Assisted Living Christmas

The reports are not yet compiled for the holiday sales figures, but I’m guessing they’ll be awful. Snow and bad weather has kept many, many people out of the stores; hopefully safe and warm at home.

It’s been nice at our home to focus more on family and friends than on the great consumer adventure – what to buy for our loved ones who, truth be known, have everything they need and most of what they want. What they really need we can’t get them at the mall anyway – a happy relationship for one; a solid job for another; a secure home for yet another.

The business of caring for our country’s most frail, elderly adults continues day after day, even through the holidays. Yet we experience financial challenges and census drops that feel like a fall from a cliff. We know our staff are suffering, and we’re about to cut their hours.

It’s a difficult time for many businesses and individuals today. It can feel so overwhelming that we may feel hopeless; helpless.

And yet at the holidays our thoughts are turned to a bigger screen than the one our own difficulties are played out upon. Themes of peace, joy and love; memories and tradition nudge us out of our own inward focus.

So we turn off CNN and tune into the Yule logs with their flickering image of a warm, cozy fireplace. We put on old melodies we can sing along to (if the kids are out of the room). We wrap the simple gifts that represent our heart’s longing for the true happiness of those we love.

And we take just a minute to say to friends and strangers alike, “Merry Christmas! Have a wonderful New Year.”

Assisted Living Challenges: making the most of high unemployment

Two sectors of our economy seem to be thriving: education and health care. My company (Institute for Senior Living Education) happens to be nicely poised in the intersection of these two sectors; yours is likely more in the health care/senior care sector.

Unless your census has suffered significantly with the economic downturn, you’re likely in the hiring mode, not the lay-off mode.

Applicants may be, for the first time, plentiful and qualified.

If you’re lucky, you may have this edge in hiring for the next several months.

Taking advantage of it, however, it not a slam-dunk. It may take a little more thought and consideration to be able to hire the best and keep them into the economic recovery.

What can you do? Here are some thoughts taken from a wide range of studies and industries that seem to apply to this environment:

1. Spend some extra time thinking about the kind of person you’d love to hire for each opening you have. Look at current employees who are your stars in similar roles. What makes them so great? Consider personality, character and other factors that may be independent of experience and training. You may have the opportunity to hire individuals with similar personality traits and train them to become equally valuable members of your team.
2. Get plugged into technology to help you with the hiring process – now. Never used Craig’s list before? Give it a shot now. Look for other online job boards you can use. Consider utilizing an online application option to allow those interested in your positions to apply online, without needing to develop a resume or fax/mail/drop off an application. Many tools are available, including one developed by my own team that is currently available at no charge to senior care employers (see www.apply2care.com). Link your job postings or want ads to the application website and gain the advantage of being the first employer to see the application, delivered directly to your email inbox, looking tech-saavy and current to your prospective employees at the same time.
3. Select carefully. You may have the opportunity to interview several candidates for a position – a delightfully new situation for many providers. Involve individuals who will be working with the new hire in the interview process and don’t hesitate to take your time to interview twice, check references, and slow down the process. Hiring carefully now can save you time and money in turnover later.
4. Think about career advancement opportunities you can offer in-house. If you hire individuals who may be somewhat overqualified for their new position, offer these employees extra training to be ready to advance as opening occur in your own internal career ladder. Perhaps you don’t foresee any management openings; offer training anyway to keep the motivated hire interested and engaged.
5. Consider additional training opportunities all the way through your team. This is a proven strategy to reduce turnover and increase employee engagement; now may be the perfect time for you to implement enhanced training programs for all your staff members.

While other companies are laying off employees, most of us are still hiring. Take advantage of this change of pace, and build up your team to become the very best it can be.

Senior Care companies can face the economic downturn with boldness and action

Look outside your window today. In most parts of the country you’ll see bare tree branches, leaves on the ground, and other signs that Mother Nature has gone into hibernation.

Turn on the TV and you’ll see the stock market and other economic indicators looking much the same: they’re heading toward a dormant state, if not a near death moment.

"There is a tendency for companies to simply cut costs and then hibernate to ride out economic recessions," said Alan Black, CEO of Intelliden , in a recent press release containing five strategies for navigating the downturn.

Black goes on to say, "However, as history has shown, by taking smart, pro-active steps during a downturn, technology managers can help their companies be much better placed when the upturn arrives. The current economic downturn will undoubtedly end at some point and those companies that are leaner, fitter and more innovative will likely have the most to gain from the upturn."

While Intelliden is an IT and networking company, some of the strategies are useful for all business managers:

1. Control costs without compromising the business. In the senior care world payroll costs are the biggest cost center. Can you control your overtime or other costs without compromising the service you deliver? Look at areas of employee cost that can be reduced like those related to turnover and training. Don’t skimp on new employee or current employee compliance training, but do look for ways to reduce cost of that training, for example by reducing the need for overtime or higher cost instructors. Do you use agency staff to fill in gaps? If so, you know this is a significant cost center that does nothing to improve your service. Make it a point during this period of economic downturn to eliminate agency staffing and turn that money to improved training and retention programs that have proven effectiveness for quality outcome.

2. Simplify your technology environment. This is an excellent time to look at all of the ways you use technology. Most senior care providers use a mixture of paper and pen record-keeping along with technological solutions. Now is an excellent time to look at all the systems you use. Find overlap and eliminate it. Seek off-the-shelf packages that meet your needs in a more robust, complete manner. A small investment in electronic records now, for example, may save you millions in labor costs over the coming years.

3. Don’t stop innovating. Downturns are times when we may be forced into creative solutions to problems that, in the past, we just kept pushing off to a future date. Don’t shy away from looking at your key problems or challenges as well as your core strengths and objectives. Look for new ways to improve outcomes, increase customer satisfaction and bring in new revenue. Seek solutions – technological or otherwise – to become more efficient at the same time you’re increasing effectiveness. Are you spending too much time on things that aren’t your core business? Contract them out or change the way you manage them.

In nature, the period of a winter “downturn” leads to a vigorous growth phase in the spring. That seems like a pretty great business model to follow.