Ask any manager of a senior living community or home care agency about their biggest operational headache, and they will tell you about the woes of their workforce. Their list of grievances extends from interviewees not showing up to cell phone usage to shift call offs. Exacerbating this trend are the Millenials. It is reported that only 29% of Millenials are engaged in their jobs. This was uncovered and addressed by Sodexo in its 2016 Workplace Trends report.  The Millenials do offer a hope in that their perception of working in the senior care industry is more favorable than that of their elders (click to read What the Public Thinks of Senior Living Careers).

 Employee turnover and lack of engagement are crippling the ability of home care and senior communities to perform their fundamental task -- caring for their clients. Specifically, there are two key areas where Sodexo recommends that organizations should focus to improve employee engagement and organizational performance. Click to read an overview of the analysis in the Senior Housing News.

If you are a manager in the senior care industry, it is imperative that you understand the cost of employee turnover at your organization. In a survey conducted in August 2016 by Lifestyles over 50, the majority of home care agency managers had no idea what their cost of employee turnover was nor were they able to estimate the cost to attract, interview and train a new employee. Here’s a link to an article on understanding and calculating employee turnover.

As we head into 2017 preparing budgets and sales strategies, have a plan on cultivating your workforce. Its good to have metrics on client experience and customer satisfaction, but do not overlook those who provide the care. Customer satisfaction and employee satisfaction are inextricably linked.

Thrive Media works with over a hundred clients in the senior care industry. They also publish Lifestyles over 50, a local senior magazine and resource, as well as perform an annual benchmark study for the local non-medical home care market.