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Same Jobs, Different Attractions, Part IIIBy Dwayne J. Clark, Aegis Assisted Living
This article is the last in a three-part series about the three types of caregivers we have in our industry. I learned quite a lot from this exercise while talking to line staff about their backgrounds, needs and dreams. I would encourage any person who is building a company highly dependent on line staff to spend a week and try to talk to 20 or more staff members. After listening to what they say, you will come away far better educated than if you had sat through any senior-management meeting. This last in the series focuses on the volunteer caregiver. I define that person as one who is motivated primarily by the mission involved in caregiving. They have held jobs previously that were usually more rewarding economically, often have some advanced education--at least two years of college--and are usually 35 years of age or older. In my first article, I mistakenly identified the amount of volunteer caregivers that work in our industry as 10 percent of our workforce. I would now say that after looking for this segment, we would be lucky to have 5 percent of our work force meet this definition. Armed with the mission of seeking out the volunteer caregiver, I scoured our communities to find qualified employees to interview. One of my objectives was to see how I could attract more people with the types of backgrounds and experience levels typical of volunteer caregivers to our company. I wanted to learn where they were coming from and what the drivers were that made them come to work for us. I learned that although many of these people apply for such positions as care manager, administrators and supervisors quickly identify them for other jobs, such as manning the front desk or directing the activities department. I asked our executive directors to steer me in the direction of our few volunteer caregivers. I only interviewed five, so by survey standards, it is not a very broad picture of this sector. However, I still found it to be informative. The first one I interviewed really blew me away. Can you imagine learning that in a previous position, a caregiver was making more than $300,000 a year? Actually, all five that I interviewed had made considerably more money then they were currently earning. They came from all levels of employment and multiple industries. They ranged from business owners to techies, medical professionals to salesmen. So why did these people leave these high-flying, economically gratifying jobs? Well, if you were to ask Faith Popcorn, noted futurist and author of the bestselling Popcorn Report, she would say it could be explained by the intersection of two of her categories: "Cashing Out" and "Save Our Society." "Cashing Out" is the theory of giving up high-flying, glamorous jobs and salaries to live a more simple and sedate life, one where old-fashioned values rule and simple pleasures rank high. "Save Our Society" occurs when people develop strong social consciences and decide that they need to be part of the solution to problems in our society. With the rapid and constant communication in our society now available, we cannot claim ignorance about what is going on around us. With awareness comes people who are educated and informed, who begin to look at their world and feel a responsibility to serve. These two concepts were apparent in all of the people I interviewed. They had all left high-paying jobs in an effort to make a difference in other people's lives. All said they had come to work because they could get a positive and immediate response from residents when they do something nice for them. Consequently, they felt that they made a difference. Two of the interviewed had lived through dramatic life experiences that called them to this type of work. One woman said she had become extremely ill and was placed in the hospital where she had made a deal with "The Lord" after being cared for so diligently by hospital staff. She decided that she would care for others if her health were given back. Another spoke about the emotional experience she had in caring for her father in his last days, and what a positive impact that had on her life. This experience allowed her to discover a gratifying talent she had for caring for people. One person said she worked in assisted living not only because of the opportunity to serve residents, but also to have the opportunity to influence young people. She liked the fact that so many young people had chosen to work in our industry and saw it as a mentoring opportunity to teach them how to serve others. This was a very important life mission for her. When the candidates were asked how we could identify more employees of their caliber, the answer was very simple: As one of them explained, "There are a lot of people out there who are bored with what they are doing. They have had their careers, made money, and now they are looking for a way to give back to their community. Too often, companies are just looking for the young." Another candidate spoke of a friend who had given up her job as a computer analyst to take her certified nurses-aide course and get a job in our industry. They suggested that in order to find these types of employees, you might want to go to places they frequent, such as lectures at garden clubs or the junior league where people are already volunteering their time. Or you could participate in job fairs in well-established communities where the demographics are representative of this type of worker. You can't just run an ad in the paper and expect to get a high-quality worker. One of the things that all the candidates pointed out is that the administrator will probably have to spend a little more time with these candidates than other caregivers during the selection period. "Since this is more of a mission to us then a job, we want to make sure we are giving our time to the right companies, so we ask more questions about values and purpose of the company then most people might." All those interviewed expressed a desire to work in a place where the environment and reputation of the company were very high-quality. This was extremely important. They had a great deal of pride for their employment and wanted to be able to tout where they worked and what they did. As an industry, our tactics in recruiting are too self-limiting. We hire the people we have always hired and use the mechanisms we have always used. If we are going to get beyond the crisis that now exists in finding quality staff, we have to throw away our current paradigm for recruiting. The volunteer caregiver can provide a workforce that is reliable, educated, mature and compassionate about what they do. What else could an employer ask for? It will not solve our total staff crisis, but it will supplement our workforce. Beyond the supplement, the influence these people may have on your staff could be immeasurable. I want to take a moment to thank all the people who participated in this three-part series. I have a renewed appreciation for the great staff we employ, and the hard job they do so well. I also want to thank those of you who have written so many e-mails about this series. Getting and keeping good employees is a huge issue for all of us, so let me close with this message to you: Get out of the box. Spend as much time coming up with a quarterly recruiting plan as you would a marketing or care plan. Our line staff is the first and last link to the future delivery of quality for our companies. If it is severed, we have no future.
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The
following is the last in a three-part series about identifying job benefits that are
significant to different groups within your front-line work force.
Dwayne J.
Clark is president and chief executive officer of Aegis Assisted Living, a start-up
assisted-living company based in Redmond, Wash. With more than 13 years of assisted-living
experience, Mr. Clark is a former executive vice president of Sunrise Assisted Living, a
founding member of the Assisted Living Federation of America (ALFA) and past president of
NorALFA, the regional affiliate of ALFA. Within the next five years, Aegis Assisted Living
plans to build 35 to 40 communities throughout the Western United States, emphasizing
optimal living for its residents and creative care for Alzheimer's disease. Mr. Clark may
be contacted via e-mail at |
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