DISCOVER THE 5 CAREGIVER RECRUITING MYTHS THAT ARE STOPPING YOU DEAD IN YOUR TRACKS

The mind is a beautiful thing…it can also be our worst enemy.

Often times what we think about…comes about. I find it interesting that our beliefs often create our reality. I think it was Henry Ford that famously said “If you think you can or you can’t, you’re right”.

It’s a pretty powerful statement and one that carries lots of truth to it.

I’m a firm believer that we co-create our reality…and this starts with the beliefs and thoughts that we have.

Below, I am going to share 5 of the BIGGEST MYTHS…or FALSE BELEIFS that may be stopping your recruiting efforts dead in it’s tracks. Shift your thinking on these things… implement more effective recruiting strategies and tactics and you will start to shift your results.

I’m not oblivious to COVID, or those lovely Unemployment checks, and how sometimes people will manipulate the system to leverage as many government benefits as they can to their own advantage.

These things can certainly contribute to making it more difficult to find and keep caregivers. In truth, there are lots of home care owners out there that are still thriving in today’s market.

Referrals are coming in…and magically, they are still able to staff their cases. It’s not because they have magical powers (although maybe they do?) ….it stars with their mindset and their beliefs. They don’t typically buy into the myths. Below I’m going to share the TOP 5 that I see in our industry when it comes to recruiting. And way at the bottom I have a free training that you can register for where we go deeper on some of this fun recruiting stuff so you can find and keep more caregivers to scale your agency.

MYTH #1: I don’t have time to focus on making my recruiting a priority

I get it. If you have read any of my previous messages about this topic, I spoke a bit about being a home care owner and trying to manage multiple moving plates at once. That was really tough to do when I had my business. But one of the greatest…and I am not just saying that.. truly one of the GREATEST pieces of advice was to MAKE NON NEGOTIABLE TIME EACH WEEK TO WORK ON THE BUSINESS NOT JUST IN IT.

Some of you may think you know what that means…but I’m not 100% sure if everyone does. Working “on the business” means setting aside time each week to implement new systems, new changes in process/function/etc, implement new strategies…etc.

This time needs to be non-negotiable. It MUST happen!!! Even if you start off with 2 hours ….then up to 4…..or more. This is some of the most valuable time I committed to my business.

Building a business is like building a clock. There are a lot of moving parts that go into making it function properly so that you can get the output you desire (like the hour and minute hand moving).

And 2 of the PRIMARY DRIVERS in a home care business are sales and RECRUITING!!!

You want better care for your clients …..RECRUITING/RETENTION plays a HUGE role in that

You want to be more profitable…..RECRUITING/RETENTION (take on more business/less OT)

You want to grow your revenue….. RECRUITING/RETENTION (you can staff more cases)

You want to have more time ….. RECRUITING/RETENTION (less time it will take to staff cases, less time dealing with on call issues with no one to back up,

You want less stress….. RECRUITING/RETENTION

As business owners, we want all of these things…and sometimes what some don’t realize is that if you prioritized this whole recruiting/retention process and just kept getting better and better at it…we would shrink a TON of your other issues.

MYTH #2: I have to spend a lot of money to get enough applicants

While it’s true that investing in lead generation for sales could be extremely beneficial, often times home care owners invest in platforms and/or tools that don’t yield results and then they feel stuck. Sometimes they are stuck because they end up in contracts that keep them locked in for a long time and then they aren’t aware of other ways to generate leads that may not necessarily take a lot of money and/or time. Other times it's because they are being ineffective in their approach to attracting, engaging, and influencing potential applicants. There are so many layers to this..but let's discuss a few that can help you create better results without having to invest so much:

* Creating referral relationships with places that can regularly refer you qualified candidates.

* Leveraging Social media..(when done correctly) - even the no cost options can work

* Constantly reminding other caregivers to help (and or creating an effective referral program)

* Ugly Yellow Signs (when done correctly)

* Leveraging Your database the right way...this is a HUGE miss for many

* Lowering your "bounce rate" so when people do apply..you are not losing them (ie bouncing) for different reasons that are avoidable

And so much more.

MYTH #3: There aren’t enough caregivers out there

It almost feels like a desert sometimes ….with no caregivers in sight! Hey…where’d everybody go?

I’m not at all oblivious to the reality that there is a higher demand for caregivers than there is supply. Not only that…but let’s add to it the fact that many can collect unemployment checks and stimulus checks for more than what they were making at work...although this is coming to an end.

So technically you could argue that this is not a myth until you’re blue in the face.

The problem is that focusing on this possibility will not get you closer to where you want to be. What we focus on expands…and if you continue down this path of thinking, you will make it much more difficult to get what you really want….which is to find and keep quality caregivers.

So what should we do instead? Great question…Let’s focus on what we want. We want more caregivers. Let’s focus on getting really good at attracting, converting, and retaining the best available caregivers out there. It’s possible….how do I know? Because there are companies that are doing it.

Let’s focus on solutions …..This life is set up to an extent as “survival of the fittest”.

So what can we do to make sure we are getting more of our share of caregivers?

- Have more hooks in the water that attract caregivers

- Write better ad copy…something compelling

- Make it easier for them to apply

- And so on…and so on.

These are just some of the tips…but the goal is to help you realize that we MUST get better if we are going to grow and scale and thrive in today’s current recruiting environment. And….you can do this!

MYTH #4: My Caregivers Won’t Show Up For Interviews No Matter What I Do

Let’s see…one of the BIGGEST gripes I hear about caregivers is that they simply WILL NOT show up for interviews. And then…we justify it saying that it’s because they can collect more money from unemployment….. or they just don't care

And while there could be some truth to this ….IT’S NOT THE FULL TRUTH.

The full truth is that you are competing for caregivers. Ahhh…the nature of business. Just like you compete for client referrals, the same holds true for recruiting caregivers.

1. Why would they want to work for you? What’s your compelling reasons why?

2. Are you getting them connected to the mission…the good caregivers truly want to be part of something special…are you fostering that environment? Is your team effectively communicating this message?

3. How are you creating excitement and urgency when you speak to the caregivers? Or are you treating this more as a logistical process?

4. What have you set up in terms of your “offer” to make it compelling? There are several things you can do…

5. Is the person handling this process effective in their approach? How much time have you spent with them lately to ensure that they are being super effective? I had one client recently switch up their approach and their show up rate improved by 20% ...which equated to 6 new hires each month...what would you do with 6 more hires than you are getting now?

But whatever you do, please stop saying that they won’t show up “no matter what”. That’s simply not true….YES…it’s gotten more difficult.... But all the more reason you need to get better and your process to ensure that you are not only attracting the right people…but that you are doing everything in your power to convert them..and keep them. Lot’s of layers to this!

MYTH #5: Caregivers Just Don’t Care

I get that some of you are sitting saying….”But….But….this is true!!!” Yes, I realize there are some caregivers who truly don’t care. WE DON’T WANT THOSE. But if you buy into this belief, you will start unconsciously approaching the good ones with unresolved contempt in your recruiting and retention process.

What do I mean by that?

It’s somewhat of human nature to compartmentalize things. So…if we start thinking some “caregivers are not kind..they don’t care”…..many of you start approaching many of the others like that as well without realizing it.

How do I know? I’ve been there…after multiple call offs… No-Call-No-Shows…and after disappointment after disappointment, it’s easy to just assume the worst. We had some pretty amazing caregivers. I know you do too! We had so many caregivers who were committed to their clients.. committed to the company…etc. Yet, it was easy to let negativity creep in

Avoiding the negativity in our office was such a challenge that we switched our core values to include “treat EVERYONE with Positive regard” ….i even used to have my internal employees put money in the pot when they spoke negative about clients and/or caregivers. Speak truth…not opinions or negative talk. Negativity is like a fungus that starts growing on one or two of the blueberries. Very quickly it can spread to the rest of the batch….same holds true inside of your office.

Energetically, if you are harboring resentment or any type of negativity, this will unconsciously come through in how you treat applicants, prospects, and even your own employees ---which hurts BOTH your recruiting and your retention.

My point…stop falling into a trap of assuming caregivers don’t care.

In fact, according to the 2020 Home Care Pulse Benchmarking study (2021 study is coming out soon—make sure you get your hands on it when it does), over 88% of caregivers are in this industry because they want to “help people”. That’s pretty encouraging!

Ultimately, my hope with this information is that you start becoming aware of the more common myths in our industry as it relates to recruiting and retention and that you start flipping the script and becoming masters at the art of finding and keeping great caregivers so that you can eliminate stress and grow and scale your agency!

PS. We have a recording of the FREE TRAINING MASTERCLASS, where I shared the SECRETS TO SCALING YOUR HOME CARE Agency... So It Can Run Without You as well as The KEY RECRUITING Tactics Working RIGHT NOW SO You Can Build A More Consistent Supply Of Caregivers

P.S. If you have not joined our Facebook group where I share the latest recruiting strategies/tactics and tips on how to scale your agency....please do so by

clicking here >>>> HOME CARE BREAKTHROUGH REVENUE GROWTH FACEBOOK GROUP

To your next Home Care Revenue Breakthrough,

Gregg Mazza- Founder

Home Care Breakthrough Solutions