Focus on Engagement for Better Quality in Senior Care

When it comes to senior care, operators face many conflicting priorities. Government regulations require tracking and reporting various activities, and the safety and health of residents is always a top concern. However according Laura Katz Olson, an expert in public policy and aging and a caregiver herself, food and staffing should be at the top of the list.

In a recent McKnight’s Senior Living article, Olson says that meal times are often the highlight of the residents’ day. She recommends that providers be willing to accommodate different types of diets and serve high-quality, delicious food. 
Olson is also quoted as saying, “The driving force of quality care is the staff. Communities that commit to excellence by providing relatively high wages, great healthcare benefits and opportunities for advancement for staff members, are more likely to be rewarded with minimal turnover, which means that staff members are more likely to be familiar with resident needs and care about meeting them.”

I can’t say that Olson’s comments about the importance of a good staff surprised me. After all, employee engagement is a win all around. Engaged employees are less likely to leave, and consistency in staffing can equate to better care of residents. According to research by Gallup only 30% of employees are engaged at work, which is a problem because productivity, profitability and customer satisfaction are directly tied to the level of employee engagement.

Olson mentions some ideas for attracting the right employees, such as competitive wages, good benefits and career development. But what else does it take to attract and retain the best staff, especially millennials, which are now the largest portion of the workforce? What are millennials’ expectations and how can you meet them?

While millennials are obviously individuals and should be treated as such, they have been shown to have different preferences than previous generations when it comes to life at work. To engage millennials, you’ll need to adjust your approach. Here are a few ways to attract and engage millennials in the senior care workplace.

1. Tap into millennials’ love for technology. If you want to hire millennials, post jobs where they are—social media. Place sponsored job ads on Instagram or Facebook, and make sure your LinkedIn and Glassdoor accounts are up to date. Applicants should be able to complete their job application on their phone within a couple of minutes. When millennials interview with you, consider highlighting the technology employees will use on the job. About half of millennials expect to use mobile devices to complete key business transactions, according to a survey by The Center for Generational Kinetics. Offering the option of mobile scheduling is one way to meet that expectation. 

2. Connect millennials to your mission. Millennials care about the mission of the organization where they work, and they want to work somewhere that has a positive impact on people’s lives. “Their view of self-worth comes from how they see themselves and others. A job well done is good, but they’re looking beyond that to more of their quality of life and how they impact society,” says Peter Corless, Executive Vice President of Enterprise Development for OnShift. Senior care is full of opportunities to make a positive impact and working with seniors can be a rewarding experience. Help millennials recognize that the focus of your organization is improving the lives of seniors. That is a message that will resonate with them and help them feel engaged.

3. Offer feedback often. Millennials want to be a valued part of the team from the get-go. Let them know that they are doing a good job, and also where they can improve. Yearly reviews are not enough. “If you tell them once a year at their performance appraisal that they’re doing well, then you’re not going to meet their needs,” Corless says. “They’re used to getting reinforcement on a much more frequent basis, so you need to build that into your reward and recognition programs.” 

According to recent survey by OnShift and McKnight’s Long-Term Care News, about 78% of recent hires in senior care were millennials. Smart employers will adjust their strategies and policies to make the workplace millennial-friendly. Engaging employees will do more than just reduce turnover--engaged employees create an environment where residents and their families feel happy and comfortable.