2019-10-23_sdaoust_Hiring Tier A Caregivers notes.docx

Hiring Tier A Caregivers notes

Need to develop and nurture a culture that values caregivers

Have care managers take some ownership in getting to know the caregivers personally. The more connected the caregiver feels to the CM and the case, the less likely he/she is to leave

Treat caregivers like people, not commodities

Frontline person in the office (HR/scheduler in our case) has the most impact on caregiver retention

Focus less on supervision and more on development of caregivers

One franchise does group interviews twice a week. Brings in a group of caregivers and does the interview in a group setting. Allows to see how they interact with others and to assess them better.

Focus less on the CV and experience and more on the personality and willingness to work. You can train on the other stuff.

New “Caregiver Development Module” on the Intranet

Bootcamp training for caregivers who need more training

Set up a “skills lab” where you can brush up caregiver training where needed. It could be a full room, or in places where there isn’t space, can be a fold up bed and movable equipment to train with.

Connect with a physiotherapist who can provide training on how to transfer patients

Suggested to pay caregivers for their orientation. Settle on a “training wage” that is lower than their pay rate.

Don’t disregard older caregivers. They are often the ones who will make the best connection with our clients. Our clients are mainly Baby Boomers and a lot of caregivers are Millennials. The gap in characteristics between these groups is huge. At the very least, we need to sensitize our caregivers to the characteristics of Baby Boomers so that they understand more.

Use video links on transfer training, etc. and send to caregivers who might need a bit of a refresher

Mentor program: Select great caregivers who can act as mentors for your more junior caregivers. Have them shadow and train with caregivers at the Mentor’s client. Client has to agree to have a Mentee there. The benefit is that their caregiver is seen as a super star and they are getting two caregivers for the entire shift. Pay the Mentee a training wage and give the Mentor a higher rate or a bonus for being a Mentor.

Ideas for retention:

Have each caregiver will out a personalized form that details the things that they like (music type, favourite candy bar, candy, flower, etc.). Gives us info to be able to build a better bio/profile on the caregiver.

One franchise created personalized stockings at Christmas based on their favourite thing

Do one or two easy things to value/thank your caregivers, but then add one more thing that is outside of your comfort zone. We do caregiver of the month and birthdays, but we need to add something else.

Give caregivers one rate upon hiring and quote them a slightly higher rate that they will be given at their 3-month mark.

Set up a round table discussion with caregiver that you know are working with other agencies. Allows you to mine info and see what you could be doing differently

Albuquerque has a big gala once a year. Expensive but they have had great success with it. They invite the caregivers plus a guest and have awards based on performance, BCM implementation, etc.

Offer specialized dementia training to caregivers

Have caregivers come to the office so that they are “connected”

One franchise has a “spin the wheel” contest once a month. Any caregiver who comes by the office on that day, gets to spin the wheel and wins a prize based on the spin. Can be a small gift card, HCA item, etc.

Create a “caught in the act” wall. Have staff identify moments when caregivers are doing great things. One franchise has a wall with the caregiver’s picture and the positive comments posted below the pic. Once you get a certain # of positive comments, that caregiver gets a prize. Have the wall located where you do orientations so that other caregivers can see our caregiver’s success.

I would like to challenge our office staff to identify one “caught in the act” moment each week and submit them to Tim. Tim then calls each caregiver to tell them that they’ve been “caught” doing great work. Imagine how great they will feel to have the owner call them with praise! This will also help our office staff to focus on the positive moments rather than harping on the negative ones.

One franchise has a quarterly event for caregivers that they combine with some sort of training

As much as possible, have the managers/owners present for orientations and introduce them to the group

Ideas to deal with issues

Only offer direct deposit after 3 months of work. For the first 3 months, have caregivers pick up their cheques at the office. Solidifies the relationship with the caregiver and allows you to iron out any service issues.

Create a class on “the introduction” with a client. Set up a training on how to handle the first meeting. This can even be done one on one.