Sponsored by WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT
3 Steps For Workforce Success in 2019 Mark Woodka, CEO, OnShift
ching theme of the industry as we head into the new year is workforce. This is not much of a surprise, as workforce issues in senior living have remained in the spotlight throughout 2018, with projections intensi- fying as we head into the near year. High turnover, wage issues, and hiring
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struggles don’t have to be the new reality. Here are three steps you can take to ease your workforce challenges in 2019.
Step 1: Determine staff utilization While I accept that there is a workforce shortage, I don’t believe all staffi ng issues are as severe as some might think. More often than not, at least part of an indi- vidual organization’s perceived workforce shortage is the result of poor utilization of their employees. Time and again, we see senior living pro-
viders resort to using agency staff or taxing employees with extra shifts in order to make ends meet. In doing so, they often overlook the full roster of employees who may be available to pick up a shift when needed. This can include part-time and per diem staff , and even full-time employees who are not working their full-time hours. Now, this may sound obvious to some,
but you know what? It’s not. It’s imperative for managers to have quick, easy access and visibility into utilization of their employees. This requires insight into all available em- ployees, their hours worked, and upcoming hours scheduled. When a shift needs to be filled, those employees who haven’t gar- nered their full hours yet can be slotted into the shift. This not only heads off expensive agency use and overtime, but also helps in-
t’s hard to believe that 2018 is almost over. Having just attended several senior living events, I can tell you the overar-
crease employee satisfaction as they acquire the hours they expect to work. Recently, I learned that one of our se-
nior living clients had a massive labor cost problem. We quickly discovered that their in-house employees were dramatically un- derutilized. With some help from OnShift’s software and new artificial intelligence capabilities, their best-fi t employees were automatically assigned shifts. This led to a 1 percent average reduction in weekly over- time and a 28 percent average reduction in weekly agency scheduled. Taking the time to examine how you’re
utilizing your entire staff, including full- time, part-time, and per diem employees, cannot only help you fi ll the gaps in your schedule today, but also can help determine your true hiring needs.
Step 2: Modernize hiring processes Once you’ve attracted the right people, don’t risk losing them with a convoluted hiring process. We often see providers let top-notch candidates they worked hard to attract just slip through the cracks. Hiring managers are busy and throughout the course of the day, they often focus on other tasks. This leads to applicants getting left behind. With the competitive labor market, candidates moved on to other opportunities. One of the most effective ways to get
ahead of this problem is to communicate with candidates quickly and effi ciently. Sim- ply texting candidates to connect is more eff ective than calling or emailing. What’s even more eff ective is adding some automa- tion to the texting process. OnShift’s newest product, OnShift Text2Hire, uses artifi cial intelligence to automatically text candidates and schedule interviews. This has led to
42 SENIOR LIVING EXECUTIVE NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2018
twice the amount of hires in half the time. You can’t beat that.
Step 3: Foster an employee- centric culture Engaging and retaining your employees re- mains a top priority. Remember, it doesn’t matter how good you are at bringing peo- ple in the front door if the back door is wide open. Examine the entire employee journey
at your company. Create a structured on- boarding process, hone in on folks during the fi rst 90 days, off er perks and benefi ts that improve quality of life, and establish career paths. Regularly measuring staff satisfaction and collecting employee feedback can have a signifi cant impact on engagement through- out the employee lifecycle. It also gives leadership a sense of what’s going on in the community - what tweaks they need to make to their culture, their management and their policies - to help eliminate turnover.
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