3 Things HR Admins Can Do Today to Improve Caregiver Retention

The home-, facility-, and community-based care industries have consistently struggled with caregiver retention. As the leader in post-acute care payroll and HR, Viventium conducted a comprehensive study where we surveyed caregivers and admins across the United States to find out why the industry struggles to retain staff. In it, we discovered a correlation between a good onboarding experience and retention, as well as a wide range of data showing what makes the difference between a good onboarding experience and a bad one.

While there are many improvements that you could make within your organization, they may not be feasible given the resources available. So, we compiled three that won’t cost you any time or money, can be implemented as early as tomorrow morning, and will make a big difference in how your new hires perceive their onboarding experience.

Have Leaders Greet New Hires on Their First Day

It’s hard to believe it, but only 29% of caregivers responded that organizational leaders reached out to welcome them on their first day. A great onboarding process is about more than just filling out forms. It’s a time in which new hires become integrated with your company, and connecting with leaders, whether that’s the owner or a direct supervisor, plays a big role in making them feel welcomed. Creating space for new hires to meet and get to know their leaders can have a significant impact on whether they choose to stay or not – after all, this is their first impression of your company!

Clearly Communicate Expectations of Their Role

One of the most difficult parts of starting a new job is the fear of the unknown. New people, new responsibilities, and new expectations can make it hard for new hires to feel comfortable. In fact, 60% of caregivers reported that communication was not clear and transparent during onboarding. Hiring managers can alleviate some of this by clearly communicating the onboarding timeline and job expectations. By doing this, admins remove the uncertainty of whether or not caregivers are performing up to expectations and give them an objective target to work towards.

Implement Office Hours for Answering Questions

Another common issue caregivers reported experiencing was that questions during the onboarding process were not answered promptly and helpfully. Only 38% of respondents believed that during onboarding their questions were answered. We get it – as an admin, it can be difficult to balance your everyday workload and responsibilities while also making yourself available to quickly answer questions that come up during onboarding. But for your new hires, this can make them feel forgotten about and unappreciated. A great middle ground to immediately address this issue is by establishing consistent office hours in which new and existing caregivers alike can ask questions and connect with you on relevant topics. It’s important that once these office hours are established, they are clearly communicated to caregivers, and you remain committed to being available at these times.

What’s Next?

Sometimes when searching for solutions to big problems, we often overlook and undermine the value of the approachable first steps. By implementing these changes, you can put your organization on the path to increasing productivity and retention.  If you want to know what else you can do to make an impact on your agency, facility, or community, download the full Viventium Caregiver Onboarding Experience Report, which is filled with data, key takeaways, and easy-to-implement solutions that will increase productivity and reduce turnover in your organization.