Building Strong Home Care Teams with Strengths-Based Approach

Building Strong Home Care Teams with Strengths-Based Approach

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Ruby Mehta: Welcome to CareSmartz360 On Air, a home care Podcast. My name is Ruby, and I’m VP sales at Caresmartz. In this ever demanding word of home car, building strong and supportive teams is crucial. Here at Caresmartz, we recognize the challenges you face, and today we are diving into a powerful strategy, the strength based approach. Instead of dwelling on weaknesses, they met. This method focuses on each team member’s unique skills and talents.

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Ruby Mehta: By identifying these trends. We can create a team where everyone thrives.

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Ruby Mehta: This fosters a positive collaborative environment where caregivers feel valued and empowered.

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Ruby Mehta: They’re encouraged to contribute their best selves leading to better communication problem solving and ultimately happier clients.

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Ruby Mehta: The strength-based approach doesn’t ignore development areas, but it prioritizes building on existing strengths to create a team that’s more than the sum of its paths.

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Ruby Mehta: Stay tuned as we explore practical tips and success stories on how this approach can transform your home care team into a force for exceptional client care.

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Ruby Mehta: Today we have Devin Bevis on the panel, the director of marketing at Caring Senior Service.

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Ruby Mehta: Devin specializes in intelligence, relationship, management, business, coaching, marketing, and client success, and is adept at cultivating high performing teams and instilling a strength focused culture.

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Ruby Mehta: Welcome to the podcast, Devin. How are you?

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Devin C. Bevis: Ruby. Thanks for having me here.

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Ruby Mehta: Thank you. So it’s your favorite topic. I know. Strength based. Approach.

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Ruby Mehta: Why, we wanna learn a lot from you, Devin. Today. I will start with. The hot topic

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Ruby Mehta: hiring

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Ruby Mehta: hiring for the right strength is crucial.

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Ruby Mehta: Can you share some strategies for our audience

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Ruby Mehta: for identifying those trends during the interview process for home care professionals.

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Devin C. Bevis: Absolutely. Yeah. I mean when it when it comes to

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Devin C. Bevis: hiring and selection, you know, the first thing I would suggest is to take inventory of the

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Devin C. Bevis: diversity of talents that you already have on your team

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Devin C. Bevis: and then identify the biggest areas of need from there. So.

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Devin C. Bevis: for instance, like. Let’s say you have Susie on your team who does phenomenal work. She’s just great at her job, right? And a lot of times it’s just common for leaders and managers to say, I just need to hire another Susie. I need more. Susie’s right when in fact, maybe what’s really needed is someone who compliments Susie’s talents, and brings certain talents to the team that Susie doesn’t necessarily bring.

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Devin C. Bevis: So

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Devin C. Bevis: I would say, after you’ve assessed the talent landscape of your current team. I would then dig deep during the interview process and make sure you’re asking the most meaningful questions that focus on what someone really enjoys doing. You know what, what energizes them the most, what motivates them the most?

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Devin C. Bevis: It’s good to ask those types of questions in as many different ways that you can really think of in order to get a better idea of what makes them unique beyond just their technical skills.

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Devin C. Bevis: Another thing to consider is using scientifically validated research, based assessments that can help uncover strengths that might not come out in a traditional interview. The intel

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Devin C. Bevis: that you can gain from those types of assessments can oftentimes spark good questions to dive even deeper into with a candidate.

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Devin C. Bevis: And lastly, I would say, too, to just listen closely, you know, pay really close attention to how they talk about their experiences, how they respond to each question, you know, do they? Do they light up when talking about certain topics or certain aspects of the job, be on the lookout for those kinds of queues.

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Ruby Mehta: Yeah, that’s that’s really interesting, and that your example is really true. We always think that if we have a high performing individual in the team. We might want similar high performing individuals in the team to, to effectively, you know, to increase operational effectiveness. But the reality is that when we are looking for talent.

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Ruby Mehta: all of them team members should complement each other’s friends.

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Ruby Mehta: So that’s really important. And you really touched on a great great topic here.

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Ruby Mehta: And

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Ruby Mehta: Sometimes team members might have strengths that don’t seem readily applicable in home care, because when we are hiring we’re hiring from different industries to not just home care to homecare. How can we effectively utilize those strengths within the team? Dynamic.

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Devin C. Bevis: Yeah, that’s a great question.

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Devin C. Bevis: And I would take a step back and look at the big picture first there. So just because someone’s strength

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Devin C. Bevis: on the surface might not seem directly related to home care doesn’t mean it can’t be useful in other ways. When you dig a little bit deeper. So

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Devin C. Bevis: You know, it’s about being open minded and thinking. Outside the box. Every team member brings something unique to the table right? And it’s about recognizing those diverse talents within the team and finding creative ways to leverage them.

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Devin C. Bevis: Encouraging collaboration and allowing team members to contribute in in areas where they shine, not only

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Devin C. Bevis: maximizes their potential, but it also enriches the overall dynamic of the team.

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Devin C. Bevis: So you know, one thing that comes to my mind is 1 one strength based. Principle is the belief that there’s really no such thing as someone having too much talent. However, talents can be misused. So it’s our job as coaches and leaders to help our team members become more self aware of their own talents and put them in positions where they can productively apply those talents as much as possible, day in and day out.

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Ruby Mehta: Yeah, a hundred percent. I agree. That’s true.

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Ruby Mehta: And in this industry burnout is a real concern.

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Ruby Mehta: How can a strength based approach help, build resilience and combat, deal burnout within the team.

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Devin C. Bevis: Yeah, for sure, burnout is definitely a serious issue, right? Especially in home care, where the work can be really demanding. And that’s really where a strength based approach can shine and make a huge difference. I mean, when we focus on what people are naturally good at.

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Devin C. Bevis: and what they truly enjoy doing.

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Devin C. Bevis: It’s like giving them a boost of energy. It’s kind of like finding that sweet spot where work feels more like clay.

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Devin C. Bevis: When team members are able to spend more time doing what they’re good at and what they love, it not only makes them happier, but it also makes them more resilient.

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Devin C. Bevis: So if you think about it, I mean, if you’re constantly doing tasks that drain you or make you feel stressed out. It’s easy to burn out pretty quick right? But when you’re able to tap into your strengths, and you feel like you’re making a real difference. It’s like you have this extra reserve of energy to draw from almost I mean

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Devin C. Bevis: plus. When team members feel valued for their strengths and supported within their roles, it creates this sense of camaraderie and mutual respect.

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Devin C. Bevis: and people are more likely to

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Devin C. Bevis: support each other. Pitch in when they’re needed, which can definitely help, you know. Lighten the load and prevent burnout overall. So so yeah, the strength based approach isn’t just about

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Devin C. Bevis: helping people do their jobs better. It’s about creating a work environment where people can thrive and feel fulfilled even in the you know E, even when they face challenges.

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Ruby Mehta: Yeah, absolutely. Devin, from your experience.

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Ruby Mehta: Do you do you recommend, or are there any exercises, or

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Ruby Mehta: Anything that people can do in homecare to really help their team members achieve that success and excellence and reduce that burnout. What are they? Some examples or some exercises that homecare teams can do.

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Devin C. Bevis: Sure.

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Devin C. Bevis: yeah, I mean.

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Devin C. Bevis: I think communication is is is probably

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Devin C. Bevis: some of the that’s one of the most underused

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Devin C. Bevis: things that folks are taking a look at now, so just making sure that you’re staying in touch and communicating on a regular basis. I mean, there’s data that Gallup has. That proves that leaders and coaches who have at least

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Devin C. Bevis: one conversation, one meaningful conversation a week with their team members

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Devin C. Bevis: improves engagement. Lessens the risk of burnout all these really powerful things. And it doesn’t have to be a, you know, an hour long conversation it could be anywhere from 5 min, you know, but but making sure it’s it’s meaningful, too, you know. I mean, that’s

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Devin C. Bevis: That’s one of the biggest things I think that you could start doing right away, just looking at the way you’re communicating right now with your team. And what does that mean? What does that look like, are are you

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Devin C. Bevis: really

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Devin C. Bevis: putting meaningful time into those conversations.

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Ruby Mehta: Yeah, no, that’s a great point.

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Ruby Mehta: I was studying something, I think, last week, and I saw most people. I think it was a Linkedin post or something.

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Ruby Mehta: Most people

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Ruby Mehta: burn out, or at that risk of burnout, because they feel like no one is hearing them out

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Ruby Mehta: So communication or having good communication with your team is definitely an essential part that people don’t realize the value of communication enough.

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Ruby Mehta: People think that having one on ones when it really comes to. When people complain or when people haven’t, they have an issue. That’s when communication works. But

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Ruby Mehta: on a regular basis

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Ruby Mehta: team members or people have so much to talk about and just hearing them out sometimes really helps release some of the attention.

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Devin C. Bevis: Oh, absolutely. And especially when you think about it in

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Devin C. Bevis: the context of home care. Right? I mean.

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Devin C. Bevis: caregivers tend to. I mean, kind of live on an island because they don’t. They don’t get to see

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Devin C. Bevis: the team in the office that that much so so the more that you can communicate with them. Keep them engaged.

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Devin C. Bevis: The more it’s, it’s just gonna help that relationship overall.

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Ruby Mehta: Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. And some agencies. I have heard they do interesting things. In terms of

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Ruby Mehta: surveys. And basically giving an opportunity, if not really face to face, but some sort of opportunity for them to communicate.

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Ruby Mehta: Technology plays a big role these days. So you have easy communication using some tools. So that’s something that our home care agencies should really leverage. I believe.

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Devin C. Bevis: Oh, yeah, absolutely. I mean, and that’s another great point. I mean, look at all of the ways that you’re communicating doesn’t have to just be a you know, a conversation like this or face to face. You know I know we’re in an age where we’re texting all the time. So, you know, be mindful of every single opportunity you have when you’re communicating with the team member.

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Devin C. Bevis: because there’s definite ways to to leverage that, and make the most of those opportunities.

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Ruby Mehta: Yeah, yeah, I agree 100%.

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Ruby Mehta: Another question. I had Devin. Let’s say a team member excels in one area but struggles in another.

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Ruby Mehta: How can the strength based approach be used to address those development areas? And without really undermining the confidence of that team member.

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Devin C. Bevis: Yeah. Yeah, that’s kind of a common scenario, isn’t it?

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Devin C. Bevis: I mean, we. We all have our strengths, and we all have our blind spots or areas where we might not be as strong. Right?

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Devin C. Bevis: But that’s where that’s where a strength based approach really shines as well. So let’s say you’ve got a team member who is just crushing it in one aspect of their role.

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Devin C. Bevis: but maybe struggling a little bit in another, you know, instead of just focusing on their weaknesses, and that that area that they’re struggling in.

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Devin C. Bevis: we as strengths based folks, we flip the script and we 0 in on their strengths. And we start by acknowledging and celebrating what they’re already great at.

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Devin C. Bevis: So meaningful recognition plays a huge role in this.

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Devin C. Bevis: then we look at how we can leverage those strengths to help them improve in the areas where they’re not as strong. So you’re you’re basically helping someone mitigate their weaknesses through the use of

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Devin C. Bevis: of their strengths.

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Devin C. Bevis: So you’re not completely ignoring those weaknesses. You’re acknowledging them. And

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Devin C. Bevis: And it’s just. It’s a very powerful way to go about it. When you keep the focus on strengths, you know. I mean, let’s say.

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Devin C. Bevis: just as an example. Let’s say someone’s a real people person and excels at building relationships with other folks. But

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Devin C. Bevis: but maybe they’re not

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Devin C. Bevis: the most organized when it comes to paperwork or documentation or stuff like that. So instead of just focusing on them, getting better at the paperwork, you know, we might suggest ways. They can use their interpersonal skills to streamline communication or collaborate with someone on the team who is stronger in that area.

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Devin C. Bevis: Right? So the key here is to approach it as a team effort. So we’re not saying, Hey, you need to fix this. Instead, we’re saying.

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Devin C. Bevis: Let’s figure out how we can work together to support you and help you grow. It’s all about building confidence and empowering team members to reach their full potential really well.

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Devin C. Bevis: while also creating a culture where team members seek out differences between one another and embrace them.

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Ruby Mehta: Yeah, that’s so true. Considering home care. The teams are really tight. They work together. If you compare it with any other industry. It’s different. And they have. They have unique challenges, too.

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Ruby Mehta: So I’m coming to my next question with that. How do you feel that strength based approach works really well in home care, especially with home care teams. How does it benefit them? Considering the unique challenges they face.

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Devin C. Bevis: Sure. Yeah. So you know, when we when we talk about a strength based culture in homecare team, specifically, I mean, we’re

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Devin C. Bevis: we’re really talking about creating an environment where team members truly feel valued

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Devin C. Bevis: and empowered to bring their best to the table every day.

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Devin C. Bevis: And that’s what really makes all, all the difference here. So when folks are engaged like that, we tend to see fewer safety incidents, which is a big deal in our line of work right?

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Devin C. Bevis: retention goes up and team members stick around longer, which not only saves us time and money, but also means we’re looking or we’re we’re we’re working with a more experienced team who are passionate about what they do.

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Devin C. Bevis: it also impacts re recruitment. You know. I mean, it’s a lot easier to attract top notch talent when people feel and hear about positive vibes. You’ve got going on right

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Devin C. Bevis: and that’s because they wanna be part of a team where they feel supported and appreciated. So that talent ends up attracting more talent.

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Devin C. Bevis: There’s also a positive impact to the level of service that’s being delivered to clients. So you’ll end up seeing higher net promoter scores stronger client satisfaction rates

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Devin C. Bevis: productivity goes up with this approach. So when teams are strengths focused and engaged, they’re able to get more done in less time.

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Devin C. Bevis: And all of this ultimately kind of leads to the bottom line. We’re higher with higher profitability as well. So

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Devin C. Bevis: So yeah, I mean, it’s a win win all around. You’re able to build a successful business by investing in the goodness of your team and Gallup, A actually has the data to support all this, too. It shows. On average, you know, strengths based teams achieve 29% higher profit, 19% increase in sales

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Devin C. Bevis: 59%, fewer safety incidents and 72% lower turnover. So regardless of your industry or the size of your organization. I mean, there’s untapped potential, really, in every company there.

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Ruby Mehta: Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Alright, Devin, what’s your final piece of advice for home care teams? Who are currently maybe not leveraging a strength based approach. How would you coach them? I know it’s a vast big question that I’ve asked. But

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Ruby Mehta: if someone wants to implement something from this podcast what would be your final piece of advice.

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Devin C. Bevis: Yeah, I think I mean that the best first step to take is to just start learning more about strength based approaches. So you know, Gallup is is really where strengths based

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Devin C. Bevis: approaches

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Devin C. Bevis: derives from. So I would definitely check out Gallup’s website. And they’ve got strength based coaches everywhere. So

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Devin C. Bevis: you’d be able to maybe connect with a coach that’s in your area and start working with them more one on one, because you know those strengths based coaches love to take the time to. Really.

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Devin C. Bevis: you know, dig into

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Devin C. Bevis: what they can. They can help you and your business with. So that would be the best first step.

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Ruby Mehta: Well, thank you so much. Devin.

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Ruby Mehta: That’s very insightful. Thank you again for sharing these great insights. I’m sure the audience got deep insights about how the strength based approach helps build strong oncare teams.

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Ruby Mehta: And to you, my wonderful audience, thanks for tuning in until the next episode. This is Ruby Mehta from Caresmartz.

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Ruby Mehta: Thank you.

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Devin C. Bevis: Thanks a lot.