Staffing turnover in senior care has reached an all-time high at an annual rate of 48.5% among all employees and 68.1% among resident assistants and personal care aides. At a sunk cost of roughly $2,200 per employee, staff turnover is expensive and results in lower resident satisfaction, quality of care and occupancy.
Staff leave for a myriad of reasons, but what if a few simple changes could transform the trajectory of your organization? Luckily there are proven strategies to increase staff retention that ultimately improve quality of care, decrease costs and positively affect the bottom line. Properly empowering and equipping your staff for success can mean a difference of hundreds of thousands of dollars and better-quality care and safety for residents. Data show that just a 1% increase in employee satisfaction results in a 17% increase in resident and family satisfaction and a 19% decrease in falls, one of the most costly challenges in senior care.
Below are five critical strategies for increasing staff retention and satisfaction while improving resident safety and quality of life and decreasing operational costs.
5 Top Tips for Senior Living Staff Retention:
1. Offer High-Growth Career Paths & Comprehensive Training
Developing employee career paths is critical for retention and grooming the next generation of senior living leaders. When employees know they are joining an organization that values long-term growth and they have a clear path to their next career milestones, retention and satisfaction increase. Career path development should include:
– An initial skills assessment to measure competency, characteristics, strengths and weaknesses.
– An individual development plan that outlines a clear path to achieving career aspirations.
– Cross-training programs to teach employees new skills and keep them stimulated and engaged.
– Training on new technologies and tools to help staff optimize performance.
2. Prioritize Transparency & Clear Communication
Creating trust, building morale and lowering stress are just a few reasons to prioritize clear communication and transparency in the workplace. A transparent culture also leads to more engaged workers and higher retention. In addition, transparency creates trust in all directions, including employers depending on staff for essential tasks and staff trusting that employers have their best interests in mind.
3. Provide Advanced Tools & Technology
Organizations augmented by automation are 33% more likely to be ‘human-friendly’ workplaces, where employees are 31% more productive. Organizations see a 26% employee performance boost when they amplify their personnel investments with a simultaneous investment in automation and AI.
Incorporating technology solutions also increase seniors’ safety, security and freedom. Where can advanced technology and automation have the most significant impact on senior living? Fall detection and resident wandering/elopement.
Senior falls are the most common liability insurance claim and one of the biggest challenges for frontline workers. Implementing technology and tools that help staff provide more effective care and reduce workload and frequency of falls goes a long way. For example, fall detection technology that optimizes caregiving with automation and artificial intelligence is proven to increase staff retention. Elopement is also a dangerous occurrence for residents, a costly insurance claim for organizations and significantly affects staff morale. Technology that quickly informs staff if a resident leaves the facility unaccompanied goes a long way.
Empowering staff with workplace mobile apps that provide instant alerts on residents is critical to productivity and responsiveness. When everyone has access to advanced technology, software and resources to make their jobs easier and even eliminate manual tasks, employees are empowered to do their jobs better. In addition, organizations can mitigate risks, improve quality of care and increase employee retention by demonstrating a commitment to a resident-focused culture of safety and security with advanced technology.
4. Rethink Scheduling
Flexible work schedules are now the norm, and the senior living industry should not be excluded. To deliver exceptional care to residents, staff must have the freedom and flexibility to take outstanding care of themselves.
– To help with turnover, consider adopting a two-tiered schedule where non-essential workers are remote, and essential workers are 7-days on and 7-days off. This rotational structure proved to prevent burnout and reduce turnover.
– Review scheduling history to identify patterns in overtime, call-offs or scheduling gaps.
– Look for cost-effective opportunities to hire part-time staff or maximize existing staff hours.
5. Offer Financial Incentives & Public Recognition
Bonuses for individual performance and overall company financial success can retain employees and build a happy workforce, even if the amount is nominal. This could include:
– $10-$100 immediate bonuses handed out by associates to direct care workers when they are observed going above and beyond.
– A card submitted to HR or an employee’s direct supervisor to add the stated amount to the employee’s next paycheck.
– Pay structures that offer front-line staff annual bonuses when occupancy and financial goals are met. These may start at $250-$500. In this case, the amount is not as significant as it is for employees to feel appreciated and invested in the overall business success.
With the population of aging baby boomers quickly outpacing the caregiver population, it’s critical for business longevity to take steps now to address staff turnover. Keeping employees more satisfied makes it possible to reduce resident falls, improve their safety and quality of life, increase occupancy and cut operational costs.
About Yamin Durrani
Yamin Durrani is the CEO of Kami Vision, a computer vision company that provides artificial intelligence (AI) solutions to enterprises, SMBs, and consumers. You can follow him on LinkedIn here.
