Recruitment and Retention In Your Agency: Banging Your Head Trying To Figure Out Why It Doesn't Work?
September 14, 2021
What Isn't Working?
After being in agencies all over the US, there are definite patterns
consistent with those that struggle with recruitment and retention efforts. Let's look at 4 of the big ones we see.
- Working with different generations: Right now, you may have employees who are Baby Boomers and those who are Gen Zs as well as everything in between. When you look at how you handle employees, do you address things the same way you did 20-30 years ago even though the mix of employees has changed? A big reason people leave is due to agencies not understanding or working with what is important to them. If you cater to a specific generation of employee, then you will have a difficult time keeping all the others.
- Interview Process: This also ties into the previous bullet point regarding generational issues. Think about those currently involved in the interview and hiring process. If you sat in on an interview with a Gen X employee, would the dialogue from the interviewer sound the same as if he or she was interviewing a Gen Z? Staff involved in hiring need to understand what is important from a generational standpoint to that employee to understand how to focus the interview. Make this a part of your coaching with staff who do interviews and hire. You easily miss out on great employees by not selling your agency in a way that makes your agency desirable to those in the interview.
- Work Environment: This one is tricky. Our work worlds have changed. More people work from home than ever before and have proven to be as efficient if not better in many cases than being in the office. Losing an employee for having very rigid work restrictions costs you so much. Consider altering the time in and out of work for employees. Maybe your office is open from 8a-5p. You have an employee who is unable to begin work before 10am but is willing to work full time. Do you allow for work hours to stagger for employees? Do you allow working from home for those who still have to work with young children on home schooling? Maybe you have an employee caring for an elderly parent who needs to be able to take a block of time everyday from the work schedule that is more that your typical hour long lunch break? Do you allot for altered schedules for these employees? This is something we see happen a lot in agencies. The cookie cutter employee just doesn't exist today.
- Personal contact with management: The complexity of our agencies has increased. We have merged with other agencies and therefore gotten bigger. We all are doing more with less. The one thing that has gotten lost is the contact between management staff and the employees. Do you remember when you knew every employee who worked for you? Can you still say that now? Administrative staff needs to find a way to stay connected to all employees regardless of what the employee's job role is.
Let Us Help With Your Recruitment And Retention Strategy:
At Kenyon Homecare Consulting
, we help agencies analyze operations to help promote a successful recruitment and retention strategy. Although this article is just a small look into commonalities between agencies struggling, there are so many more ways an agency can promote job satisfaction and long term employment. Call us today at 206-721-5091 or contact us online
to see how we can help you to improve work conditions and strategy within your agency!
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HOPE Question and Answer Repository
Today, this article will look at little different than out typical articles. We all know the costs of losing employees and trying to hire and train new ones. It is exhausting and expensive. So, we think about our wages and benefit packages all the time. What can we do differently that makes people stay? We can’t change the job and we don’t want to keep people that don’t like the work itself. So, how do we acknowledge employees in a way that is valuable to them and that our businesses can afford to do? 5 Things To Consider About Employee Recognition At Your Christmas Party: 1. Years of Service: These can be based on milestone work anniversaries (5, 10, 15 yrs, etc.). If a person has been at your agency 11 years, you pull them up and acknowledge them in the group of employees who have been there at least 10 years up until the time they hit the 15 years landmark. This way longevity is recognized yearly. 2. Special Employee awards: Now, this may be difficult if your staff is very small, but acknowledge the employee who has gone the extra mile in the job they do. Tell the story. The employee needs to know when the employer is proud of the work that has been done. Consider a plaque or certificate. Don’t minimize the value of the employee having them to display. 3. Acknowledge all employees in the mix: Because we are a clinical industry, the administrative staff is often overlooked on day-to-day operations. Ultimately, don’t miss the chance to acknowledge the employee who was able to catch billing errors or collect on a large account. Staff doesn’t like to hear about money, but those types of collections keep Christmas bonuses in place! So, make sure the other staff knows the accomplishments of the finance department or the office manager that every caller loves to speak to. Don't ever forget the IT staff that is on call more than any clinical person in your agency! 4. Letters from the administration: Add a personal note to your staff either collectively or individually depending on the size of your agency. If you are larger, there are employees you don’t often see or get to talk to on a regular basis, so take the time so send a note with that Christmas bonus. 5. Consider the Christmas bonus: Listen, some of you can afford to do substantial monetary bonuses and that is fantastic. However, if you are not in that position, consider something in its place. Maybe small gas cards go with the letter from administration. With the cost of groceries, consider something that helps with the costs of daily living for employees. Big box gift cards in your area will always be used. You may do a lot of these things on a yearly basis to employees. All this being said, it doesn’t mean there aren’t reasons for acknowledgement throughout the year. However, your annual Christmas party is a good way to do it collectively. Between your annual party, write the individual cards to employees when you hear a patient interaction worthy of praise. Or, maybe you buy a gas card for the employee who has picked up extra shifts and always shows up on time. Ultimately, employees will feel valued. You will not regret the time, effort, and energy put into these efforts. Merry Christmas! If you want help with recruitment and retention strategies for your agency, please call Kenyon Homecare Consulting at 206-721-5091 or contact us online today.