If reducing caregiver turnover is your priority, create an engaging homecare work environment

Many home care agencies have turned to professional recruiters, consultants, or offering more bells and whistles to find effective ways to hire new staff and boost home health caregiver retention. Unfortunately, a staggering 79.2% turnover rate was reported by the HCP Benchmarking Report for 2023 in-home care settings. The U.S. Surgeon General’s Advisory on Building a Thriving Workforce reports healthcare workers are experiencing high levels of burnout and are leaving the industry early related to the strain their positions place on their physical, mental, and psychological well-being. The Advisory characterizes burnout as a work-related syndrome in which the individual is fatigued emotionally, feels disconnected from their work, clients, self or surroundings, and lacks meaning or pride in their work. Amongst healthcare workers surveyed in 2022 by the Centers for Disease Control, it was reported 46% reported “often” feeling burnout. With such dim statistics, is there a magic formula to reduce caregiver burnout AND to recruit, train, and retain direct care staff?

What Homecare Employees Want

Employees today want to have a positive vibe (a positive, favorable, and uplifting feeling) and impact in the workplace but not feel married to their work. The generation making up the majority of the workforce craves work-life balance. They want to do meaningful work and feel part of the workplace community. Gallup, one of the largest employee surveyors, uses the term “employee engagement” to sum it up. Employee engagement, or the involvement and enthusiasm of employees in their work and workplace, is a major key to success for home health agencies. Healthcare employers with better rates of employee engagement significantly benefit from safer client care, increased productivity, profits, and retention of staff. Agencies need to improve employee engagement and reduce burnout, but this is easier said than done.

How Well Are Your Employees?

Are your employees surviving or thriving? Starting the path to improve employee retention begins by evaluating your agency’s level of employee satisfaction and wellness. Making informed decisions saves time and money, so it is wise to do a little homework to gather data from employees. Survey staff anonymously about their most and least concerning aspects related to their work and wellness annually or more. This will help you get a pulse on the current culture of your organization.

Ask the right questions. Utilize resources such as the Health and Human Services “Factors Associated with Health Worker Burnout” to support your data-gathering work and help your agency create surveys. Common system-level problems leading to worker resignation are listed. Items to be addressed include satisfaction with the workload, scheduling, system policies, and day-to-day operations (technologies, communications) as well as support from leaders. Also, keep in mind the fact that direct care workers are three times more likely to struggle with anxiety and depression, and home care staff are vulnerable to often working in isolation, unpredictable and potentially unsafe environments. Include surveys about the levels of satisfaction regarding:

• Mental health support in the workplace
• Training, mentorship, and ongoing support in their role
• Environmental safety
• Workplace culture, the ability to connect with other caregivers
• The ability to feel heard, speak up for concerns or suggestions.

Well-being Programs

Since the Pandemic, more organizations have implemented third-party well-being programs to combat burnout. The decision to implement a wellness program for your employees can help support staff, but also may not get to the root of what they really need if not vetted for its quality or match the needs of your staff. Evaluate the responses from employee surveys for themes and focus time and energy on resources that best support your staff. Healthcare organizations have a pivotal role in employee engagement through well-being programs. Healthcare agencies are encouraged to support the health workforce with the necessary tools to heal and thrive through investing in health prevention, engagement within the community, social connections, and agency policies encouraging well-being. Quality programs often include:

• Financial support
• Community partnerships/corporate volunteer opportunities (American Heart Association Run/Walk, American Cancer Society Run/Walk, Serve meals at Ronald McDonald House, etc.)
• Tobacco or substance use cessation support
• Fitness membership reimbursement programs
• Confidential mental health care
• Weight management/fitness communities
• Lunch and learn opportunities (learn about burnout, stress management, educational topics pertinent to the role of the employee and how to engage in well-being at work)

Commit to Commemorate

Beyond well-being programs, an often overlooked and low-cost method to improve employee engagement is recognition. Recognizing employees on a job well done boosts individual employee engagement and can also support a positive work culture.

Agencies can use a shoulder to lean on as well. The national grassroots movement, The National Academy of Medicine’s Clinician Well-Being Collaborative, has sought to commit to the improvement of burnout, seeking knowledge of challenges to clinicians and identifying evidence-based solutions for improved patient care through supporting clinicians. The Collaborative launched the very first Health Workforce Well-Being Day of Awareness on March 18^th, 2024. Home care agencies are encouraged to join as a NAM Change Maker organization and push forward the national movement to support the well-being of their employees as a long-term value. As a bonus, agencies can expect to join a network of professional organizations determined to build sustainability in their workforce, share information, success stories, and work together to build a thriving workforce.

It can feel overwhelming to think of all the possible ways to engage employees and the logistics of carrying out such a big undertaking. Begin with the end in mind and zoom out. Laying out a realistic timeline for survey, evaluation of results and implementation of well-being initiatives is not a quick process. Commit to banishing burnout one change at a time through consistent engagement efforts and you may find your agency gains the momentum needed to improve employee retention.

Resources:

1. Surgeon General’s Advisory on Building a Thriving Workforce
2. Centers for Disease Control Mental health information
3. The National Academy of Medicine’s Clinician Well-Being Collaborative

Related Blogs:

1. Five facts about caregiver burnout that will startle you
2. Improving caregiver retention through nurse mentor programs
3. Hiring new staff for home care agency growth
4. Education’s role in caregiver retention
5. Why home care agency caregivers quit and how to keep them happy
6. Developing strong home care agency teams

Home care software education

Want to learn more about home care software, or looking for information on how an EMR for home health can help agencies thrive? Check out some of these blogs on researching, choosing, or implementing homecare agency software for your business.

1. How do I choose the best home health care software?
2. Finding the best home care EHR software for your agency
3. The value of an EMR for home health care- a quick overview