team, and to let the team operate on their own. While letting your team operate with as little supervision as needed is often a good goal, your team will always need support, direction, and guidance from you and your management team.
Committing to supporting and nurturing your team, though often time consuming and challenging, is vital to the success and growth of your agency. Because, however hard it is to "find good employees", it is even harder to lose a great one (or more) to burnout or them feeling unsupported by management. This of course, leads you to restart the arduous process of recruiting, training, and nurturing a new employee.
However hard it is to "find good employees", it is even harder to lose a great one (or more) to burnout or them feeling unsupported by management.
Supporting your team can take on many forms, but may include: collaboratively building a company culture based on specific values, utilizing employee surveys, engaging in regular one-on-one check-in meetings, continued skill education, and so on.
Supporting and Nurturing Your Caregivers Can Set Your Agency Apart
The ability to recruit and retain a reliable team of caregivers sets successful agencies apart from your competitors. Taking time and energy to bring together the right team for your agency and helping the team grow, leads not only to better job satisfaction and lower turnover on your team, but also higher client satisfaction, better word-of-mouth, stronger online reviews, and the potential for more clients and revenue growth.
Whatever approach(es) you take to help build your team, company culture, and individual employee's growth, a few questions you may want to consider and factor into your plan:
Does Your Team Feel Well-Trained, Supported, and Nurtured?
- Do you provide consistent, thoughtful, individualized, and supportive direction to your team about their job duties?
- Do you make tangible efforts to show appreciation for your team, both individually and as a group?
- Do you put in the time and thought to create a strong company culture, provide skill building opportunities for employees, and offer incentives such rewarding employees if they generate referrals?
Final Thought
Home Care is a "People First" business when it comes to customers or patients, the same can be said for when it comes to caregivers and the folks on your agency's team.
On a related note, if you're seeking software and/or home care software to help better manage your agency, please click the button below to say hello:
Ankota provides software for organization who enable older and disabled people to live at home, rather than in a nursing home or other institutional facility. We provide software for Home Care, EVV, Disability Services, Adult Day Services and other related needs like PACE Programs, Centers for Independent Living, and Area Agencies on Aging. To learn more, please visit www.ankota.com or contact us.
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