The Challenge of Recruiting Caregivers

Having talented and experienced caregivers is the key to operating a successful home care agency. Unfortunately, maintaining caregivers in the home health care industry has been a struggle, and it results in a high turnover rate. This poses the question, why is it such a challenge to hire and keep caregivers considering there is a high demand for caregivers. The answer is simple, but the solution to the problem is not. The answer is that thousands of home care agencies across the country are looking for qualified caregivers, and the agency with the best incentives and tools is able to attract new caregivers. In this blog, we will break down how your organization can solve this challenge and recruit more caregivers. 

How to Recruit Caregivers

Find Local Caregivers

There are talented and qualified caregivers in many communities. It is important for your organization to go out and look for them. Caregiver recruiting today requires home care agencies to be very active and involved in the process due to other agencies looking for the same quality caregivers as well. 

 

Once you have solidified a quality caregiver, you should incentivize them to stay with the agency long term. It is important to motivate the top caregivers to remain at your agency. In fact, according to the Home Care Pulse Benchmarking Survey, these are the top reasons a caregiver would choose to work for a specific agency:

• Good work environment and benefits
• A work schedule that meets their lifestyle
• A company that has a good reputation
• A company that someone else recommended to them

Offer Referral Incentives

There is no one better to help recruit new team members than your current staff. Set up an incentive program, and offer referral bonuses and/or prizes for any employee who refers a new/qualified caregiver. Be sure to offer incentives at every step of the way. For instance, if someone refers a new caregiver, enter them into a drawing to win a restaurant gift card, and pick a winner once a week. If someone refers a caregiver that makes it through the orientation and training process, reward them with a Starbucks gift card. And, if that person stays onboard for 30 days, reward them with a monetary bonus.

Utilize Digital Marketing

Digital marketing is a key component for hiring and recruiting caregivers. It provides a way to create new strategies to reach new applicants, interact with potential and previous ones, and ask for referrals. Digital marketing is low cost, gives measurable results, and helps monitor competition and keep up with them. It is also measured in real time, and it can be optimized. When using digital marketing advertisements on social media platforms, it is easy to gauge which platform is giving the most return on investment. 

 

Follow Up With Applicants

Utilize email and text messages to follow up with each applicant. That way, applicants can stay up to date on the application process and there is an open line of communication. Even if a caregiver is not a good fit at one point, the connection can still be made and they can remain in the pipeline. 

 

How to Retain Caregivers

Ongoing Training

Many caregivers want to continue their education and stay current on new and innovative ways to treat patients. Providing options for online training allows caregivers to learn at their own pace which keeps them more engaged. 

Caregivers want successful outcomes for their patients. Offering ongoing training on topics such as Fall Risk Preventions, Pain Management, and Respiratory Infections is a great way to build a caregiver’s confidence so they are prepared to handle any problem that comes their way.  

showd.me’s Orientation and Onboarding Solution:

Recruiting caregivers can be expensive. showd.me’s orientation and onboarding solution is simple!

How It Works:

The showd.me platform integrates with your existing recruitment workflow. When a potential employee expresses interest in a role, we see them through to make sure they cross the finish line. We digitize your current process so applicants can efficiently complete all of the required onboarding and orientation steps, on-demand.

showd.me partners with your team to ensure you meet your hiring goals. We provide white glove multilingual customer support and consistent reminders via chat, email or text to support applicants every step of the way. We take the administrative burden off of your team, so you can focus on revenue generating activities and top-notch patient care.

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