Professionals in the home care industry are highly prone to employee burnout, with studies calculating the percentage of home care employee turnover at over 60%. However, a more recent study estimated the turnover rate to be around 80% for 2018. Burnout often starts with small “risk points” that grow over time. Identifying possible risk points and knowing when and how to provide reward opportunities will help you reduce employee burnout.
Identifying Common Burnout Causes
- Risk Point #1: Having a transactional relationship. Most agencies are constantly calling caregivers to fill in or do extra work on top of their normal assignments. If the only time you are speaking to a caregiver is to request a favor from them, it can rapidly deteriorate the relationship.
- Reward opportunity by: Developing a friendly rapport with your caregivers. Know their likes and interests, make sure you occasionally interact to check in without requesting something and make sure to ask questions about how they are feeling about their work. Building this type of relationship will instill trust with your caregiver team that you have their best interests in mind, and that they are not just another name on your roster.
- Risk Point #2: Ignoring issues with challenging clients. Caregivers are regularly tasked with caring for clients and families who are in an extremely stressful season in their lives. While faced with these difficult situations in the home, caregivers will seek continuous guidance from their agency and office staff.
- Reward opportunity by: Communicating clearly with caregivers about the unique challenges they may face with each client. Be sure to listen to their concerns and address their feedback openly and honestly.
- Risk Point #3: A feeling of isolation. The home care industry can operate at a non-stop pace with never-ending deadlines and long hours. As a consequence, employees can begin to feel like they operate on an island.
- Reward opportunity by: Creating opportunities for employees to interact with one another. In-service programs, support groups, holiday celebrations and monthly newsletters are great ways to make employees feel included.
- Risk Point #4: A lack of appreciation. Employees in home care are accustomed to doing whatever it takes to get the job done and then moving on to the next task at hand. This can lead to feelings of underappreciation and damage a caregiver’s overall sense of accomplishment.
- Reward opportunity by: Fostering a culture of appreciation. Send a handwritten card to say thank you, give a caregiver a call to say you appreciate their consistent hard work, celebrate a caregiver of the month for exemplary performance.
A happy caregiver team leads to happier clients and overall growth for your agency. By identifying these risk points, creating a culture of appreciation and celebrating success, you can reduce caregiver turnover and burnout.
How have you created a culture of appreciation with your team? Share your ideas with us on our LinkedIn page to help more agencies improve the experience for caregivers and ultimately improve the quality of care that all home care clients deserve to receive. Axxess provides more helpful tips on providing excellent and compliant home care, and supports home care agencies with Axxess Home Care, an innovative home care software and mobile solution.
