As we commence the survey for the 2017 Home Care Benchmarking Study, I want to focus on a few of the many popular and useful benchmarks from the past seven years of doing the Study. The particular benchmarks that I am focusing on today are areas we often see home care providers struggle in.
1. Median Caregiver Turnover Rate – Orientation Training Hours
High turnover can be due to a lack of training, dissatisfaction with wages, lack of recognition, client/caregiver compatibility, competing job offers, and not getting along with coworkers or managers. In our 2016 Home Care Benchmarking Study, we learned that home care businesses who provided five or more hours of orientation training had a turnover rate of 61.1%, which is 16.3% lower than those who provided five or less hours (turnover of 77.3 %). Training plays a large part in caregiver retention. Through caregiver training, you provide the skills your caregivers need to succeed in the field as well as building a foundation for a strong work relationship. We have years of satisfaction research that show caregivers are far more likely to recommend employment to others as long as they are satisfied with the training they have received.
Throughout February, I am releasing an exclusive eBook, “7 Key Strategies Leaders Use to Decrease Caregiver Turnover and Fuel Growth,” to all participants of this year’s Online Survey for the 2017 Home Care Benchmarking Study. In this eBook, I provide in-depth insights about the caregiver retention crisis, and how home care owners can improve and overcome their high caregiver turnover through different strategies like increased training.
2. Top 5 Ways Caregivers Prefer to Be Recognized
Recognizing your caregivers is crucial to having strong caregiver retention. Caregivers give a lot of their time and efforts to growing your business and caring for your clients, and they want to be recognized for their hard work. The number one reason most Americans will leave a job is due to lack of recognition and caregivers are no different. In our 2016 Home Care Benchmarking Study, we provided the top five ways caregivers prefer to be recognized based upon tens of thousands of satisfaction management interviews conducted with caregivers across North America. Here are the top five:
- Verbal recognition by supervisor
- Vacation time, bonuses, perks, gift cards
- Pay raise
- Recognition by client
- Company wide recognition
Through proper recognition, your caregivers will be more likely to stay with your home care business long term and recommend employment to their friends. For more insight on caregiver recognition, visit our free resource library to download tools such as our Caregiver Praise List and CORE Webinar, “Increasing Caregiver Retention Through Caregiver Recognition.”
3. Median Sales per Full-Time Employee – Revenue Ranges
A good way to estimate if you’re over or understaffed is to look at your sales per full-time employee ratio. This benchmark shows you how your home care business compares to other home care businesses in your given revenue range. If your sales per full-time employee is below the median, then you might be overstaffed, and if you’re above the industry median, you might be understaffed. Staffing your home care business will always be a careful balancing act. If providers are not careful in gauging that balance, their companies may forfeit profits and future growth.
These are only three of hundreds of insights provided in our annual Home Care Benchmarking Study. This is the largest study for its kind for the home care industry. It provides home care business owners with reputable knowledge on the industry and shows them how they can utilize this information to grow their business. We are currently working on our 2017 Home Care Benchmarking Study, and we need home care providers to participate by completing our Online Survey. By participating in our survey, you are providing us with valuable data on the home care industry which is then incorporated in the Study. To participate in this year’s benchmarking study, download our Prep Worksheet or participate in the Online Survey which opens February 1st. Information on the eighth annual Home Care Benchmarking Study can be found at www.benchmarking.homecarepulse.com. We look forward to another amazing Study and great year!
All the Best,
Aaron Marcum
Founder & CEO of Home Care Pulse
