The home healthcare industry was not spared from the effects of COVID-19. In April 2020, 82.4% of respondents to a survey conducted by the National Association of Home Care & Hospice reported revenue reductions between 15 and 20%. 42.6% of HHAs report reduction in clinical staff, and 47% report reductions in administrative staff.
While recruiting and retaining quality employees is a constant challenge in the home healthcare industry, the pandemic has added significant hurdles to the process. But by improving your recruiting and hiring process, you can find top notch home healthcare workers who are not only eager to join your team but who want to stay there over the long term. We’ve pulled together some home healthcare recruiting tips to help you build your best team.
Write A Compelling Job Description
To overcome the workforce challenge in home healthcare, an effective job description can make your home health business stand out and help you attract quality candidates. First and foremost, the goal of your job description should be to show what your company has to offer.
In your job description, point out the advantages of working for your home healthcare business, such as flexible scheduling, competitive pay, tuition assistance for those pursuing nursing degrees, and more. In addition to highlighting benefits of the role itself, provide a company overview highlighting awards, growth numbers, and community involvement. Your job description is your chance to get potential employees excited about the possibility of working for your company by highlighting what makes you a great employer.
Whether you’re looking to hire an entry-level personal care aide, certified nurse, or any other home healthcare employee, you should also list any baseline requirements, such as certifications, in the job description. This can help you eliminate any unqualified candidates before it even comes time to review applications.
For more tips on writing job descriptions for your home healthcare positions, check out our eBook.
Monitor Results
Make sure your hiring efforts are effective by monitoring your recruitment ROI. With Hireology, you can get a detailed analysis in an easy-to-read format to understand process health and overall ROI by channel, hiring manager or location. You can determine where your top talent is coming from, what channels are yielding the most job seekers, and how long a hire takes to go through your process.
Ask The Right Questions
A candidate might look like the perfect fit on paper, but the interview process is what really makes the right candidate stand out, and helps you weed out those who aren’t a fit. As a home healthcare worker, certifications are a key requirement, but each employee’s attitude and personality is just as important.
Ask questions such as, “Walk me through the first visit with a new client and his or her family. How do you get to know the client and better understand their needs?” or, “Can you tell me about a time you had a difficult client and how you handled it?” By asking such questions, you can get a better understanding of whether or not the candidate is compassionate, personable, and capable of making connections with clients. For more interview questions to consider, click here.
Complete Reference and Background Checks
Your employees will have clients’ lives in their hands, so background checks and references should be among the most important steps in your hiring process. Make sure the information your candidates share during the screening process is accurate, as more than 78% of job applicants misrepresent themselves on their resumes – and you don’t want any of your employees to end up being a liability due to misinformation. Complete background checks to verify education, driving records, certifications, and criminal history. Once a candidate passes a background check, follow up by reaching out to references. This will give you insight into how well the candidate has worked with clients in the past.
Regularly Check In With Employees
Home healthcare work can be challenging and stressful at times. Make an effort to regularly check in with employees to see what’s going well and key areas for improvement. If a top employee seems burned out or overworked from working with a particularly stressful client, consider switching up his or her schedule to keep the employee on board. And if you receive feedback from an employee that he or she is struggling with a specific task or responsibility, use this as an opportunity to offer some extra training. Not only will customized training lead to happier employees, but it will improve overall client care in the long run.
Though the pandemic has made the hiring landscape more rocky, it’s still possible to recruit and hire your best team with a great recruitment and hiring process. For more guidance on the recruiting process, check out our Candidate Engagement Playbook.
