Is staff retention your top priority?

Making sure your staff members feel valued and acknowledged is important in any sector, but especially in aged care. We currently face significant staff shortages and daily challenges the average Australian will rarely encounter in their lives.

A high staff turnover can be damaging not only on a financial level, but also for the workplace environment overall, so it’s essential a strategy that focuses on retaining staff is a primary focus.

Jacky Hopwood, Executive General Manager of People and Culture at aged care provider, Whiddon, and former Assistant In Nursing (AIN) has a passion for leadership in aged care and recognised good leadership can directly correlate to keeping staff happy in their roles. 

Ms Hopwood said it’s always important to focus on keeping staff and creating an environment they want to stay working in, instead of funnelling all energy into attracting new workers to the sector. 

“We’ve seen the figures that get floated around about the cost of recruitment and turnover, so a lot of providers must be focusing on this area because it’s unsustainable to continue to just replace people,” she said. 

“We know people leave organisations because of leadership and their experiences with their direct manager.

“If you can develop those meaningful connections with people, you can engage and reward the people who choose to do this.”

“The benefit that aged care has is we’re not selling widgets, we’re caring for people and it’s actually a privilege.” 

Importance of a staff retention strategy

Andrew Beer, Executive Dean of the University of South Australia’s Business Department, said long-term staff were big assets to a business, particularly in aged care, and highlighted that a team of long-term employees offered signs of stability and quality care to consumers and new staff. 

“Often the consumers of aged care services have no prior exposure to the industry and limited information on which to make a decision,” he said.  

“For many people, a workforce that is seen to be stable suggests a positive culture and a high probability of good care.

“This is fundamental to the sector, it reduces costs and enables businesses to invest additional resources in growing the business and further developing its workforce.”

Ms Hopwood emphasised the importance of a staff retention strategy or program within an aged care business. 

“Part of our retention strategy is looking at root causes,” she explained. 

“We ask ‘why are they leaving, and how can we fix it?’ and ‘What things can we control?’”

Whiddon focused on developing a new leadership program about what leadership looks like for them, based on the company’s values and purpose. 

The program was developed based on feedback from people in leadership roles, people who want to be in leadership roles, and staff. 

Staff feedback, through an ‘Employee Value Proposition’ (EVP) offered insight into what mattered to Whiddon and what it was like to work there, and this set of feedback helped strengthen their staff retention strategy. 

“Everyone who works here goes through the program, from the CEO to frontline leaders,” Ms Hopwood said.

“We now have a suite of strategies put in place to make sure we’re hitting the mark.”

How can you fix retention?

• Look at the root causes of why staff are leaving 
• Establish why they leaving, and what you can fix to prevent this 
• Invest in developing a leadership program for all staff

Putting staff first

When it comes to hiring staff and keeping them, fostering a culture of positive acknowledgement and encouragement is important to make employees feel valued and respected at work.

Mr Beer says happy staff are likely to recommend good-quality staff for vacant roles and a positive relationship between a business and an employee encourages them to go the extra mile.

“When businesses invest in staff, or acknowledge their achievements, the beneficiaries are inclined to go that extra mile for their employer,” he explained.

“This is something all human-centred businesses should strive for – by putting staff first, a business is putting their clients/customers first and that is pivotal to long-term success in a competitive market.”

In the EVP responses, Ms Hopwood was able to see aged care workers and nurses wanted to be heard and recognised, so Whiddon developed more recognition programs to empower frontline workers with a voucher or certificate for doing great as it happens. 

Furthermore, the provider teamed up with a pool of universities to do research surrounding the ‘Design for Care’, which asks people on the frontline how their work day should be set out. 

“If you ask people about their design of work, they’re more likely to be engaged and empowered, psychological injuries are reduced, wellbeing is improved, and they feel equipped to do their job,” Ms Hopwood said.

“It’s time to ask the AINs and Registered Nurses how their work should flow and go on a daily basis.”

Tips on how to keep staff

• Ensure they are listened to and are happy in their roles
• Create an inviting environment they want to stay working in
• Foster a culture of positive acknowledgement and encouragement
• Make them feel valued and respected at work

Aged care providers are doing all they can to address shortages in the sector’s workforce, and focusing on retaining skilled staff has proven to be one way to fill gaps while also giving staff a chance to upskill and feel content at their place of work.