By Lilian Mwihaki
Ass. Home Healthcare Administrator
Administrators and owners of home care agencies report high staff retention and a low rate of turnover. The two most common strategies for retaining staff at my organization are:
- Open Communication
- Training and Development
Encouraging feedback from employees and acting improves communication, leading to employee satisfaction as employees feel aligned with the organization’s goals and core values (Clark, 2020). At our agency, there is active resolving of issues and employees know that their concerns will be investigated. For example, if a caregiver is uncomfortable giving service to a patient, the agency doesn’t require the employee to give service unwillingly, a follow-up is done as to why this is the case, could it be because the home is not safe, or the employee does not feel comfortable with pets. These small but important factors make the employees feel listened to and open communication on areas that the employees are unhappy about.
The home health care industry sees applications from other related industries such as hospitals, acute care facilities, and nursing facilities. However, home health care requires employees to have firsthand experience in home care for at least 12 months. To bridge this gap, the agency offers training and development to the employees. In addition, there is an option of mentorship through tag along, which is a program where a new employee tags along an experienced employee to see and learn how services are offered. This program not only improves performance, but employees feel empowered to stay. Another competitive advantage of the agency is through a program where there is a partnership with a training organization that offers training to employees who have experience, especially in taking care of their loved ones but do not have formal training. This partnership allows the employee to attain a home healthcare certificate via a paycheck-deductible service. How this works, is that the employee is trained by the partnering organization, tested, and attains a certificate which the agency pays for. The certificate remains in the procession of the agency till the employee can pay for it in full through an agreed payroll deduction.
The recruitment and retention of employees are key to the bottom line of any organization. In healthcare, having the right employees and having them stay improves the patient care quality as the caregiver understands the needs of the patient and develops relationships. The benchmark of a healthy healthcare organization is content and staff who feel like they belong. Therefore, concentrating on employee development and creating a positive workplace, will bring more referrals and reduce turnover, consequently improving the organization’s competitive advantage.
Conclusion
The recruitment and retention of employees is key to the bottom line of any organization. In healthcare, having the right employee and having them stay improves the patient care quality as the caregiver understands the needs of the patient and develops relationships. The benchmark of a healthy healthcare organization is a content and staff who feel like they belong. Therefore, concentrating on employee development and creating a positive workplace, will bring more referrals and reduce the turnover, consequently improving the organizations competitive advantage.
References
Clark, S. (2020, March 31). 6 Ways to Improve Employee Recruiting and Retention. CMS Wire.
https://www.cmswire.com/digital-workplace/6-ways-to-improve-employee-recruiting-and-retention/
Ecker, E. (2017, October 19). How Home Care Can Up Its Hiring and Retention Game. Home Healthcare News.
https:// homehealthcarenews.com/2017/10/how-home-care-can-up-its-hiring-and-retention-game/
Noe, R., Hollenbeck, J., Gerhart, B., & Wright, P. (2016). Human resource management. [MBS – Force Full Account]. Retrieved from
https://mbs-forcefullaccount.vitalsource.com/#/books/1260302334/