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One of the most significant challenges that the home care industry faces today is recruiting and retaining caregivers.

Studies show that the annual turnover rate of caregivers was 65.2%, which is why it is crucial to have a different set of tools and techniques in these fast-changing times.

-2021 Home Care Benchmarking Study 

The caregiver shortage is a pressing issue and has come to light throughout the last decade. A home care agency’s success depends on the owner’s ability to recruit and retain skilled caregivers.

Around 97.8% of agencies exclaim that caregiver shortage negatively impacted their home care business. The number of agencies said that this negative impact jumped from 10% to 34.1% last year.  

-HCP Benchmarking Report 

While recruiting caregivers may sound like an easy task, the average agency has to replace two-thirds of its caregiving staff every year. An agency loses around $2600 in revenue per lost caregiver, and that’s why it is vital to reduce caregiver turnover and fill open positions.

We’ve broken down some unique strategies that might be effective to refuel your recruitment efforts.

• Hire the Right People:

Hiring the right people may sound the most obvious, but it’s easier said than done.

While home care agencies may be desperate to hire more staff to fill positions, they may forget to conduct a background check. Unfortunately, this hiring approach may hurt your agency in the long run. It is always wise to find experienced candidates who genuinely want the job.  Hiring someone out of necessity who isn’t the right fit for your agency will cost more money and damage the reputation you worked so hard to achieve.

The caregiver acquisition costs may differ,  but most home care businesses list “word of mouth” as a top recruitment source. This hiring source has low caregiver acquisition costs and a much lower turnover.

According to research, the caregivers hired by ‘word of mouth’ have a median turnover rate of 47%, and the median caregiver acquisition cost is around $347.

• Reverse Career Fairs:

A reverse career fair is an innovative way of restructuring an open interview process. In this method, agencies don’t have to schedule interviews. Instead, they provide applicants with all the reasons and information as to why they should work for the agency and why the agency is better than the competitors.

Caregivers can see if the agency has a reputation and culture worth working for.

• Create Career-specific Agency Pages:

It can be daunting to balance the caregiver recruitment content and the content geared towards attracting agency clients on social media.

Industry experts suggest clearing your social media and targeting communication efforts to make a career-specific company page. You must also check if there’s a well-defined space for attracting social media clients and a separate area for recruiting caregivers.

Know that there’s always room for creativity when curating your agency page. So, be creative with your approach and promote content to have a greater reach.

• Organize a Fundraiser for a Cause:

The home care industry has a lot of room for charity events and advocacy. Suppose you think of an event or a local charity you’re fundraising for. In that case, the people who donate may connect to elderly care and become caregivers.

All you have to do is find an event that resonates with your agency. 

• Ask your Caregivers for Help:

Always sit down with your caregivers to see what works for them and what doesn’t. Find out what drew them to apply for a position and which platforms they used to find your agency.

Opening conversations with your caregivers allows you to sit down and design an appropriate recruitment campaign. You will also be able to see the results of their work when there aren’t any more open shift requests for the caregivers.

You may also ask them for references for like-minded caregivers to work for your agency.

• Introduce a Great Onboarding Program:

First impressions indeed leave a lasting impact, which holds good for an onboarding program.

Home care industry experts suggest starting your new hires off strong by giving them orientation. In addition, giving them home care software like CareSmartz360, they can easily clock in and clock out, see their schedules, add expenses, and update documents to help them run their job smoothly.

Additionally, you can teach caregivers the know-hows of becoming successful caregivers, following safety precautions, and offering self-care tips to avoid burnout.

An orientation program encourages new caregivers to see your home care agency in a positive light to helps your caregivers feel good about your agency. With this, they’re more likely to keep up the excellent work and help you grow.

Conclusion

Remember- your caregivers are a critical asset for your agency, you would not be able to run your business without them.

Treat your employees with the respect they deserve, and pay close attention to their needs to retain caregivers and bring continuous revenues to your agency.