CUSTOMER STORY
How Arosa Boston Managed Their Employment Brand to Hire 62% of New Caregivers Through Google Reviews
About Arosa Boston
Arosa Boston is the premier home care company in the Greater Boston area offering integrated care management and home care. Since they were founded as Beacon InHome in 2011, they have served their clients with elevated care services. They approach each client and family with a holistic approach, considering the physical, emotional, mental, and lifestyle needs of each person involved. Their clinical expertise includes specialized support for those with Alzheimer’s disease or other neurological disorders; complex medical conditions including Parkinson’s disease; psychiatric conditions including mood and anxiety disorders; and a need for hospice support services.
The Value of Online Reviews and Employment Branding
With over 200 competing home care agencies in a 5-mile radius, Arosa Boston had to innovate to remain competitive to potential new clients and caregivers.
Part of that innovation included increasing their employment brand through Google Reviews. While it’s natural to consider your brand from the eyes of potential clients, it’s easy to overlook your employment brand–the impression that employees and potential new hires have of your company.
Arosa Boston was lucky. Their new Area Director Gaby Yidi came from the review-driven world of hospitality–and she understood the impact that online reputation makes in any service-based industry.
Even though reviews have become a key part of searching for almost any kind of service, it’s still a huge area of opportunity and improvement for many home care agencies. When Gaby joined Arosa Boston, they had zero Google Reviews. Without reviews to look at, potential clients and applicants looking them up had little idea why Arosa might be a better choice than their competitors.
“Google Reviews is one of those things we’re going to be talking about in a few years as if it’s a staple. Right now, [home care agencies] still talk about it with this startup mentality as if it’s something new and optional. This is a necessity. It’s like having chairs in an office. [Budget for review management] should be in your P&L. It should be something you talk about all the time. Because if not, business is not going to come.”
Nowadays, most people won’t try a new dry cleaner without scouring Google or Facebook first. The same goes for finding a provider or employer. 88% of consumers read online reviews before making any purchase–how much more likely are they to read reviews when you’re finding a new job or deciding who they can trust with the care of a loved one?
While online reputation matters equally in marketing to potential clients and in attracting caregiver applicants, the value in caregiver reviews takes on a whole new meaning during times of caregiver shortages.
When Arosa decided to bring on Home Care Pulse’s Review Manager tool company-wide, it fit the needs Gaby saw to build a stronger brand through online reviews. From her previous experience, she knew the weight reviews held in employment brand–and how those same practices were applicable to the home care industry.
Using Review Manager
Review Manager allows Gaby to request reviews from clients and caregivers through SMS or email, all within a few clicks.
“With Review Manager, we can send them a text with a link. It’s convenient and it’s professional-looking. We can even track if they open the message. . . it’s much easier this way and we don’t have to be on their tail about leaving a review.”
Tools within Review Manager also allow Gaby to directly respond to reviews, track overall sentiment and view every online review (across various websites) in one place.
Gaby found the personalization feature helpful, as she’s strategic with who she invites to leave a review. With Review Manager, Gaby also has the flexibility to send a mass blast or choose who she asks for reviews so that their new reviews are coming from their most excited, loyal advocates.
When personalization isn’t necessary, Gaby uses one of the templates provided by Home Care Pulse to make sending requests for reviews quick and easy.
While reviews in general are great, what’s said in them holds the most value.
Gaby encourages any caregiver who leaves a review to provide detail. “Don’t just put 5 stars,” she reminds them. “Tell people what you like about working here!” This provides more valuable insights for review readers and better feedback for Gaby.
She’s also been able to leverage reviews into an employee referral program. If a caregiver leaves a review, refers a friend who gets hired, and is working 30+ hours per week themselves (calculated on a 12-week rolling average), they receive a $100 bonus. This is part of Arosa’s companywide program, but Gaby added in the extra condition of leaving a review to further strengthen their employment brand.
Results in Recruitment
It doesn’t take many reviews to start seeing an impact. Because home care agencies sometimes have a harder time generating large numbers of reviews compared to other businesses with a higher volume of customers, a few reviews go a long way in outshining the competition. Over the span of several months, Arosa Boston used Review Manager to generate 18 reviews, which have driven measurable results in terms of both clients and caregivers.
At a time when any source of caregiver applicants is worth pursuing, 62% of Arosa’s recent caregiver hires have come from those Google reviews.
With the current need for caregivers and employment opportunities in general, a caregiver searching for a new job has almost infinite options. While Arosa Boston pays enough to stay competitive locally, their Google Reviews set them apart.
Using Reviews to Power Recognition Programs
Google Reviews also help tackle the retention problem agencies constantly face. One example Gaby gives is when a caregiver or staff member is mentioned by name in a review.
“We throw this whole party in the office. It’s a fun [accomplishment] we all should celebrate! It gives [employees] this retention piece…[they’re] becoming this celebrity through Google Reviews”
Their quality and hard work are noticed, and the caregiver feels valued within the company. It provides recognition that makes them want to stick around. Google Reviews also help tackle the retention problem agencies constantly face. One example Gaby gives is when a caregiver or staff member is mentioned by name in a review.
“We throw this whole party in the office. It’s a fun [accomplishment] we all should celebrate! It gives [employees] this retention piece…[they’re] becoming this celebrity through Google Reviews”
Their quality and hard work are noticed, and the caregiver feels valued within the company. It provides recognition that makes them want to stick around.
”Reviews Act As a Filter For Client Inquiries From All Sources”
While Arosa Boston can attribute 5 recent clients directly to Google Reviews, review management doesn’t only bring in client inquiries through the channel of Google searches. Gaby says that like it or not, Google Reviews act as a filter for client inquiries from all sources.
Wherever they might be referred from, they’re likely to be checking Google Reviews first. If the reviews don’t provide peace of mind, they’re going to go someplace else.
“Business can come from all directions, but unless [you have] good reviews, it’s going to be very hard to trust you.”
Gaby Yidi, Area Director at Arosa BostonInvesting in Employment Brand
Gaining Google Reviews is a process over time, but easily worth the investment. Arosa’s partnership with Home Care Pulse allows Arosa Boston to not only increase caregivers and clients but create a stronger employment brand as a whole. Along with Review Manager, Arosa utilizes Client and Caregiver Surveys and Online Caregiver Training company-wide to create even stronger synergy in branding themselves as the best place to work and get care.
