Did you know that it can cost well over $2,000 to replace a caregiver? To add to that, the caregiver turnover rate is incredibly high (>60%) in states all across the U.S., which can cause a home care agency to lose thousands of dollars each year. Luckily, the schedulers at your home care agency are more than capable of helping with caregiver retention. All it takes is a little bit of knowledge and training, both of which are easily accessible and pale in comparison to the cost of replacing caregivers.
Keep reading to learn more about how successful schedulers can help with caregiver retention.
Addressing the Importance of Caregiver Retention
The aforementioned reason for caregiver retention is probably the most well-known one: replacing caregivers costs a lot of money. Though with that being said, there are actually quite a few other reasons as to why caregiver retention is important.
First, declining caregiver retention can drastically impact your agency’s reputation in a negative way. The more caregivers you lose, the less likely you’ll gain new clients.
Next, fewer caregivers mean that your agency’s current caregivers will have so much more work on their plate. This leads to employee dissatisfaction, burnout, bad reputation, and possible lawsuits.
Fewer caregivers also mean that patients will not get their needs satisfied. This can be considered malpractice and can destroy an agency’s reputation.
Reasons Why Caregiver Retention Is Hard to Maintain
Before you take the necessary steps to enhance retention, it’s important to know why and how caregivers leave. The obvious reason here is burnout. Employees who feel that they are underpaid and overworked are less likely to stay.
Some additional reasons are listed below. Keep in mind that all may not apply:
- Improper training
- Unsafe working conditions
- Bad communication
- Disorganized management and scheduling
- Insufficient materials such as PPE
While all of these need to be addressed, the vital one here is disorganized scheduling. Let’s take a further look.
How Schedulers Can Help with Caregiver Retention
The primary way that schedulers can help with increased caregiver retention is by facilitating a schedule for caregivers that is accomodating and organized. Ways you can do this is by training your schedulers to allow caregivers to help create their own schedule. Also, schedulers need to reduce the amount of time it takes to commute to the client’s living space as much as possible.
Next, train schedulers to match clients with caregivers based on clear compatibility. If the client is too far and the caregiver is not able to meet his/her needs, then it’s high time to look for a change.
Schedulers can also help with creating a time and space for caregivers to be trained efficiently. Work with them to set frequent training sessions where you refresh caregivers on tasks, priorities, and your agency’s mission statement.
Additional Retention Ideas for Caregivers
Aside from your schedulers helping with increased retention, there are dozens of other methods you can use.
- Effectively communicate with all your staff
- Encourage your staff and acknowledge their strong points
- Take their worries and concerns into consideration
- Remind all of your staff of their hard work and potential
- Recruit with the intent of keeping caregivers onboard
This is where you get to be creative with your retention plan. Offer unique benefits or rewards for jobs well done. Moreover, even if caregivers don’t do a good job, have a neutral conversation with them to ask if there’s something bothering them.
Looking to Improve Your Home Care Agency?
There’s so much more you can do to increase caregiver retention, this article only covers the basics. If you would like to learn more, please contact us here at The Senior’s Choice. For over 20 years, we’ve helped home care agencies like yours improve retention, create a better work culture, and increase patient satisfaction.
Want to learn more? Go ahead and give us a call or send us an email to learn more.