Welcome to another article in our series on Home Care Jobs. In this series of articles, I discuss office staffing in home care because having a solid office team is so important to your overall success! This third article in the series is devoted to my personal favorite: Human Resources (of course!) Check out the previous articles: Marketing Reps and Schedulers if you haven’t read them yet.
HR managers play a critical role in ensuring high-quality staffing for clients. In home care, the main role of HR revolves around hiring and onboarding new caregivers. But it shouldn’t stop at those functions. HR needs to work collaboratively with Operations/Scheduling and your Nurse. Here’s how.
How HR Managers Are Made
There are many different paths to becoming an HR Manager in home care. Some HR Managers start as Office Managers and evolve towards HR. Others held an HR-minded position and found the opportunity to grow their career by taking on an HR role. Others start as HR Coordinators and grow into the position as the agency grows. They eventually get promoted to an HR Manager. In other words, the path to HR greatness in home care is varied. When recruiting a new HR Manager, look for transferrable skills and HR knowledge rather than specific job titles!
HR Managers in Home Care Means Caregiver Recruitment
The HR Manager is responsible for the overall recruitment process. This includes sourcing candidates on social media, job boards, and in-person activities (e.g. open houses, community events, events in schools). They often conduct the majority of first interviews over the phone or via video. They also represent your agency during the in-person interview. Much of their time is spent on pre-employment requirements, making sure new hires are compliant with drug testing, work reference checks, skills assessments, employment eligibility.
Want to help the HR Manager recruit more caregivers? Use my Ultimate Caregiver Recruitment Checklist with tons of ideas so they don’t have to reinvent the wheel!
The HR function also handles Orientation of new hires and employment compliance requirements (payroll forms and state-specific administrative requirements.)
Any competent HR Manager analyzes the performance of their recruitment efforts by producing weekly and monthly reports. They want to measure performance along the recruitment funnel, from application to first shift. This is a great way to identify what is working and needs tweaking in your recruitment hiring process and talent marketing efforts.
They Are Accountable to Caregiver Retention
HR Managers lead the charge on caregiver retention. They spend so much time, effort, and ingenuity recruiting caregivers. They have a vested interest in making sure they stay! Retention is led by HR and executed by all across the agency. Once we understand how much impact office staff have on caregiver retention, it’s clear that retention is truly everyone’s responsibility. However, the efforts to support the retention activities should be led by the HR Manager in collaboration with other staff members.
Managers Work Hand-In-Hand With Operations
HR Managers are an integral part of an agency’s operations day in and day out.
As soon as a caregiver has gone through Orientation, it’s essential to place them on a case. If not, the recruitment effort could be lost as caregivers easily find another position. HR needs to have a strong hands-off process to make sure new caregivers are scheduled to work within a week.
Good relationships with the Operations side are often nurtured through regular meetings between HR and Ops. This is where the delicate balance between caregivers and clients finds a resolution. Staffing a case is an art where the knowledge of what a client requires and the understanding of who a caregiver comes together. Sometimes we find the perfect match.
HR also gets involved with the Clinical side by organizing in-service training working with the Nurse. Annual evaluation for caregivers is another opportunity for the HR Manager to contribute to staff development and work in concert with your clinicians.
Is your agency growing?
Do you need help finding your next HR Manager?
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