Employee satisfaction and resident quality of life connected

The hardest job in the world is hiring good managers. Good managers not only set the tone for the entire operation, they help ensure the two keys: compliance and quality.

My InnerView’s recent report published as a supplement to Provider’s October 2009 issue, emphasized this point over and over in the results of their latest surveys on quality care in assisted living. Good managers – managers who care, listen and set clear guidelines – results in greater employee satisfaction and improved resident quality of life.

Not surprisingly, the two outcomes are closely connected, as well. When employee satisfaction is high, resident quality of life increases at the same rate.

Supporting an employee’s career earns high marks as a measure of management strength; at the same time, only 22% of the 12,000 individuals surveyed rated the training provided to them as “excellent” – the weakest of the 4 areas the survey covered.

Nursing and personal care staff had the lowest overall job satisfaction rating, with just over 70% of the individuals in these job descriptions expressing happiness with their job, compared to over 80% of housekeepers and more than 90% of administration who were satisfied with their jobs.

Considering that these are the crucial workers who provide the care delivery to the clients, this is certainly an area for focus and improvement. These are the people who deliver the care, and in turn determine the happiness of clients and families.

Since top consumer issues are the care and competency of staff, this is clearly a management issue.

Caring, listening and building the strongest employee team possible – these are no small challenges that today’s assisted living manager faces. Seems like it’s more important than ever to focus on leadership.

Let’s collaborate

There are two kinds of people in the world: those looking for something to do, and those working harder than ever just trying to keep up with the work on their plate.

Overly simplistic, I know, but lately that’s how it feels to me. Those who aren’t working are desperate for a job and something meaningful to do to fill their day.

Those of us who are working, are somehow busier than ever. We’re not complaining, of course; we’re counting our blessings to be busy and bringing home a paycheck.

At the same time, we’re running a little leaner staff than usual, meaning more work lands on the desks of fewer people (did I mention how busy I am lately?). We’re trying to start new business units, expand our sources of revenue and, of course, figure out how to facebook, twitter, and network the heck out of everything we’re busy doing.

Some of it we’re doing really well. I see companies and organizations that are more innovative, creative and engaged than ever before. They’re launching new programs and adding services. They’re involved in writing grants and getting grants, and in helping others progress forward in this profession.

Every once in a while, though, I see areas where, instead of collaborating, we try to hoard our piece of the market. We duplicate and overlap efforts, resulting in more work; less payoff.

Last week I was in Phoenix and had the opportunity to visit a Catholic Charities center. Just a few years ago they built the Caregiver House, a small home designed to be fully accessible – and designed for teaching people how best to provide care in someone else’s home.

The bathrooms have innovative assistive devices; the bedrooms are equipped with the typical wheelchair, walker and other devices you might find in a home where care is being given someone elderly or disabled. The living room has lots of extra tables and chairs for teaching and presentations.

It’s a beautiful home and a wonderful environment for teaching people to provide care at home. And the best part of all is that the organization opens the House to groups throughout the community to use for their own teaching. They willingly and graciously share their wonderful resource, even though they provide training as a big part of their own program.

We’re all trying to do just a little more with just a little less these days. I suggest that maybe it’s time for us all to look for ways to collaborate rather than compete just a little more often.

Last week I came home excited and energized by the prospect of working in collaboration with others, instead of exhausted and burdened by the load on my own desk.

It’s a great feeling. Can we collaborate, and lighten your load a bit today?

Making sense of the business of senior care

Yesterday the owner of a large, multi-location care company said to me, “One thing you don’t realize is that when we train people, they think they should get paid more. It actually hurts us to train our employees.”

He went on to share their corporate-wide turnover rate, which is high enough that I’d personally refuse to share – or lie – if someone asked me for that information.

I’ve been thinking a lot about this comment, and the spirit behind it. It is deeply troubling to me to think that this attitude exists in senior care today. I understand that some corporate level individuals are first and foremost business people, but this is a business issue, too.

The cost of employee turnover is well documented – and it’s substantial.

The value of an engaged workforce is also well documented – and it’s even more substantial. According to Gallup, a company with a highly engaged workforce (people who “work with passion and feel a profound connection to their company.”) results in highly engaged clients (the ones who couldn’t image life without your product or service). Overall, the net gain to the company is a bottom line, real dollar benefit of well over 300% more revenue than the company without engaged employees.

Which part of this isn’t making sense, even to the corporate person solely focused on money?

What concerns me more is what is happening to the many thousands of employees who work for companies like this. They probably start out passionate about their jobs. My guess is that they quickly realize that the company doesn’t value them enough to provide them with adequate training – and they leave.

Who is hurt the most? The vulnerable client who is dependant on that individual for their care.

Imagine your mother being cared for by a different person every few days, and you’ll be imagining what people are living across this country.

No one is there long enough to get to know the history – the story – of your mother.

No one is there long enough to know her well enough to detect when something’s just not right, and act quickly to avoid a major problem.

Having both my mother and my mother-in-law receiving care lately, I know first hand how helpless and dependent even the family feels on the individuals providing care. Some days, you simply pray and hope for the best, knowing that there’s nothing more you can do.

And then you’re thankful every single day when you finally get a caregiver – or two or three – who genuinely care about your loved one. Who take the time to listen, to learn their story, and who grieve with you when they pass.

We have an awesome level of trust and responsibility as senior care providers. I have to think that someday, in some way, we’ll each be called to account for how well we met that trust and responsibility; how well we improved the lives of the most vulnerable people we served; how well, in the end, we understood the very mission of our company.

In the end, maybe it isn’t just about the money.