CareNotes

3 Easy Tips HR Admins Can Do Today to Improve Caregiver Retention

This is a guest article by Terra Vicario, CMO from Viventium, an OHCA business partner member that provides online human capital management solutions for in-home care and long term care facility customers throughout the country.

3 Easy Tips HR Admins Can Do Today to Improve Caregiver Retention

The home-, facility-, and community-based care sectors have consistently struggled with caregiver retention since the pandemic. Recently, Viventium conducted a comprehensive study that surveyed caregivers and administrators across the United States to uncover common challenges related to staff retention. In this study, a correlation was discovered between a positive onboarding experience and staff retention, as well as a wide range of data that reveals  what makes the difference between a good onboarding experience and one that is not as successful.

While there are many improvements that a community can make, they may not be feasible given the resources available. Below, review three improvements that are demonstrated in the study that don’t require much time or money, can be implemented as early as tomorrow morning, and will make a big difference in how new hires perceive their onboarding experience.

Tip #1: Have Leaders Greet New Hires on Their First Day

It’s hard to believe it, but, in the study, only 29% of caregivers responded that organizational leaders reached out to welcome them on their first day. A great onboarding process is about more than just filling out forms. It’s a time in which new hires become integrated with a company, and connecting with leaders, whether that’s the owner or a direct supervisor, plays a big role in making them feel welcomed. Creating space for new hires to meet and get to know their leaders can have a significant impact on whether they choose to stay or not – after all, this is their first impression of their new team and organization!

Tip #2: Clearly Communicate Expectations

One of the most difficult parts of starting a new job is the fear of the unknown. New people, new responsibilities, and new expectations can make it hard for new hires to feel comfortable. In fact, 60% of caregivers reported that communication was not clear and transparent during onboarding. Hiring managers can alleviate some of this by clearly communicating the onboarding timeline and job expectations. By doing this, admins remove the uncertainty of whether or not caregivers are performing up to expectations and give them an objective target to work towards.

Tip #3: Implement Office Hours for Answering Questions

Another common issue caregivers reported experiencing was that questions during the onboarding process were not answered promptly and helpfully. Only 38% of respondents believed their questions were sufficiently answered during onboarding. This makes sense: as an admin, it can be difficult to balance the everyday workload and responsibilities while also making oneself available to quickly answer questions that come up during onboarding. But for new hires, this can make them feel forgotten about and unappreciated. A great middle ground to immediately address this issue is by establishing consistent office hours in which new and existing caregivers can ask questions and connect with you on relevant topics. It’s important that once these office hours are established, they are clearly communicated to caregivers, and leaders remain committed to being available at these times.

What’s Next?

Sometimes when searching for solutions to big problems, It is easy to overlook and undermine the value of the approachable first steps. By implementing these changes, leaders can put their organizations on the path to increasing productivity and retention.

Learn more about how to make an impact on your agency, facility, or community, by downloading the full Viventium Caregiver Onboarding Experience Report, which is filled with data, key takeaways, and easy-to-implement solutions that will increase productivity and reduce turnover in any organization.