HR Industry Brief

A new report offers eight recommendation to improve direct care workforce jobs and nurture/retain home care workers, certified nursing assistants, and others:

• Reform long-term care financing to strengthen direct care jobs, including strengthening public financing for long-term care, increasing reimbursement rates under Medicaid and other public payers, and protecting and strengthening Medicaid to cover more individuals and improve direct care jobs.
• Increase compensation for direct care workers, including offering a living wage and improving access to full-time schedules.
• Strengthen training standards and delivery systems for direct care workers, including establishing a national standard for competencies.
• Fund, implement, and evaluate direct care workforce interventions, including strengthening the workforce pipeline in direct care and providing additional skill-building at the entry level.
• Improve direct care workforce data … [Read more...] about (1/15) PHI Releases In-Depth Report on the Direct Care Workforce

While unemployment has risen in the recent months, finding and hiring the best candidates for job openings will continue to be challenging in 2021. According to new survey data, employers face several recruitment dilemmas in the coming year:

• Assessing candidates during virtual interviews.
• Identifying quality candidates quickly.
• Effectively screening candidates pre-interview.
• Determining the candidate’s potential to work from home productively.
• Finding candidates with the right skills, particularly soft skills such as teamwork, crisis management, and conflict resolution that have been so essential during the pandemic.
• Lack of candidates with the tech skills or capability to work remotely.

The beginning of a new year is always an opportunity to reflect and learn from the recent past. There are many lessons to be learned from 2020, but here are the leading ones for senior living:

• Communication with policymakers and the media are critical. You can’t afford not to have a place at the table or a voice in the media. The pandemic made it clear how misunderstood the senior living industry is; we have an opportunity to correct the myths and misunderstandings and shine a light on the good we do.
• A healthy company culture helps alleviate staffing issues. When you have a culture of trust, transparency, and respect, it’s easier to recruit and keep staff during a crisis. If you take care of staff during a situation such as a pandemic, the word spreads. If you don’t, the word spreads even faster.
• The industry is stronger working together. Sharing news, insights, information, resources, and best practices was key to survival, particularly during the … [Read more...] about (1/13) 4 Lessons for Senior Living from 2020

Senior living leaders recently weighed in on what the year ahead might look like and what changes need to prioritized. Among the top issues:

• The pandemic shined a spotlight on the staffing crisis in post-acute and long-term care. This needs to be solved quickly. This needs to start by building trust and keeping frontline workers safe, including educating them about the vaccine.
• Wage/reimbursement pressure and a regulatory system that focus on punishing operators instead of helping them were huge weights on the industry in 2020. In 2021, we need to advocate for change and have a place at the table with policymakers.

Worker burnout has always been an issue but never more so than this past year. Looking ahead, employers still have this issue on their radar:

• 69% of remote employees report having burnout symptoms. A fairly new but common problem, especially among offsite workers, is Zoom, or videoconferencing, fatigue.
• Searches for terms such as “signs of burnout” have increased by 24% throughout 2020.
• About 76% of employees experience burnout on the job at least sometimes.

The rollout of COVID vaccines hasn’t gone as smoothly for some organizations as they may have hoped. According to a survey of LeadingAge members:

• 48% of community/community leaders say that 25-50% of staff members have agreed to receive a COVID-19 vaccine.
• 36% of LeadingAge members say that 50-75% of staff will be vaccinated; and 12% say that 0-25% of staff will get vaccines.
• As for reasons that staff won’t get vaccinated, 45% say staffers plan to take a “wait and see” approach, 27% say there is a mistrust of vaccines, and 18% indicate there are concerns about side effects.

Particularly during a crisis such as a pandemic, employee trust can help you more easily move from chaos to recovery. This has never been more true than during the COVID crisis. Here are five reasons your employees are distrustful:

• Inefficient and irregular communication
• Leadership selection isn’t effective or well communicated/understood
• Employees don’t feel like they’re treated fairly
• Lack of investment in employees’ careers and progress
• Failure of leadership to take ownership of mistakes

Pandemic fatigue is hitting the workplace; and despite the holiday break that many enjoyed, people may still be feeling tired, listless, and unmotivated. As a result, procrastination may be on the rise. A few steps can help you re-energize staff and get them moving again:

• Recognize the problem. Understand the reasons people may be procrastinating. These might include shifting priorities, newly introduced processes, the desire to avoid unpleasant tasks, and fear of failure. During the pandemic, concerns about safety also may cause people to put off tasks or projects.
• Don’t procrastinate in addressing procrastination. Don’t wait to address the problem. As soon as you see it, do something. Work with the employee to create to-do lists, timelines, and schedules. Make these easily implemented into the regular workflow. If possible, avoid creating additional steps.
• Create accountability. Make sure that there are implications if the employee misses … [Read more...] about (1/6) Addressing Employee Procrastination

You likely have employees and other stakeholders in your organization who are excited about the COVID-19 vaccine and others who are hesitant or outright opposed. Here are some tips to help ensure a smooth and effective vaccine rollout in your organization:

• Be transparent and provide accurate, trustworthy information from primary sources.
• Make the experience a positive one. Have snacks and prizes for people who participate in vaccine clinics. Promote and celebrate the positive aspects of vaccinations.
• Have a quiet, comfortable place for employees to get vaccinated, especially if they are nervous or hesitant.
• Provide opportunities for employees to ask questions and express concerns.
• Create a culture of vaccine acceptance. Have leaders post videos or photos showing them getting vaccinated and talking about why it’s important.
• Inform and communicate over and over. Don’t just share information once and assume it … [Read more...] about (1/5) Vaccine Advice From Your Peers

Moving into a new year, what do your workers want? According to a new survey:

• 86% of workers say that “flexibility” is the key feature they would seek in job.
• 83% predict that flexible work models will be standard business practice in the coming year, although only two-thirds of HR managers share this opinion. However, 44% of employers have official flexible working policies, up from 24% pre-pandemic.
• 65% of workers feel positive about flexibility of opportunities moving forward.
• Both employees and managers believe that technology boosts productivity and enhances workplace connections. Two-thirds of HR managers say they actually feel more connected to their peers, direct managers, senior managers, and company leaders when working remotely.