Sponsored by WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT
Combating Costs, Contact And COVID-19 Is a Daily Battle
Mark Woodka, CEO, OnShift I
don’t know about you, but this is not how I pictured 2020 as I rang in the new year. But here we are. While some
states have loosened restrictions and many of us have begun to accept our new normal, for senior living providers, every day is still a battle. Costs, for example, are higher than ever.
At the start of the pandemic, providers saw a sharp decrease in occupancy. Call-offs began to steadily increase as staff juggled issues with childcare and transportation, as well as fears of contracting the virus themselves. As a result, overtime and agency usage
began to rise. OnShift’s customer data alone showed a 13 percent increase in overtime and a 12 percent increase in agency usage at the onset of the pandemic.
Safety is first priority By June, both overtime and agency ap- peared to have reached their peak, call-offs were returning to normal levels, and occu- pancy had steadily risen. And this would be great news for providers—if this were their only cost concern. The consensus among providers when
it comes to personal protective equipment (PPE), infection control and coronavirus testing is: We don’t know how we’re paying for it, but we have no choice in the matter if we want to keep our residents and staff safe. This collective mentality demonstrates the
industry’s unwavering commitment to care. Still, the need to remain viable into the future persists. Knowing this, providers must re-evaluate
their core workforce management technol- ogies. Cost pressures demand it, as does the need to limit contact to prevent the spread of the virus.
Start with a common need The overall day-to-day of your workforce likely looks very different than it did back in December 2019. However, for many providers, one routine has gone unchanged: employees clocking in and out. As I write this, thousands of caregivers and
staff are placing their fingers, or in some cas- es, handprint, on a freshly disinfected time- clock. It’s likely big, bulky, error-prone, and costs upwards of $2,000 to $4,000, if you own it. You incur a hefty yearly maintenance fee, and when it goes offline, you resort to manual time collection methods that require a pen and paper. And to this I have one question—why?
Why are we continuing to have our staff clock in using unreliable, expensive time- clocks that, much like disco, 8-track players, and polyester suits, should be left in the 1970s where they belong? Maybe that’s a little harsh, but timeclocks
really are a relic—and an expensive one at that. Think about how much your organiza- tion spends on timeclocks each year; funds that could easily be allocated elsewhere, especially in the age of COVID-19. By taking a more mobile approach,
providers can save on hardware and bring their workforce a more modern, simplified experience. Ditching the timeclock can also mean taking away yet one more common touchpoint in the community—one less place that needs to be constantly cleaned and disinfected.
The ‘three things’ test OnShift makes sure any new product we bring to market achieves three things: It has the potential to help providers save money; it provides better, more effective function- ality than their current solution; and it pri-
oritizes the employee experience. We are confident that our latest product, OnShift Time, fulfills all three of these criteria. OnShift Time is a next-generation time
and attendance experience that utilizes facial recognition biometric technology to decrease labor costs, improve timecard accuracy, and reduce payroll errors—all while eliminating the need for outdated, costly timeclocks. A completely mobile solution, OnShift
Time can be used on any tablet, smartphone, or combination. And we’re excited to report that early adopters have already seen signifi- cant savings. In addition, the real-time insights in OnShift Time allow organizations a sim- plified, compliant way to monitor overtime and potential clock-riding. It also provides an added layer of infection prevention with pre-screening questionnaires each time staff punch in. Punching in is as simple as taking a selfie—from their own device or a centrally located tablet in their community. As we near the end of this difficult year
and start budgeting for the next, there’s never been a better time to eliminate excess hard- ware costs and opt for a safer, more modern time and attendance approach.
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2020
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