By Stephen Tweed
What a privilege to be able to speak for leading organizations in home care across the country. I was asked to give two significant speeches this past week. On Monday, I was in Anaheim, California to speak about “The DNA of A CEO” for the Home Care Association of America annual leadership summit. On Friday, I was in Orlando, Florida to speak about “Strategic Focus: A Gameplan to Grow the Company you Want” for one of the larger home care franchise organizations at their annual conference.
As you probably know, my professional speaking style is very interactive and I get the audience involved. As I was talking with them about the big challenges they are facing, one strategic issue kept coming up; “The Caregiver Recruiting and Retention Crisis.” Everyone we talk with is facing the same challenge of finding enough caregivers to meet the growing needs of aging clients and their families. At the franchise meeting, I also did a breakout session that overflowed with participants. The subject: “Conquering the Caregiver Recruiting and Retention Crisis.”
Over the past 18 months, we have been doing a lot of research on this issue. First, we want to better understand the crisis. Then, we want to figure out some solutions, and finally we want to develop practical, actionable techniques you can use to find and keep top tier caregivers.
The 2015 Caregiver Recruiting Study
If you have not yet downloaded a copy of our Sponsored Research Report, you need to get a copy of “Top Techniques in Recruiting and Retaining High Quality Caregivers in Private Duty Home Care.” Special thanks to Rick Morey and his team at HomeTrak for sponsoring this research and providing copies of the report to you for FREE.
The research led us to a conclusion about a three-pronged approach to recruiting:
- Digital Recruiting
- Referral Programs
- Face-to-face Recruiting
Download the report and read the results for yourself.
The 2016 Best Caregiver Study
We are right now in the middle of the 2016 Best Caregiver Study. Twenty five home care companies that are members of our three Mastermind Groups are participating in this study. Each company is selecting their top caregivers based on three criteria; client satisfaction, dependability, and attitudes. So far, nine companies and 126 caregivers have completed the study. As I have looked at the preliminary results, I’m seeing some very valuable information that will help these companies find and keep more top tier caregivers.
The Caregiver Quality Assessment
Diane West, the COO of Leading Home Care, and program manager for Caregiver Quality Assurance, has been working with the companies who use this powerful pre-employment assessment tool to define the attitudes, behaviors, and cognitive ability of their top caregivers. By looking at this data, companies using CQA are able to do a much better job of interviewing to select only the very best caregivers. Continuing to hire only the best will help improve quality of care, increase dependability, and boost your client satisfaction scores.
In talking with Aaron Marcum at Home Care Pulse, we are validating what his team is learning from their Satisfaction Management program. There is a strong correlation between high quality caregivers, caregiver satisfaction, and client satisfaction.
Take Action Now, to “Conquer the Caregiver Recruiting and Retention Crisis” 
Based on our conversation with hundreds of home care leaders at HCAOA, and hundreds of home care owners at leading franchise organizations, the caregiver crisis is going to be with us for a long time. Only those companies that develop a clear strategy and take action will be able to continue to grow. Too many home care agency owners are still delegating recruiting and selection to a staffing coordinator, a recruiter, or an HR generalist. These owners have not yet taken personal responsibility to get involved and develop a Strategic Focus on caregiver recruiting and retention.
There are several ways that you can get involved with the Home Care CEO Forum to learn new strategies to conquer the crisis:
- Join a Home Care Mastermind Group. Each of our three mastermind groups is working on this crisis through research, problem solving, and shared ideas.
- Join Caregiver Quality Assurance. Become a member of an elite group of companies who are using this unique pre-employment assessment system to drive their selection system and hire only top quality caregivers.
Note: We have a few spaces left in our Strategic Growth Mastermind Group, and in our Top 10% Mastermind Group. Each group is limited to 12 non-competing companies. If your company generates between $1.5 million and $7 million in annual revenue, you may qualify for one of these groups.
On November 8, 2016 I’ll be in Gatlinburg, TN for the Tennessee Association for Home Care Annual Conference. I’ll be doing two presentations on the last day of their conference:
- “Conquering the Caregiver Recruiting and Retention Crisis” – this program will be for both home health agencies and private pay home care companies
- “Mastering the Caregiver Selection System” – this program will focus on a new selection system we have created. It’s based on the CQA pre-employment assessment, but adds a pre-screening process and a selection matrix to improve your interviewing.
If you and your group would like to learn more about Conquering the Caregiver Recruiting Crisis, give us a call. We’ve developed a new keynote speech, a breakout session, and a full day workshop based on the research we are conducting and the lessons we are leading from talking with thousands of home care leaders across the US and Canada. Call us today at 502-339-0653 or visit our website.
If you would like to get a close up look at how a home care company in Top 10% operates, join us on November 9 and 10, 2016 at Seniors Home Care in St. Louis. Kit Whittington and her son Ryan will describe in detail how they have grown their business into one of the largest home care companies in the country. Seniors Home Care was listed in INC. Magazine in 2012 and 2013 as one of the fastest growing privately held companies in the Inc. 500 / 5000 list.
Register today for this Home Care Field Trip.
