With a market value of approximately USD 83.2 billion, senior living is fast becoming an industry capable of servicing the aging population and those who require assistance with their day-to-day living. This has influenced organizations to set up facilities to care for the aging population and help them achieve a comfortable lifestyle.
However, a major player in making this happen is the employee who undertakes the day-to-day running of this industry. These employees, just like others, deserve better treatment to enable them to perform at optimal ability.
Studies show that better working conditions increase productivity.
What, then, is employee experience? It is simply what an employee encounters throughout their journey in a company, including:
- Physical workspace and technological environment
- Corporate culture and communication
- Physical and mental well-being
- Career training and development
Employee experience determines your organization's performance. So, what are the top benefits of improving senior care employees' experience?
1. Increased influx of employees
Although the senior care industry is growing, one major issue that has rocked the industry is short staffing. This issue is becoming burdensome, as data shows over 700,000 employees are expected to leave home care by 2028.
Considering this number against the influx of new residents in these facilities, we see that the service ratio to those residents is depleted. This is why great employee welfare will positively boost the mindset of intending workers toward working in senior care.
For instance, providing health insurance boosts employees' satisfaction and makes them feel valued and supported. Having access to good health care equates to increased productivity
2. Increased staff retention
The best way to avoid being short-staffed and have a robust team to take care of your residents is to introduce great employee benefits. Staff retention plays a role in the optimal performance of your care facility and even boosts hearsay recruitment opportunities — emphasizing staff welfare is a must.
Recruitment is easier when staff members put in good word of mouth to intending staff and friends about the benefits they enjoy at their workplace. This enables them to bring in more employees and retain the existing ones.
3. Being a service-first organization
If you want your senior care services to become renowned, first provide excellent service. Most believe it can only be achieved when the right facilities and equipment are provided.
However, employees are the major players in making this happen. When employees of senior care facilities enjoy the top benefits of a good working experience, their zeal to perform better grows.
4. Increased productivity
Paying your employees the basic salary stipulated in the employment contract does not guarantee that your care facility will enjoy the utmost benefits. Employees tend to be more productive when they understand that there is a reward for productivity outside their basic pay.
In facilities with solid employee benefits, employees often work harder and smarter, improving the services rendered. By providing rewards for excellence and performance, increased productivity would be visible.
Studies show that productivity increases when employees work with a positive mindset.
5. Improved customer experience
Your senior care facility aims to provide residents and their loved ones with a top-notch customer experience. However, this can only be achieved by focusing on the welfare of members of staff who would unequivocally resonate with a more improved customer experience.
Research and surveys by IDC showed that employee experience has a role to play in customer experience. About 85% of respondents truly agreed that a better experience would equate to great performance and, therefore, improved customer experience.
6. Lower levels of absenteeism
In any care facility with a poor employee experience, one pointer to notice is the constant change in faces due to absent and unmotivated workers. This is detrimental to how your senior care facility is viewed and would ultimately be a bad influence on future intakes.
In a facility where employee experience is paramount, absentee employees are rare and would not be as frequent.
7. Increased employee engagement
A significant way to ensure the growth of an organization and, in this case, a senior care facility is to have the right amount of employee engagement. This factor has been seen to be necessary to grow any organization and, as such, can be achieved by introducing the right benefits for your employees.
One may ask, what is employee engagement? And is it different from improved productivity? Employee engagement deals with the employee's level of enthusiasm and dedication towards their job based on the benefits they enjoy. It encapsulates the relationship between an employee and the company.
With this definition, we can conclude that employee benefits are required in the senior living industry and would determine how senior care would become easily accepted. Employee benefits include but are not limited to:
- Health insurance
- Retirement plans
- Disability insurance
- Sign-on bonuses
- Employee assistance programs, such as personal and family counselling
- Paid time off, such as compensated sick or vacation days
Building the right team and employee experience
Gone are the days when senior living had to be strenuous for everyone involved.
Solutions including those to monitor your residents’ health and streamline scheduling, communication, and workflow can make a tremendous improvement on attracting and retaining staff by improving employee experience through the use of technology. Most importantly, our technology puts less stress on care teams, leading to better job satisfaction.
It’s essential to focus on achieving employee engagement and fine-tuning the necessary benefits to increase employee productivity.
It's possible to build a brand that stands out by improving your employee's experience. Investing in employee experience doesn't only bring about strong returns, profit-wise, but ensures the aging population under your supervision gets the best care possible.