As the home care industry continues its projected growth, the shortage of qualified caregivers also continues to affect home care businesses. The number of caregiver jobs in 2024 is projected to increase to 2.3 million. However, there has been a decline in caregivers to fill those jobs. This could be caused by any number of factors: from mass numbers of baby boomers reaching retiring age to misinformation about the home care industry. Home care businesses are also competing not only with other home care agencies but also with other minimum wage jobs like retail or food industries.
With the need for qualified caregivers higher than ever, the question is: how can you attract the caregivers you want for your business?
It is important to understand that caregiving can be more than just a job. It can be a fulfilling career. In the same sense, agencies should consider the caregivers they hire as more than just a person doing a job. When you invest energy into your caregivers, not only will they be motivated to stay with your agency (reducing your caregiver turnover), your clients will be more satisfied with the care they are receiving. Prospective employees are looking for long-term employment and stability. Make it clear that you want caregivers to have a career with your agency.
With baby boomers retiring en masse, many home care agencies are turning their focus to hiring millennials to fill the gap in the caregiver workforce. A benefit to this is that millennials have a very innate sense of how to use technology, as they grew up during a time period where technology was rapidly advancing. Caregiving is a career where they can find meaning in their work by caring for others. How can you appeal to them? When recruiting millennials, share why home caregiving can be a fulfilling career for them. Caregiving is a difficult job but caregivers have the ability to impact the lives of clients in meaningful ways.
When attracting caregivers, emphasize the opportunities that working for your agency as a caregiver provides. What kind of benefits can they receive? What pay can they expect? The best way to appeal to prospective employees is to offer flexible scheduling. Having a career in caregiving gives caregivers the ability to work more flexible hours than other jobs. It may not always be possible to cater to everyone’s needs every time, but do your best to accommodate as best as you can. eRSP’s broadcast feature and Caregiver Portal enable you to easily make schedules flexible.
Training caregivers is often one of the hardest parts of the onboarding process. Many caregivers feel that they aren’t given the training they need or they are not helped through the training process. Even with basic CPR training. Attracting potential caregivers can be as simple as offering to help them get the required certification and helping them through their training process. Present your agency as a guide that will help them become a skilled caregiver. Successful and thorough training also helps you keep those caregivers with your agency. First aid and CPR are the number one skills caregivers report wanting training on. eRSP’s Credential tracking feature makes it easy to track trainings and certifications caregivers receive.
With caregivers in high demand, attracting the right employees for your business is more important than ever. When hiring, think about how a potential caregiver will contribute to the future of your agency and provide exceptional care for your clients. eRSP helps by making it easy to keep track of caregiver applicants and convert them into caregivers.
At eRSP, we know providing care to your clients is your priority. Our home care software makes the process of running a home care business easy so you can focus on your clients. Get a free demo today!
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