Caregiver Recruitment and Retention with Nikki Holles
Duration: 30m 27s
Description:
Recruiting and retaining caregivers in the home care industry is a challenging issue. Nikki Holles, VP of People Strategy, and Jen Chaney, VP of Franchise Development, discuss the significance of recognizing and rewarding caregivers, as well as emphasizing the importance of leveraging technology, training, job postings, and interview skills. They also discuss the Right at Home National Caregiver of the Year Award.
How does Right at Home help or support owners with Caregiver Recruitment and Retention?
Right at Home provides templates and guides to owners on how to post a job, verbiage to use, and SEO tips to increase traffic for job seekers. Nikki notes that Right at Home has several preferred partnerships for applicant tracking systems (ATS), enabling owners to efficiently communicate with applicants, as well as electronic onboarding to assist with tracking and managing applicant forms.
Is there a requirement to use a specific ATS or job board?
Nikki explains that Right at Home does require a franchisee to use an ATS, but it does not mandate a specific platform to use. Right at Home offers preferred partners that have been vetted for functionality and efficiency. Caregiver recruitment is an ongoing process, which is called evergreen recruiting. It is always happening, and it requires different sets of functionalities, so Right at Home has vetted for price, workflows, and efficiencies to make sure that the franchisee and their staff have technology that can be effective with their time.
Does the franchisee have to ensure new employees are properly and adequately trained?
The franchisee is ultimately responsible for ensuring new employees are receiving proper training because each state has different rules around Home Care Licensing. Right at Home has partnered with ActivatedInsights, which provides our franchisees with a robust e-learning platform that is administered online, and can be done in a group setting. Franchisees are also able to purchase additional courses at a future time at a more efficient price if they would like.
Does Right at Home offer recommendations on the best places to target caregivers?
Nikki notes that Right at Home does offer recommendations and even goes a level deeper by leveraging data on where caregivers are applying as well as verbiage for different demographics of caregivers. These may include “stay-at-home moms”, career caregivers, retired veterans, etc.
How does Right at Home ensure the quality and reliability of its caregiving services across each location?
Right at Home provides franchise owners with training in the RightStart program, as well as access to resources available in the Hub, and assigns a business performance coach to work with each franchisee. Franchisees are provided additional training and resources to help execute brand standards and monitor performance. Right at Home works with franchisees so they are knowledgeable in how to hire caregivers and how to attract the right type of caregivers. Policies and procedures are available to help execute quality services.
What is your view on handling recruitment in-house vs outsourcing to a company?
Depending on the skillset of the franchisee and the office staff, you need to consider the time constraints for all the steps and processes. When you outsource, you need to look at your budget and if it plays a role. Right at Home does have vetted partners who understand what we do, who our clients are, and what kind of care they need to receive.
What role does recognition play in caregiver retention?
First, what is the franchisee’s objective? The role of a caregiver is a notoriously thankless role, where they are isolated working with one client in the client’s home. Thank you or kudos can go a long way. But you must also believe in recognizing for behaviors you want to encourage in your business. Right at Home works with different partners on technology engagement platforms that allow the franchisees to curate what they’re looking to achieve and then design their recognition program around that. The variance in retention rates is startling for those who create programs. Those franchisees who are engaged or leveraging a program have drastically better retention rates. Caregiver satisfaction is so incredibly important.
Does Right at Home dictate what franchisees pay their employees?
Nikki answers that the franchisor is not going to mandate what the franchisees pay their employees. However, we do have a brand standard in place that does require franchisees to adhere to minimum wage and hour laws. It must be at least a legal minimum wage. We actually have put together a robust Competitive Analysis Guide for franchisees to use at the front end when establishing their business. It’s a step-by-step guide on how to ascertain info on competitive pay in the area.
The National Caregiver of the Year Program
It’s a program where hundreds of Right at Home caregivers are nominated on an annual basis by their franchisee for the tremendous work they do every single day and the difference they make for their clients. Nominations are reviewed regionally and then by an external panel of industry experts. They select eight regional winners and one national winner. The National winner receives $5000 and a trip with a guest to our national conference. Jen Chaney noted how she is proud of how Right at Home treats its franchisees, but also how the franchisor focuses on the caregivers as the heartbeat of the business with the National Caregiver of the Year award.
NEXT SCHEDULED TALK:
July 30, 2024 at 2 pm CST
Register here:
Marketing Your Business w/Dawn Drazdys, CMO, Right at Home
Previous Interview with Margaret Haynes
Executive Update with Margaret Haynes 5.14.24
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