Make Sure Your Staff Wants To Be At The Party! Are You Afraid Your Recognition Strategies Still Have People Considering Leaving?

Kenyon HomeCare Consulting • March 3, 2021
Recruitment and retention strategies are tough in home health. When you consider wages alone from some other providers, we don’t have the reimbursement to entice employees on that premise alone. Regardless of the discipline, employers have to continually nurture employee relationships to make people want to stay. So, if the employer is doing well with recognition, then why are turnover rates increasing?

Well, Define Recognition:
This is really key. Because we go into different agencies, Kenyon sees different recognition strategies. The common thread in agencies struggling with recognition strategies is what defines recognition by those in charge versus the employees. Some administrators define recognition with employee praise. They write individual notes or acknowledge employees in newsletters. Others define it as a tangible reward like a gift card or monetary present. Others like group recognition that acknowledges all employees in an office such as an additional half day off paid. These are all good things, but you have to really be in tune not only to what you find valuable recognition but what your employees value as well.

Know How To Read Your Room:
There are some administrators that are very firm about not recognizing employees for doing their jobs because “it’s their job”. There are employees who thrive on praise. It is what makes them tick. Meanwhile other employees don’t need that praise because it comes in their paycheck. If they go above and beyond, then they want to see it in a tangible offering from administration. You have to be able to read your room of employees to know how to approach incentives. Many employees get incentivized while others feel overlooked. Maybe someone else played a part in that employee’s success and it gets missed. It’s easy for administration to approach something with a fantastic motive and still somehow get it wrong in the eyes of the employees.

When reading your room, you also have to consider the different generations of employees in play. Do you approach incentives with a millennial the same way you do a baby boomer? How do your Gen X’s and Y’s fit into that mix? Ultimately, finding the balance between 4 or more generations of employees all working together is no easy task. Keep your eye on your mission and the employees who best serve it when providing incentives. Make sure your incentives are both tangible and intangible to accurately fit the needs of the employees you have.

Do You Need Help With Recruitment And Retention?
Whether you need someone to evaluate your operations and overall strategic plan for retention or you just need to put incentives into place that make sense for your agency, Kenyon Homecare Consulting can help. Call us today at 206-721-5091 or contact us online to see if we can help solve your recruitment and retention issues.rent source.

Results Based Consulting

Did you find value in this blog post? Imagine what we can do for your home care or hospice agency. Fill out the form below to see how we're leading the industry with innovation, affordability, and experience.

Contact Us

fixit
By Ginny Kenyon July 14, 2026
Without specific training on how these illnesses behave, caregivers are flying blind, unable to spot subtle warning signs that separate stability from an emergency.
policy
By Ginny Kenyon July 10, 2026
Policy and procedure manuals are the blueprint for your agency’s success. It protects your business, ensures clients receive safe care, and gives staff structure.
employeeretention
By Ginny Kenyon July 8, 2026
Sending  under-prepared caregivers into complex home environments is a recipe for high turnover and compromised patient care. It is time for change that matters.
competitive
strategy
By Ginny Kenyon July 4, 2026
In an increasingly competitive healthcare and senior care landscape, providers are constantly searching for ways to differentiate themselves. Families looking for care, and the hospital discharge planners who guide them, are no longer satisfied with generic promises of "quality service" and "compassionate staff." They want proof of specialized capability. One of the most effective yet often overlooked ways to grow in this sector is to provide caregiving staff with thorough training in chronic disease care. In addition to improving patient outcomes and reducing hospital readmissions, this training also serves as a powerful marketing advantage and sales driver. Here is how turning your caregiving team into specialized chronic disease experts transforms your market positioning and accelerates revenue growth. 1. Transforming Specialized Care into a Unique Selling Proposition (USP) Most care agencies and senior living communities market themselves using the same language: "assistance with daily living," "meal preparation," and "medication reminders." When everyone says the same thing, care becomes a commodity, and pricing becomes the only differentiator. By equipping caregivers with advanced training in prevalent chronic conditions—such as Alzheimer’s/dementia, Parkinson’s, Congestive Heart Failure (CHF), Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), and Diabetes—you shift your brand positioning from a general utility to a specialized medical solution . The Marketing Edge: Your marketing materials transition from passive descriptions of tasks to authoritative statements of capability . Instead of advertising "we help with seniors," you can market "specialized, evidence-based care protocols for advanced Parkinson's management." 2. Building High-Value B2B Referral Pipelines The lifeblood of senior care sales is the professional referral pipeline—hospital discharge planners, social workers, physicians, and elder law attorneys. These professionals risk their own reputation when they recommend a care provider. Discharge planners, in particular, are intensely focused on preventing 30-day hospital readmissions , a metric heavily tied to hospital funding and penalties. The Sales Edge: When your sales team meets with a hospital transition manager, they aren't just dropping off brochures and lip balm. They are presenting a clinical solution. The Pitch: "Our staff, nurses, PT, and Home Care Aides undergo a rigorous 8-hour certification program specifically for CHF symptoms, care, and tracking. We actively monitor daily weights and fluid retention to catch exacerbations before they require an ER visit." This level of specificity builds immediate trust, establishing your organization as a preferred partner capable of handling high-acuity, complex cases that other agencies might turn away. 3. Creating Authentic Trust in B2C Digital Marketing When a family member realizes their loved one needs help, their first stop is almost always a search engine. They aren't looking for broad corporate statistics; they are looking for answers to specific, frightening problems (e.g., "How do I stop my dad with dementia from wandering at night?" ). In-depth staff education provides a goldmine of content for inbound marketing strategies: Expert Content Marketing: You can leverage your staff's training to create highly targeted blog posts, downloadable care guides, and educational webinars. Thought Leadership: By hosting free community seminars on managing chronic conditions, you position your brand as the local authority. When families are ready to transition from self-care to professional care, your organization is already their trusted advisor. 4. Shortening the Sales Cycle Through Consultative Selling The consumer sales process in senior care is deeply emotional and fraught with guilt, anxiety, and confusion. Families are often in crisis mode. A standard salesperson who only speaks about room dimensions or hourly rates will struggle to close the deal. When your sales representatives are backed by a highly trained clinical and aide staff, the sales discovery call morphs into a clinical consultation . Traditional Sales Approach: Focuses on features, schedules, and pricing "We can send a caregiver on Tuesdays and Thursdays for four hours to help your mother clean and cook." Consultative, Education-Backed Approach: Focuses on disease progression, symptom management, and quality of life. "Because your mother is dealing with advanced COPD, our caregivers are trained to recognize early signs of respiratory distress, manage energy conservation techniques during bathing, and ensure proper oxygen optimization." The latter approach instantly alleviates family anxiety. It proves that you see their loved one as a person with specific medical needs, not just a line item on a ledger, effectively neutralizing price sensitivity and shortening the time it takes to sign a contract. 5. Maximizing Lifetime Value (LTV) and Word-of-Mouth In senior care, the best marketing is a glowing testimonial from a relieved family. In-depth chronic disease education directly correlates with higher client satisfaction and longer length of stay (or care retention). Preventing Care Burnout: Caregivers who lack training get overwhelmed by the behavioral or physical symptoms of chronic diseases, leading to high staff turnover and disrupted care. Trained caregivers handle difficult symptoms with confidence and skill. The Ripple Effect: Stable, high-quality care leads to happy families. Happy families write powerful 5-star online reviews and passionately recommend your services to friends and neighbors, creating an organic, self-sustaining sales loop. Conclusion: Education as an Investment, Not an Expense In-depth chronic disease education for caregiving staff should never be viewed as a mere regulatory compliance box to check. It is a foundational business strategy. By investing in the clinical intellect of your frontline workforce, you feed your marketing engine with authentic, high-value content, arm your sales team with an undeniable competitive advantage, and build a brand reputation that commands premium pricing. In a crowded market, the most educated care team wins the deepest trust—and ultimately, the client. At Kenyon Homecare Consulting , we focus on high-quality home care, home health, and hospice services. In doing so, we provide in-depth chronic disease education on the conditions that affect our clients population the most. If you are interesting in development of a true competitive advantage, visit Kenyon's Chronic Disease University for your educational needs. Call us at 206-721-5091 or at gkenyon@kenyonhcc.com with any questions.
Accuratesurvivaltool
By Ginny Kenyon July 1, 2026
The "ripple effects" of the Patient Driven Grouping Model (PDGM) payment overhaul has fundamentally altered how agencies operate, staff, and survive in 2026.
Success
By Ginny Kenyon June 23, 2026
The "coder" role has evolved into a "Clinical Documentation Integrity" role. Certification in ICD-10 and OASIS bridges the gap between the bedside and the claim.
SWOTanalysis
By Ginny Kenyon June 23, 2026
For home health administrators, a SWOT Analysis is a critical survival tool that allows agencies to assess internal capabilities and analyze the external market.
Letterofintent
By Ginny Kenyon June 18, 2026
Below is a professional LOI template for joining an insurance network designed to emphasize operational readiness, clinical expertise, and geographic need.
insurance credentialing
By Ginny Kenyon June 16, 2026
Insurance credentialing can be complicated. Whether you are new the industry or independent provider, here are 6 steps to help you successfully through the process.
breaking the bank
By Ginny Kenyon June 12, 2026
For agencies in 2026, Medicare home health is a labyrinth of costly red tape. Regulatory complexity has become one of the single greatest barriers to efficiency.