5 Top Tips to Recruit, Retain and Manage Caregiving Staff
Posted on | Posted in General, Care Home Marketing, Home Care Marketing, Care Recruitment, Blog
Securing a high quality workforce is one of the greatest challenges in the care industry today. It is also the lifeblood of any care business.
Between the media’s irresponsible coverage during Covid towards care homes and the loss of care staff in the past two years, it is safe to say that recruiting, retaining, and managing care staff may seem trickier than ever before.
When it comes to your staff, you must both change the way you recruit, and develop methods to make sure you retain and successfully manage your employees.
Here are some tips that will help you recruit, retain, and manage caregiving staff in 2022:
1. Look ‘Outside of the Box’
Where you look for staff correlates with their sustainability and how long they end up working for you, so looking in the right places is important. Do not just focus on job boards, as these only help to find ‘active’ job seekers. You need to focus on finding ‘passive’ job seekers. Those looking for a change in career in the near future, or people who already care for a loved one. These have great potential to be solid, reliable carers. You can also recruit through employer referral schemes: Your current employers are likely to know of good potential carers in your area, use them!
2. Make it easy to apply.
The best staff, as aforementioned, are likely to be ‘passive’ job seekers. These people will not have their CV up to date and ready to upload necessarily, so do not ask for one. Make it as easy as possible for them to enquire. To further minimise their difficulty and set your relationship off on the right foot, it can help to build a personal connection before meeting them. You can do this by giving them a call before their interview, texting them the day before wishing them luck, making the interview informal and low key and even offering evening slots, as they will likely have another full time job.
3. Retain from the Beginning.
You should also think about putting some things in place to prevent early staff loss. This can include taking steps to show that they matter. For example, sending them a welcome card when they first come on board, getting someone fairly senior to welcome them in person and greet them on their first day, regularly thanking and praising them, checking if they need any support or help etc.
4. Show Your Appreciation.
Increasing pay can be a big incentive, however, when you cannot use pay you must use appreciation. Much of the sector runs on trust and appreciation therefore staff centred care is paramount. You must appreciate and reward your staff in any way you can, if you have happy staff, you will have happy residents. Some care providers still treat their staff as if they are lucky to have a job, when in reality it should be the other way around. Both care providers and residents are lucky to have wonderful staff that are passionate about what they do.
5. Sell Your Offer
Being a carer has really been undersold as a career, so ensure your marketing materials when recruiting staff show what a wonderful career you offer. Show the autonomy in the roles, that way the carer feels it is truly in their hands, rather than feeling like glorified data collectors.
As the demand for care grows, so does the need to recruit and retain more workers to deliver high quality care and support.
In the current market, care providers must work harder to attract new staff and keep them. The care sector has changed and we no longer have a ton of applicants to choose from. This is why putting into practice some of the tips above is crucial in 2022.
If you would like more information on how to utilise Digital Marketing within your care business, check out our blogs, e-books, or call or email our team today!