Combatting turnover in home-based and facility-based care may seem impossible. Retention is a consistent struggle for facilities and agencies alike, and in many ways, the pandemic has exacerbated those struggles. Turnover costs employers anywhere from 100-300% of each lost employee’s salary. Additionally, the results of consistent turnover in the healthcare industry can have much more dire results than other professions, like inadequate patient care.
But there are ways to keep your staff around longer. If you look at turnover as the symptom rather than the condition, it’s much easier to analyze why your staff is leaving.
Some of the contributing factors to high turnover are burnout, lack of career development, a poor work-life balance, and low pay and benefits. By addressing what causes or contributes to turnover, you’ll be better equipped to keep your team around longer. Here’s where to start.
Step 1: Evaluate your turnover rate
The first step in addressing turnover is figuring out exactly how bad the problem is. Find out the rate of turnover for your organization by dividing the total number of separations that occurred during a given period of time by the average number of employees, then, multiply that number by 100. This will give you a clear picture of just how frequently your employees are exiting your organization.
You can figure this out for each varying role and compare it to the industry average. For example, if your CNA turnover rate in 2020 was 50%, you’ll know you were above the national average of 48.51%, and that it’s important to take immediate action to get your numbers at least in line with your competition (but hopefully, even further below!).
Step 2: Attract the right people
Attracting the right people to your open roles matters a great deal to retention for several reasons. For one, each employee has the potential to add or detract from your culture, which can make your organization a great place to work, or can make coming in everyday all the more difficult. And, attracting employees that want to grow and develop at your company will help you keep your team intact longer than those that jump from place to place.
So in order to attract the best employees, look at the following areas:
Career Site: Your career site is your company page to talk about all the reasons working for your organization is great. Some things you can include on your career site include your culture, benefits, company awards, and employee career paths. The point is to give someone who’s trying to decide between applying at your organization and your competition a clear but digestible way of seeing why you’re the better option. And it’s imperative that you keep your career site up to date, and consider including relevant information, like how you’re taking precautions during the pandemic. For more tips on how to make a killer career site, read our Career Site Playbook.
Job Postings: Your job postings should be short and sweet while still explaining the role with enough detail to help candidates gauge if they’re a good fit. Refrain from adding role requirements that aren’t absolutely necessary so that you don’t limit your applicant pool too much. Include an equal opportunity statement, a recap of your benefits, and make sure your descriptions are search friendly.
Job Boards: Where you post your jobs is another thing to consider. Jobs on Facebook, Indeed, and LinkedIn are all frequently used job boards and can result in great ROI, but without tracking capabilities, it’s hard to know where your applicants are coming from. Hireology has an insights tool that helps you pinpoint where your top applicants applied, so you can know which boards make sense to invest in.
Step 3: Hire better, faster
In order to ensure you’re hiring the best team possible and keeping your current employees far away from burnout, your hiring process needs to be efficient. Taking weeks to respond to candidates won’t fly for those that are in high demand, so you need to make sure the entire process — from communicating with applicants, to extending the offer letter — is like a well-oiled machine.
Hireology was built to help make your hiring decisions easier and your process more streamlined. We help construct career sites, job descriptions, interview questions, and even offer letters. We also help you select the right candidate for each role with pre-screen surveys, automated background and reference checks, and compile all important documentation, like immunization records and certifications, all in one place.
Additionally, our mobile app helps you keep your hiring process moving, even when you are, too. You can connect with applicants, review applications, and schedule interviews, all while on the go.
Step 4: Continue training throughout the employee lifecycle
Carrying your training initiatives past initial onboarding and into the employee lifecycle is a must if you want to keep your team around. Without continuous training, there’s more room for error, and for people to leave to explore other opportunities. And, when your employees are knowledgeable and up to speed on every facet of their job, your patients receive better, more comprehensive care.
Organizations like CareAcademy work to ensure your employees continue to learn and grow as they progress in their careers. They have a mobile friendly platform that’s easy to use and can help your caregivers increase their knowledge day in and day out.
Nip turnover in the bud
While it’s impossible to completely rid your organization of turnover, there are actionable steps you can take to keep your employees around longer — and a lot of that starts with your hiring process! If you want to learn more about how Hireology can help you hire employees that will last, you can schedule a demo here.
