New Guide from PHI Offers Practical Advice on Recruitment and Retention
What are the best ways to find—and hold onto—direct care workers?
PHI is helping long-term care providers answer that question with a new guide: Growing a Strong Direct Care Workforce: A Recruitment and Retention Guide for Employers. Based on PHI’s 25-year experience working with employers in the field, the guide offers 10 strategies for improving recruitment and retention among this workforce.
Growing a Strong Direct Care Workforce covers topics such as recruiting the right staff, strengthening entry-level training, and promoting peer support. It also encourages implementing more effective supervision and developing employment supports, among other approaches.
“We know there are no quick fixes for the workforce challenges that employers face—the recruitment and retention strategies outlined in this guide take time and effort. But the investment pays off.”~ Kezia Scales, PhD, Director of Policy Research, PHI, and author of Growing a Strong Direct Care Workforce: A Recruitment and Retention Guide for Employers
The recruitment and retention challenges facing long-term care employers are exacerbated by the growing workforce shortage in direct care. As the number of older people surges, which increases demand, employers struggle to find workers who are prepared to provide the best possible care.
Chronically low wages in this sector—among other factors— also make these jobs less attractive to workers, which underscores the need to transform direct care jobs overall through higher compensation, better training, advanced roles, and much more.
This guide is part of PHI’s #60CaregiverIssues campaign, a public education campaign focused on the growing workforce shortage in home care. Since its launch in February 2017, #60CaregiverIssues has released 40 issues (available at 60CaregiverIssues.org), earning widespread media coverage and generating millions of online impressions.
To learn more about PHI’s recruitment and retention services, click here.
