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PDT
#145 -- Reduce Caregiver Turnover Using E-Mail
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Five Ways to Communicate with Your
Employees
June 17, 2009
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Private Duty Today
Welcome to Private Duty Today,
the bi-weekly electronic newsletter for Private Duty Home Care Leaders
from Leading Home Care ...a Tweed Jeffries company.
I'm Jason Tweed, Director of Business Development for
Leading Home Care, and Editor of Private
Duty Today.
Private Duty Today is published every
other Wednesday, and currently goes to over 7000 subscribers.
Private Duty Today is
a permission-based newsletter.
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Most non-medical home care companies know that one of your
largest expenses is replacing caregivers. Turnover among personal
care attendants has been reported above 100% by some of our clients in
the past. Recruiting new caregivers to grow your company is one
thing, but being forced to recruit just to maintain your current staff
is a direct drain on profitability.
We look at staffing as a three tiered process;
recruitment, selection and retention. The better you are at each
phase individually, the better you will be overall. Profits will
be higher, your company will be more resilient during slow periods, and
your company will deliver greater value to employees, customers, and to
your community.
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So How Does E-Mail Fit in
This Picture?
 One critical element to
quality recruitment, selection and retention is communication. Today,
e-mail and other web-based communication is easy, efficient, and
practically free. Furthermore, the abilities of your caregivers
to access the Internet is increasing daily.
I first started touting e-mail as a tool for caregiver
retention several years ago. Many CEOs suggested to me that their
staff are not Internet savvy or don't have the money to own a
computer. That's changing rapidly. Basic notebook computers
can be found below $300. High-speed Internet access is virtually
everywhere, and relatively inexpensive. Today owning an Internet
connected computer is cheaper than a television with cable.
Furthermore a huge number of free social websites and e-mail programs
make it easy to communicate in real time.
E-mail is a perfect fit for in-home caregivers and their
employers. Your employees don't generate revenue while they're in
your office. Technology exists today that you can complete
timekeeping, payroll, and even direct deposit checks without ever
seeing your employees. Applications can be done online,
assessments can be done remotely. If it weren't for pesky job
interviews (which, by the way, could be done with a web cam) you would
never have to see your employees.
Certainly this isn't an ideal world, but the truth of the
matter is that we are more disconnected from our employees now than we
ever have been. Companies that have traditionally low turnover
are typically ones that spend a significant amount of time and money
trying to reach out to their employees. Employees are much less
likely to leave you if they feel they have a connection to the company
and others with whom they work.
E-mail is a great way of inexpensively touching base with
employees on a personal level, as well as at a mass level.
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E-Mail Newsletters -- Short e-mail
newsletters to keep your employees informed of what's going on with
your company are a fantastic way to communicate. Many home
care companies have experimented with paper newsletters in the
past. Some of them were successful, others weren't.
Generally speaking creating a paper version of the newsletter is time
consuming and can be expensive to print and distribute.
Use e-mail newsletters to educate, inspire, and recognize
your employees. For less than the price of a roll of stamps
you can produce a professional quality newsletter to all of your
employees every week.
Personal Thank You E-Mails -- Sending notes of
thanks and recognition directly to your employees is a virtual pat on
the back. We know that rewards and recognition work for different
people in different ways. Some appreciate public praise, while
others appreciate that personal touch.
Rewards and Recognition -- Create an
Employee-of-the-Month e-mail. Send it out to your entire employee
list and let them know who was selected, and what exceptional
achievement led to the recognition. (Tip: Make sure the
achievement is something related to your profitability, and you will
see this behavior repeated.)
Promote Education -- Your caregivers like
to learn. Feeding their brains is a great way, not only to
improve quality of caregiving, but also to retain employees.
Create educational opportunities for your employees. Send out
reminders for in-service education. Send links to CPR and first
aid training offered locally. Have your local community college
write an article about adult education. Finally, just send them
links to things that are interesting. Take a lesson from my
Labrador Retriever, if you feed him he keeps coming back for more,
wagging his tail. Feed your employees' brains and they will keep
coming back for more, maintaining their excitement the entire time.
Ex Employee Newsletter -- Some of your best future
employees may be some of your past employees. Non-medical
caregivers leave for a variety of reasons. Sometimes they jump
ship for more money. Sometimes you can't provide enough
clients. Maternity leave and family illnesses often draw
caregivers away temporarily.
I recommend that you continue to send your employee
newsletter to former employees who left on good terms. If the
caregiver comes back to you for a second stint, they will often become
some of your most loyal over time.
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Using Technology in Caregiver
Selection
We've talked about using low-tech e-mail in your retention
program, but I recommend a high-tech approach during the selection
process. Stop relying on gut instinct and criminal background
checks.
Give Diane West a call today and ask her how you can use
our web-based technology to identify behavioral and attitudinal traits
that will give you a competitive advantage in the marketplace.
For less than the cost of your monthly budget you set
aside for newspaper classified ads, you can use our system for a
year. Make sure that you are choosing good quality candidates,
and eliminating candidates that are highly likely to cause you
heartburn.
Our Caregiver Selection System
with its online pre-employment assessment will improve your ability to
interview and screen employees based on behaviors, cognitive ability,
and attitudes.
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