Pre-hire program aids in staff retention
Pre-hire program aids in staff retention
Company tries revamped, reordered orientation
One private duty provider hopes a rollicking pre-hire orientation will become so popular that certified nursing assistants (CNAs), companions, and homemakers flock to its doors. Well, not really. While turning away droves of well-qualified para-professionals may be every private duty provider's dream, Linnea Goodrich, administrator of San Diego-based Pacific Homes Homecare, more modestly aspires to improve retention and service delivery.
Several factors influenced Goodrich and Kara Hanson, human resources director, to transform the company's orientation from the typical stuck-in-your-chair, dull lecture format to a fun-filled, interactive learning experience and make it a pre- rather than post-hire event.
"We really struggle with finding enough caregivers and ways to retain employees. Retaining employees is not all about money."
Through attending conferences on improving seminars and learning retention, Goodrich herself learned that people remember more when they participate in the lesson. And she discovered that Pacific Homes Homecare hired many people who never came to orientation and never worked for the company.
First came the new, improved orientation; the flip-flopped orientation-hiring sequence quickly followed. With the changes only implemented this spring, it is too soon to quantify their impact, but Goodrich has anecdotal information that they are working. may be proven wrong, but it seems our retention is higher," she says.
The company pays interviewed and screened orientees the same hourly rate they will receive as employees - about $6 to $9 per hour depending on their position.
Humorous sketch serves serious purpose
The revamped orientation opens with "The Caregiver From Hell" skit. Hanson and the company's CNA supervisor respectively play a stroke victim and her insensitive and inept caregiver. Orientees call out over 20 errors as the caregiver enters unannounced, talks softly, and stands behind her patient while referring to her bum leg. She proceeds to do everything for her patient and uses poor transfer technique when moving her out of her wheelchair.
Although it's all in fun, the sketch is designed to make a serious point. Pacific Homes Homecare requires its staff have previous home care experience, but "even [among] those with proper training, it's still amazing what happens," Goodrich notes. "Many of the [mistakes] are pretty blatant, but they all have happened in practice," she adds.
After the sketch, Goodrich spends 20 to 25 minutes with orientees discussing why Pacific Homes Homecare is a good company and the staff's vital role in maintaining that distinction. "I tell them that their patients are not thinking of me or of Pacific Homes Homecare [while receiving care]. I tell them, 'They're thinking of you. You're the sales person,'" and what you do is so important, she says. Goodrich further explains the company's expectations and "what we promise in return. I won't put them in a situation I wouldn't do myself. That's why an initial assessment is so critical," she notes.
To hold participants' attention throughout the day, each orientation session lasts only about 30 minutes, according to Goodrich. Orientees repeat just-conveyed payroll policies and procedures to the strains and motions of the Macarana. Lively music blares as they introduce themselves. "Sometimes people dance and really get into it," she adds.
At the end of the day, orientees test their learning with a spirited game of Jeopardy!, formatted like the popular syndicated game show. Participants provide questions for answers in categories such as payroll, nursing 1, nursing 2, and office staff. Lacking buzzers, orientees stand to respond to Hanson, the agency's Alex Trebek stand-in. (For sample answers and questions, see box, above.)
Participants not only test knowledge gained over the course of the day but also compete for prizes such as a department store gift certificates, dinner for two, a license plate holder, and National Association for Home Care Beanie Babies.
All the information conveyed during orientation, whether in game show, sketch, dance, or discussion format, is documented in the agency's employee handbook. However, with such interesting presentations, Goodrich says she hopes orientees retain and adopt more of it in day-to-day practice.
And she hopes the light and lively orientation will encourage prospective employees to actually work for Pacific Homes Homecare. Building on orientation momentum, the company sends attendees that day for physicals and drug and alcohol and Tuberculosis testing. The agency also requires fingerprinting, Goodrich says.
She estimates pre-employment activities cost about $300 per person and takes several days to complete. With orientation now preceding hiring, the company will only lose between $30 to $45 if an orientee decides not to work. And while trimming pre-employment costs partially motivated the changed orientation-hiring sequence, "cost wasn't as important as just being frustrated [at losing people before they ever worked a day]," Goodrich notes.
"We would rather spend a few bucks [upfront] and have a commitment," she adds. Still, the company faces stiff competition. "Those looking for a job want a job right then, and they can go to work down the street. We want to put people to work that quickly, but we have a commitment to our clients to thoroughly check each person," she notes.
Goodrich remains optimistic that the new orientation and hiring strategies will retain more employees and improve their overall application of orientation-day training. But even if the strategies fail, "we can say we had fun trying," she adds.
Subscribe Now for Access
You have reached your article limit for the month. We hope you found our articles both enjoyable and insightful. For information on new subscriptions, product trials, alternative billing arrangements or group and site discounts please call 800-688-2421. We look forward to having you as a long-term member of the Relias Media community.