I’ve been thinking about Caregiver Retention in Home Care.

Last week I was working on a program for an upcoming presentation for a top tier Home Care franchise company on “Conquering the Crisis: The Latest Lessons in Caregiver Retention.” I went back and looked through some of our previous research studies to recall what we had learned. There were two studies that jumped out a me.

First, there was our 2016 Best Caregiver Study, were we conducted a survey of nearly 200 caregivers who were identified by their company as being a “Best Caregiver” based on two criteria; reliability and client satisfaction. We learned a lot about why the best caregivers stay with their current company.

Then I looked at our 2024 Future of Home Care Study which we conducted under the sponsorship of AxisCare. In reviewing the section on The Twelve Systems of Home Care, I realized that smaller companies put their emphasis on their Recruiting System, and larger companies have shifted their focus to their Retention System and their Sales System.

So then, I went back to some of the lessons that we have learned since my book, Conquering the Crisis, came out in 2017. Here are the things we have learned since then:

1. Create a Culture of Attraction and Accomplishment.
2. Find a Dedicated Superstar Recruiter
3. Fill Your Funnel with High Quality Applicants
4. Master the Three Prongs of Caregiver Recruiting
5. Shrink your Speed-to-hire Time
6. Drive up 90-Day Retention
7. Measure and Manage your Recruiting and Retention Success

To Improve Retention, Attract and Hire Better Applicants

Turnover in Home Care hit an all time high of 79.2% in 2023. That was up from 77.1% in 2022. The role of caregiver is like a revolving door as new hires come in, and leave within the first 90 days. According to Activated Insights, formerly Home Care Pulse, 57% of that turnover happens in the first 90 days.

Research at the Home Care CEO Forum helped us identify the three big causes of 90-day turnover:

1. Bad Hire – selecting applicants who are not a good for the job, a good fit for the company, or a good match for the client.
2. Paycheck Imbalance – new caregivers in their first 90 days often are not scheduled for enough hours so that their take-home pay matches their financial needs.
3. Lack of Engagement – new hires are sent out into homes with little follow up or communication so they never really feel like they are part of the company.

As we look back at this whole question, we see specific examples of larger, fast-growing and profitable Home Care companies that act and think differently than smaller companies. They are more likely to work diligently in crafting their company culture. They have developed and refined their recruiting system to attract and hire better qualified applicants. They are less dependent on online recruiting sites like Indeed.com, and they are more reliant on their Employee Referral Program, and recruiting in the local community.

Then they focus on their system for retention that involves reducing 90-day turnover and staying connected with new caregivers with a personalized Caregiver Care Plan.

To grow your Home Care Company into the Top 10% in the industry, work on your systems for recruiting and retention. Get to the point where you are hiring more caregivers than you lose, and your over all turnover is way lower than the industry average. The result is you’ll have the caregivers you need, and when you have the caregivers you can attract the clients.