We have the best home care aides in the industry. Of course, I am biased. I know the people who work here. This team has taken the time to get to know our home care aides down to the kind of candy bar they like. We are confident they are able to do the work that our clients ask them to do.
With that said, our industry is growing with the aging population. We are hiring new people to join our team on a weekly basis. There is nothing we do in the office that takes more time and effort than hiring new employees. According to recruiters it cost approximately $2,500 – $5,000 to find, hire, and train a new employee.
This issue is especially important to us due to the impact that a change in staffing has on our clients. Most of our clients are aged or are facing changes in their health. Because of their challenges they are at risk. We believe the length of time they remain a client with us is directly related to our employee retention. This means we are financially and morally motivated to hire only the best people to work on our team.
Care N Assist hosted a team day for our office staff from all four offices in February of this year, and spent the entire day focusing on human resources issues. Susie Olivarez from ISI Consulting, gave an amazing presentation related to screening applicants, hiring, firing and setting goals for our company. Our number one goal was determined to be improving our staff turnover rate.
At Care N Assist we see employees leave our company for three reasons. The first is a good reason, being the advancement of their career. We never complain about this, but usually send them off with congratulations. Second, employees leave us due to personal conflicts or dramatic issues that arise in their own lives. Last, employees have their employment terminated by us due to poor performance.
The last two reasons listed for employees leaving our company are what I believe we have a responsibility to improve. Susie said, “If we hire the wrong people because we don’t screen applicants, then it is not their fault when they fail.” This statement struck a cord with our staff. We are doing more than ever to screen and then train our new employees. We are doing more to retain our current employees also.
We are looking for new ways to show that we are committed to success as a company. Our employees need to perform well and to keep their personal lives in check. This requires leadership and training. It has been said, “If you train your employees some will leave, but if you don’t train them they will stay and perform poorly.” We want them to stay, but we need everyone who works for us to understand our goal. That is to help our clients to remain at home.
