MANAGING LABOR, FOOD, AND ENERGY COSTS IN SENIOR LIVING COMMUNITIES Parker’s “Hire for Heart” program courts
future caregivers from the ranks of Target and Chick-Fil-A employees, people who may lack experience in caring for seniors, “but who have the desire to do more and to make more of a difference,” he said. Commonwealth spends $300 to $500 per
person to train the “Hire for Heart” staff up to direct care associate certificate status. The small up-front cost gets recouped quickly. “We are not paying for the highly-experi- enced caregiver who would demand a high- er rate. On average, it’s probably 15 percent lower than someone with a CNA, and we also get a 50 percent better retention on those people, versus people who come to us already with those certifications,” Parker said. The hires feel a sense of loyalty to the
company that gave them a chance. They also are less favored by skilled nursing com- munities and hospitals that tend to recruit Parker’s more experienced employees, help- ing to keep turnover expenses low. While Commonwealth uses hiring strate-
gies to manage labor costs, others look to re- duce big-ticket overtime expense, especially through the use of digital technologies. Take for instance PointClickCare Technol-
ogies, whose cloud-based software helps man- age the senior living workforce. The company aims to address an efficiency gap that is preva- lent across senior living: That is, the failure to
Average Employee Workweek Rising Sharply at Assisted Living Communities Growth in the Average Employee Workweek
-4% -2% 0% 2% 4% 6% 8%
6.7%
4.5%
1.8% 1.0% 1.6% 0.3% 0.6% -0.6% -1.6% -2.2% 2008 2009 Continuing Care Retirement Communities Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2016
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017* Assisted Living Communities
*Year-to-date through July -1.6% -0.9% 0.6% 0.7% 0.3% 0% 0% 0.9% 0.3% 1.6%
align staffing with resident acuity. Many senior living providers allot staff-
“The senior living industry will continue to face stiff competition for foodservice and hospitality employees, as those industries will remain among the fastest growing in the economy in 2018.”
Source: “Key Economic Indicators: 2018 Trends and Forecasts for
Labor, Food, Utilities” report published in Argentum Quarterly Issue 3 2017, based on data and analysis from U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
ing based on resident headcount—an ev- er-changing, and often inaccurate measure. “If you staff based on occupancy, you are saying that every resident has the same needs, and we know that is not the case,” said Travis Palmquist, vice president and general manager, senior living at Point- ClickCare. A better plan is to build sched- ules around a service-level assessment, and that’s something software can do more ef- fectively than the conventional spreadsheet. “You should have an idea how many
minutes each service requires. Most com- munities have a pretty good idea: the aver- age bath requires 25 minutes, the average medication management takes so long, room cleaning takes so long,” he said. With an accurate assessment, “you get an idea of how many services they are scheduled to deliver, how many are billable, and then you are literally aligning staffing with acuity.” With greater clarity, a senior living com-
munity can fine-tune staffing levels on a giv- en shift, and also ensure it is billing for all services delivered. While his company emphasizes the values
of a digital approach, Palmquist also advo- cates for a people-centric focus, recognizing
34 SENIOR LIVING EXECUTIVE / ISSUE 5 2017
that cost controls on the labor side require not just great software but also great man- agement skills. “It starts with staff engagement and cul-
ture, having committed staff where people don’t call in sick, forcing other people to take on extra shifts and take on overtime. When you have a sound, stable culture and people who want to come to work, that saves you a ton of money and pays off in quality,” he said. Building a solid culture also trims turn-
over costs. “Communities are competing fe- rociously for the best staff and the best lead- ers, and you need to keep the best when you find them. If you can get the right group in there and keep them, that’s where you reduce your labor cost,” he said. Parker, meanwhile, is equally ready to em-
brace the virtues of the automated solution. Even as he focuses on hiring and training, he sees a place for software in the labor equation. Following a successful pilot in five com-
munities, Commonwealth recently imple- mented OnShift software for scheduling. “Our goal is for overtime to be below 3 per- cent of total hours, and in one community they reduced it from 6 percent to around 2 percent,” he said. The automated solution gives schedulers visibility into each worker’s status, so you can
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68