How to Hire More Caregivers by Hosting a Virtual Recruiting Event

 By now you’ve probably adapted just about every aspect of your agency to fit COVID-19 regulations or standards. While in-person open houses may have been put on hold for the time being, we highly encourage you to take a look at virtual alternatives.

Like most things in life, the way home care agencies are handling open-houses has had to adapt due to COVID-19.

With virtual events being the reality for the foreseeable future, it’s critical that home care agencies are planning events that are just as engaging as if they were in-person.

Here are our top tips for getting past the challenges that COVID-19 has presented and adapting your previous recruitment strategies to fit the times we are currently living in.

Why hold a virtual open house?

We’re all about time management here at Home Care Pulse, and if you’re running a home care agency, you’re probably also looking for ways to simplify the workload.

Open houses are great for many reasons, but one of the most significant is that it gives home care agencies the power to accomplish what would typically take a couple of weeks in just one day.

Not only that, but they also help to weed out applicants and spotlight those who will be most successful with your agency. Because of their casual setting, they really give staff a chance to interact with the attendees and see who is a great culture-fit.

Related content: How to Host a Recruiting Open House to Hire More Caregivers

#1: Choose a date/time that is convenient for people to attend

Even though hosting an online event makes it more convenient for potential caregivers to attend, you should consider the time/day of your event carefully.

When determining the best date and time for your recruitment open house, make sure you know your audience and who you’re trying to target. Their schedule may include things like school and work, varying time zones, or even holidays.

We’ve found that evenings are typically the best time to host these events and typically provide the greatest turnout. Depending on how fast your agency is growing or how fast you want it to grow, we recommend hosting open houses at least once a month and as often as once a week.

#2: Thoroughly advertise the event

There are a lot of ways that you can market an event; however, these are some of our top recommendations:

#3: Create a streamlined process for registering and RSVP’ing

While not critical, having interested caregivers register for your event will give you a baseline for how many people to expect and what your technology can handle.

As we’ll discuss later, you’ll also want to follow up with your registrants after the event, so having contact information upfront will allow you to still reach out to those who may not have been able to make it.

You can track those who want to attend by using Google Forms, a landing page on your website, or creating a company event through Facebook.

#4: Get set up on the right platforms

Depending on how many attendees you anticipate, there are various platforms you can use to host the event. Our personal favorite for hosting webinars is Zoom.

Use of Zoom and other video conferencing platforms are now commonplace, (thanks, 2020) and you’ve likely even used them for virtual interviews or other online events. With the versatility of the software, it gives participants the option to ask questions and chat with others live.

Depending on the anticipated size of your event, you may have to ensure you have a paid Zoom subscription that will allow you to host an upward of 100 users.

#5: Provide the option for break-off or one-on-one sessions

Providing opportunities for staff to interact with attendees is one of the best ways to show what it’s like working for your agency. In large group sessions, you can only answer so many questions, and additionally, it’s hard to grasp personality.

If you have staff that are extra eager to share their opinions, you could provide them with a break-out session to host a Q&A. Another option is to insert a poll into your initial presentation and then collect information for anyone who would like to be contacted after the main event by a current caregiver or staff member.

Before kicking off the event and breakout sessions, it’s important to get familiar with the system. You’ll want to run a few test sessions to make sure there aren’t any technical difficulties the day of.

#6: Make the event available to those who couldn’t make it

So now that you’ve wrapped up the event, there are still a few things that you need to do to make it a success.

You’ll want to begin by checking your registrant list (we told you this would come in handy!) and begin crafting emails for attendees and non-attendees. The goal of this email is to provide potential applicants with all the information you highlighted in the open house and share links to the recording, job posting, your website, etc.

#7: Follow-up with those who attended live

It’s important that you’re making an effort to follow up with those who attended live. Their extra effort to make it to the event shows just how serious they are about working at your agency. It’s important that you’re making a great first (or second) impression by taking the time to reach out.

One thing your agency might want to consider is offering an incentive for those who attended live and apply to your openings. This could be a streamlined application process or even a small bonus upon accepting a position. Whatever you decide to do, make sure you’re keeping an open line of communication.

Staying Coronavirus-friendly

 By now you’ve probably adapted just about every aspect of your agency to fit COVID-19 regulations or standards. While in-person open houses may have been put on hold for the time being, we highly encourage you to take a look at virtual alternatives.

Online events, while seemingly daunting, have a lot of possibilities for new recruits. It gives you time to interact, discuss what they’re looking for in a job, and see if you’re the right fit for each other.

Accepting a job or committing to an applicant is scary and can be a liability if done wrong. Open houses break down any barriers and add an extra level of confidence that both you and the caregiver need. 

We know it’s a difficult time to recruit and retain caregivers, and we want to help you make the most of what you have.

Have you hosted a virtual open house? What’s been most successful for you? Let us know in the comments!