There are a number of ways that care home owners, managers and providers can promote recruitment and retention – but if your staff do not feel like they are being heard, they’re more than likely to feel undervalued and look elsewhere. This makes clear and regular communication a key consideration for care homes looking to improve recruitment and retention rates.

Creating a better culture in your care workforce is not something that happens instantaneously but is developed over time and with the collaboration of the whole team. This makes promoting an inclusive atmosphere with open dialogue between care teams necessary to create a welcoming environment for new joiners and existing care colleagues if you want to improve staff recruitment and retention rates.

Care leaders must demonstrate the values they expect to see

Any lasting change must start at the top. That’s why the first tip is always to live up to the same values you wish to see shared. This means that care home owners, providers and leaders within the organisation should be visible and model the behaviours they ask for. This includes empowering employees – no matter their role – to call out poor or inappropriate behaviours equally, using appropriate and professional channels. If you’re not prepared to deal with negative and toxic factors within your care structure at speed, any progress can be quickly reversed.

A care environment should be inclusive

Even if you have a diverse workforce, it may not feel welcoming to everyone equally. Offering cultural education – particularly to care managers and team leaders – celebrating people’s differences and sharing employee stories can be a great start to building better understanding and professional relationships between care workers and their leadership.

For larger care providers, you may consider creating a cultural inclusion group, identifying and addressing underrepresented people within the organisation and ensuring they have an effective voice within these discussions.

Talk to your care staff – and let them talk to you

This may seem obvious, but it is overlooked all too often. Having open and honest dialogue with care teams, both in a group or individually, can be one of the most effective ways to identify any issues or gripes they may have, and where key improvements to a care service can be made.

Value your care staff’s lived experience

Senior care management and leadership teams don’t always fully understand the lived experience of the carers they work with, which can often lead to wasted money and resources on decisions that never solve organisational issues or meet employees’ needs.

Two-way platforms let carers speak to decision-makers

That’s why introducing a two-way platform that allows carers to voice their opinions directly to decision-makers has exceptionally positive outcomes – and is a great way to promote an individual’s sense of value within the care structure.

This could be through:

• Regular care team meetings: ask for recommendations, solutions and ideas to improve care standards
• Regular care reviews
• Providing access to a digital forum: where suggestions can be collected and reviewed as a whole

Is it time to get the care consultants in?

If you feel that staff are unlikely to share what they really think or discuss issues they may feel within their own performance – through inexperience or lack of proper training – it may be wise to bring in an independent care consultant or HR professional to conduct interviews for you. This will provide a safe and anonymous space for employees to discuss topics more openly and allow the collection of more robust feedback.

Having front-line care workers act as mentors to new organisational leaders is another way to get them up to speed quickly with any issues – as well as the positives – of a care service, and also paves the way for continued honest and open discussion in the future.

If you want to boost staff recruitment and retention in your care home to ensure robust commercials, our team of independent care consultants can help. Please get in touch for a free initial consultation.