The following is a brief, unpaid testimonial about our staff training program, aQuire Training Solutions. We’re sharing this with you because our client, The Wilsonville believes so strongly that aQuire is a vital link in improving their staff retention. We know this is a concern and focus for many senior living communities, and we hope this gives you some ideas that you can use in your organization. And, of course, we hope you start thinking, “Maybe WE need aQuire!”
I’d like to guide you through our successful experience with aQuire Training, our training partner at The Wilsonville.
My name is Rodney Bruck. I joined The Wilsonville eight months ago as their Caregiver Recruiter/Trainer and Career Development Coordinator. I came out of retirement to apply a management education and 35 years experience as an investment/financial and insurance planner and assist The Wilsonville in their quest to be the cornerstone senior assisted living community in the Pacific Northwest.
Early on in my new position I uncovered many faults in the recruiting, training and monitoring practices being employed in our industry. They are the same poor practices followed by many companies: Shortcuts and lack of accountability and follow-up.
I evaluated the problems: high turnover, low productivity, high absenteeism, low morale, high workers comp claims for new hires, and too much time spent with applicants not suited for our industry.
I also noticed that our caregivers were inadequately trained in the key areas of their job description. Caregivers had a very minor understanding of their complete role. Their training lacked clarity and was ambiguous at best. They lacked the skills to perform their jobs.
As I looked further into the problem, I realized we were not utilizing and managing the complete set of tools provided by our partner, aQuire Training Solutions.
We, like many others, were playing the game without any rules or guidelines. WE were the problem. I set out to change that culture and bring to The Wilsonville a new set of parameters to best serve our residents, their families and our entire community as a whole!
To address these issues, we took our evaluation results (retention, job evaluations, workers comp claims, co-workers observations and, most important, resident satisfaction) and asked guiding questions:
- What was our "mission and philosophy" and were we achieving these goals?
- How could we improve in ALL areas of performance? Not just a few.........ALL!
I then set out to align our procedures to meet our goals, and aQuire Training was my first step in this endeavor.
First, I personally took every one of their courses to become a certified caregiver. I not only took the required courses, I took ALL of their courses available.
This not only helped me determine their quality of training, but also enhanced my credibility and built on my knowledge base. I recommend this as a sound practice for management.
Next, I completely changed our recruiting ads. They now state "You MUST be computer literate." This filters candidates, limiting the pool to only those who are able to process the training in a timely manner. We required prospective caregivers to demonstrate some basic computer skills in my presence (taking a sample course). I wanted to see how they handled the courses, the sample, game, quizzes, and the scored test. If I sensed, or observed, a major problem in this area I discontinued the interview. No need to waste each other’s time.
The results? In 6 months I've placed 13 new caregivers. 12 are still with us and performing at excellent levels. Workers comp claims are down 200%. Morale is at an all time high. Pride of ownership in our community is flourishing. Most importantly, our residents and their families are exceedingly pleased with our care and the professional quality of our staff. It has made all of us a much more cohesive team, proud of ourselves and our co-workers!
aQuire Training Solutions was a key ingredient in making this happen.
Here's my advice: Your communities will all benefit from a close relationship with aQuire Training and the excellent tools they provide. The Wilsonville is living proof of this.
Thanks, Rod!
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