Ep.19: Keeping Your Care Staff: Simple Strategies to Retain Care Staff for 5+ Years

Speaker 1 (00:10):

Hi everyone. This is Linda Ley, chief Clinical Officer from H C P, and you’re joining us for a live edition for Vision, the podcast for leaders and forward thinkers in the care industry today. Boy, we are so lucky to be joined by Michelle Lisk. She’s the c e o of Synergy Home Care of Mid Penn, and Michelle opened her agency in central Pennsylvania in March of 2012. And since that time, synergy has been awarded the H C P Awards for provider and employer of Choice, plus the Leader in Excellence Award for eight consecutive years. Michelle is gonna share her experience with care staff retention, and give you lots of strategies for nurturing your care professionals. Please feel free to share your comments or questions in the chat, and we’ll get to as many questions as possible before the end of the session. If we miss yours, we’ll try to reach out afterwards and get a answer for you. So I’m excited to dig into this topic. So, Michelle, welcome to the podcast.

Speaker 2 (01:06):

Well, thanks for having me, Linda. Okay, everyone happy? You’re having a good day. It’s

Speaker 1 (01:11):

Our pleasure to have you. And you know, Michelle, when we heard that you, that the employee who cared for your very first client in 2012 is still on your team, we knew we needed to talk to you. Can you tell us a little bit more about that employee?

Speaker 2 (01:27):

Yeah, it’s, it’s pretty amazing actually. And it was my first client and it was a 24 7 client right off the bat. So I was there being a caregiver as well. And she would work during the days, I would work during the nights, and we had some other caregivers with us too, but Kathy is still with us and doing care just like she always has. So yeah, we’re, we’re very fortunate. That’s,

Speaker 1 (01:56):

That’s amazing. But it’s my understanding, she’s not a unicorn, right? I mean, you, she’s not a one in a million. You have other long-term employees.

Speaker 2 (02:06):

I do. Most, most of my, you know, other than like your newer staff, but the staff’s I have, I have seven years, eight years, nine, 10. I mean, when we go, when I host Squirrelly trainings and we go around the room and tell, have everybody say their name and how long they’ve been here, it just really amazes me that What’s that?

Speaker 1 (02:30):

A reminder, you probably forget ’cause time kind of flies. Right. And forget it.

Speaker 2 (02:34):

It does. And sometimes they’ll look at me and I’ll, I’ll say, don’t <laugh>. I don’t know. Like, you know, sometimes I don’t even remember what day it is, but Well, yeah. It’s, it is really amazing. And, and when they do that, it just really newer people that are at the training just like, wow, this must be really good company to work for. And it’s great to hear direct care workers say, you know, yes, you, this is what you will see. This is what you get. So,

Speaker 1 (03:09):

Yeah. That’s another incredible. So if you were gonna summarize your retention strategy to, to have all these folks that have been there for years and years in one word, what would that word be?

Speaker 2 (03:20):

Gratitude. You know? Yeah. Gratitude. And I’m just so very thankful and show them that gratitude constantly, or I try to, and I hope they see it. And, and I, I really think they do.

Speaker 1 (03:34):

You know, I agree with you, gratitude, you know, it can be a powerful way for all of us just to live our lives, right. To approach our lives. But how, you know, why has it been the secret, do you think, to your successful retention at your agency?

Speaker 2 (03:46):

They need to know how important they are. I mean, let’s face it, without them we would be nowhere. Hmm. And you know what? They, they’re in it because they care. They’re not in it just for a paycheck. Mm-hmm. And, and you can tell that, and you can tell how they go above and beyond every day with their clients. And there’s things that you don’t even know that they’re doing until, you know, you go out to visit with the clients, see how things are going, and they’ll say, oh yeah, this so and so, you know, did this for me today and brought me a cup peak yesterday was my birthday. You know, so they really do go above and beyond. They’re a backbone, and we wouldn’t be here without ’em. And I just try to show them that every day. That

Speaker 1 (04:32):

Just really resonates with me. And I’m sure it does with the audience as well, especially, you know, we all know how important those first 100 days are of

Speaker 2 (04:40):

Employment, right?

Speaker 1 (04:40):

Yes. So what are your, some of your tried and true methods for ensuring that you’re gonna keep people during that, that a hundred days? So

Speaker 2 (04:49):

I think it starts out with our, even our, at our interview process, you know, showing them how much we appreciate them and what we’re going to do for them. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, you know, more so like, are they, they’re interviewing us maybe Yeah. For a job and well, they

Speaker 1 (05:07):

Have choices, right?

Speaker 2 (05:08):

They do. They do. And so from day one, we just show them right then, you know, how much we appreciate them, tell them what all we do for appreciation, um, and orientation. You know, they come in for a full day orientation in the office and everybody in the office meets with them and talks to them. And we all make sure that we say, we’re here for you. We’re a so long way, you know, and to thank you and welcome them to our team. And it really goes a long way. The lunch that we buy them doesn’t help or hurt either. You know, that food always helps, but, you know, they’re just very appreciative that we talk about communication and we know you’re out there by yourself at a shift. You know, we don’t want you to feel alone, so we can be reached 24 7, you know, somebody from the office and they appreciate that as well.

Speaker 1 (06:13):

Absolutely. I, I would think whether they’ve got 10 years experience under their belt or they’re coming to you fresh, knowing that that kind of communication exists is, is really powerful.

Speaker 2 (06:22):

Yeah. Yep. Yeah. So some of the other stuff we do too is our quarterly trainings. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, we do a lot of fun stuff for them at the trainings. You know, one time we had a baked potato bar, we did wear your favorite sports team, and then we had drawings of who, you know, dressed up the best and things for Halloween. And we always have door prizes and just breaking out into groups with each other too, just to get to know each other and talk and, you know, their thoughts too, I think helps.

Speaker 1 (06:58):

So do you have sort of a recognition budget wine item on your budget for this kind of thing?

Speaker 2 (07:04):

So we, yes, I do on a, because typically quarterly I giveaway roughly about $1,500 worth in gift cards that the caregivers earn through Synergy bucks. And I started that, I don’t know, maybe eight, nine years ago. And, and it’s still going strong and, and they love it and they accumulate them monthly just for showing up to their shift and no late notices. But then they also get them for picking up extra shifts. But more importantly, when a caregiver gets a compliment, whether it be from one of the office staff or a client, or even another caregiver, we are sure to call them, might not always be me, but it is somebody from the office staff and it turns in, you know, where we give them that compliment and mm-hmm. <affirmative>, they just, they like that as much as they get the synergy box.

Speaker 1 (08:06):

I’m sure

Speaker 2 (08:06):

They do enough,

Speaker 1 (08:08):

So,

Speaker 2 (08:08):

Yeah. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (08:09):

They, they don’t hear enough praise, you know, it’s, uh, yeah. Right,

Speaker 2 (08:14):

Right.

Speaker 1 (08:14):

That’s really important. What about with new employees? Do they have a mentor? How do you handle that? Something?

Speaker 2 (08:21):

So after they do orientation, they go out and yes, they shadow with another caregiver that has been here a while, and they walk ’em through the process of, you know, even from clocking in and clocking out and how to enter your care notes and just talking to them about communication mm-hmm. <affirmative>, you know, because we’re real big on that. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> communicate with us and, and if a couple shadows, we do up to 10 hours, but if it isn’t enough for them, we will do more if we, you know, if we think they need that. So,

Speaker 1 (09:01):

And you know, I’m sure that some people are thinking, well that’s, you know, I can’t spare somebody else to shadow, you know, to, to have two people on one client for 10 plus hours. But what do you think that saves you in the long run?

Speaker 2 (09:13):

I think that helps with the retention because there’s people that don’t feel comfortable right away going out by themselves. And when they see somebody else interacting with the clients and talking to the clients and knowing what to do, I just think they feel more comfortable. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. And then in the long run, you have them on your team longer than a turnover in three months, four months.

Speaker 1 (09:43):

Right. And having to start all over again. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Didn’t you tell me something about and try to mentor or, or have them shadow with a relatively new employee and then a seasoned one, so they kind of see the difference in how they interact?

Speaker 2 (09:58):

They do, yeah. I mean, not maybe all the time because on their scale

Speaker 1 (10:03):

Try to hard to Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2 (10:05):

And things. But, uh, yes, they, they really do

Speaker 1 (10:09):

Try, try to give them a little variety on who they’ve see, who they see,

Speaker 2 (10:13):

And we try to send them to different scenarios and clients as well. You know, they have that experience

Speaker 1 (10:21):

Such, such an important aspect of orientation that I think gets, gets overlooked a lot of times. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>.

Speaker 2 (10:26):

Yeah.

Speaker 1 (10:27):

And in a rush to staff cases, which I totally get. Yeah. But so how, how do you balance that? How do you balance the need to, you know, staff your cases quickly with, with really orienting people properly? It,

Speaker 2 (10:41):

That’s the tricky part because, well, and even in our state, it’s hard because we are mandated to have a full two-step TV test before they can even go out to a client mm-hmm. <affirmative>. So we do try like to do the orientation process as far as in the office, you know, while they’re doing their two-step tv mm-hmm. <affirmative>, and, you know, and we’re paying for that TB test up front mm-hmm. <affirmative>. So you want them to stay, you don’t wanna lose them, so you need to keep them, you know, engaged type things and

Speaker 1 (11:18):

Excited. Right. It

Speaker 2 (11:19):

Take, it can take three to four weeks sometimes for an employee to get started.

Speaker 1 (11:25):

Well, it sounds like it’s worth it in the long run. I mean, you’re, it’s, it’s paying off for you for sure. Yes. You know, I know you mentioned that you were a caregiver way back in the beginning and even maybe prior to that, I think I remember. How do you think

Speaker 2 (11:37):

That

Speaker 1 (11:38):

Your own experiences as a direct care worker has impacted your approach to, to gratitude focused leadership now that you have your agency?

Speaker 2 (11:47):

Right. Well, I mean, when you’re out there doing the care yourself and you see what your employees are going through mm-hmm. <affirmative>, and you can see, you know, how they can get frustrated, uh, you know, with dementia patients, you know, that are constantly needing redirected and you know that that can be stressful.

Speaker 1 (12:13):

Absolutely.

Speaker 2 (12:14):

I see where they come from, you know, doing that. I know what they went through and what they’re going through. So we really do try the understanding with them and you know, and that’s why we tell them we’re here. You need us, we’re here, call us. You know, so we shouldn’t help. And we talk to them about that. Oh, we get it. We understand. It’s not that we don’t understand what you’re going through. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, everybody in my staff office staff will go out and do care and well, and help a caregiver. That’s

Speaker 1 (12:50):

Really impressive.

Speaker 2 (12:51):

Yes. They need help. They will go out, we’ll go out and help them. Mm-hmm.

Speaker 1 (12:56):

<affirmative>. And it, it also, you know, like you say, it gives everyone in your office that perspective. Yeah. So that when a caregiver calls in with a mm-hmm. <affirmative> an issue they’re having, they don’t just blow it off and say, well that caregiver’s in a bad mood today. Or, you know, right. I’m trying to deal with that, or whatever. They get it. Mm-hmm.

Speaker 2 (13:15):

<affirmative>. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (13:17):

Yeah. That’s really an awesome approach. You know, as you know, Michelle, in our 2023 H C P benchmarking report care employees who were surveyed about their satisfaction with their workplace, they ranked staff appreciation at the lowest level. So it seems like there’s some disconnect, you know, with how appreciation is being given. It’s just not resonating always with employees. So what are some of the more successful methods? I know you’ve mentioned some of the sports day and stuff, but what are some other things that you need to foster that cultural gratitude?

Speaker 2 (13:51):

So one thing we do as well is we do a weekly Facebook post on a caregiver and asking them questions like, what’s your hobbies? You know, uh, a little bit about them. And they loved that and they loved being recognized and, you know, put on Facebook like that. And, and then we also ask ’em some questions in regards to the job too. You know, what was your best experience? And, you know, what is one of the things you would tell a new caregiver coming to one and things like that. So they really do love that. We’ve also done, again, crazy things. Like we do a week of caregiver appreciation at the end of the year where they come in, we have cookies, a hot chocolate bar with all kinds of topp beans. They come in and get their yearly appreciation gift and you know, they can bring their kids in on, on like, Valentine’s Day, we do a, a candy bar. And they just love doing that. Bringing their kids in and saying, oh, this is my BO and oh sucks. Just stuff like that we do. And that just gives us touches as well with the caregivers. I mean, because it’s so remote on what we do and it’s hard to see them. So we try to interact with them as much as possible and get to know them. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>,

Speaker 1 (15:17):

How about benefits? How have you approached benefits over the years?

Speaker 2 (15:21):

So I have, we’ve for a long, long time have always offered like Aflac supplementals and things like that. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, we do offer health insurance now and vision and dental that they have access to. And that has really what we’ve seen brought actually employees on board since we started offering them. I can’t say that a lot of our older employees started the health benefits, but I think because they had to have other health benefits. Right. You know, so, but it has helped with employee mm-hmm. <affirmative>,

Speaker 1 (16:02):

That’s for sure. Getting new staff. Yeah. Yeah. That makes sense. Yeah. And you mentioned your synergy bucks and Yeah. And re gift cards.

Speaker 2 (16:10):

Yeah. We do the e a P program for them mm-hmm. As well. Good.

Speaker 1 (16:15):

Oh, and you pay, you said you pay for those initial, I know not every agency pays for, say, a TB test or the background checks. Now we handle those.

Speaker 2 (16:24):

We pay for all of that. Mm-hmm.

Speaker 1 (16:26):

<affirmative> and how much, I know that, you know, the fear is always, well, you know, this person’s gonna get all this stuff and then they’re gonna leave before they start providing kids. So how, how has that worked out for you? Do you see that happen very often?

Speaker 2 (16:42):

No, I think if we’re going to not retain them, it’s before even orientation, you know, so we, so they do get their first TB test and, and sometimes they will have orientation before they’re second. Mm-hmm. But sometimes they have their second before they come in for orientation. It just varies on schedules and, and things. But I think, you know, looking back and I’d have to look at, you know, my statistics and that, I think we lose more before between the interview and orientation of, so maybe they’ve interview

Speaker 1 (17:20):

Multiple into multiple jobs and

Speaker 2 (17:22):

Yeah. And I think they just maybe thought, well, this might not be, you know, a thing I wanna do mm-hmm. <affirmative>,

Speaker 1 (17:31):

Well, this other agencies closer to my home, or whatever the case may be. Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2 (17:35):

Yeah. So I

Speaker 1 (17:38):

Also pay,

Speaker 2 (17:39):

Besides travel time, which we have to legally, I also pay mileage and clients. Okay.

Speaker 1 (17:45):

That’s, that’s wonderful. And what about training? Do you pay for that? Yeah. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (17:51):

Yep. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (17:52):

Anything else that you can think of on, on your, I bet holidays are a big time, like you said, Halloween and

Speaker 2 (17:58):

Yeah.

Speaker 1 (17:59):

You probably make a big fuss at, at holiday time. We

Speaker 2 (18:02):

Do, but we also have to be mindful with some of our employees that don’t celebrate. Well, it’s true. And things too. So that’s why we try to label it different things, you know, like seasonal

Speaker 1 (18:16):

Or

Speaker 2 (18:16):

Yeah. You know, caregiver appreciation week mm-hmm. <affirmative> instead of, you know, come in for Christmas cookies and a hot chocolate bar. Yeah. So we do, you know mm-hmm. <affirmative> trying to do that. But we ha we are tr mindful

Speaker 1 (18:32):

Culturally. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That’s, that’s excellent. Yeah. Well, you know, it’s certainly no secret to you or to the, to the people listening that, you know, the post-acute care industry right now is going through probably the worst care staff shortage in

Speaker 2 (18:46):

History. Yeah. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (18:47):

So what advice would you give to providers who are struggling to recruit new staff, let alone retain them? I,

Speaker 2 (18:55):

I think being upfront and telling them, you know, that this is what we

Speaker 1 (19:00):

Expect

Speaker 2 (19:01):

And it, we expect that communication and we, you are going to get so much from us, from the clients, but this is what we offer and we don’t stop doing that. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. And I think we just, I think some of the direct care workers, they’ll say, yeah, that’s what they all say upfront, you know, um, we actually do follow through with it, and you have to just continue that gratitude mm-hmm. <affirmative> mm-hmm.

Speaker 1 (19:32):

<affirmative>. Do you, how about folks say right outta high school or, you know, younger folks that are coming on board, do you handle them any differently? Or how do we do?

Speaker 2 (19:43):

I mean, we have to hold your hands. Some, you know, um, especially since like Covid and they weren’t in school a lot, and just some of the social skills and things. You, you, you talk to them and we call it handholding and that probably might not be the right words, but there are some that you have to talk with and just encourage and say, Hey, we know you got this. We know you can do it. Mm-hmm. And you know, there, there was a girl that was right out of high school, she’s been with me now two years, and that she was constantly, you know, being late and not calling when she’s going to be late. And the, but the clients loved her, so it’s like, you know, we need to talk to her. You know, we bring her in and, you know, we talk to her, she’d be good. And then, you know, it, we go through a little rough patch again. But then you turn around and you bring her in again. I did at one point, she actually didn’t show for her shift. She overslept and it was like two hours. And so she, we let her go. Mm-hmm. And she actually came into the office two weeks later with her head down and she’s been with me now like, like I said, for two years. And she’s phenomenal. And the clients still love

Speaker 1 (21:07):

Her. And if you had given up on her, you would be missing out on a, on an amazing Yeah,

Speaker 2 (21:12):

Yeah.

Speaker 1 (21:13):

Employee. Right. Yeah. You know, it’s kind of my belief that that for some direct care workers, the guidance that you agency administrators give them maybe the only career advice that they’re getting from, from anywhere. Right. Right, right. And so I think, you know, that plus I know you teach some life skills and mm-hmm. <affirmative>, I think that’s, that’s really important.

Speaker 2 (21:36):

Yeah. Yeah. Some figures that I’ve done also that the employees love is, you know, we brought in a bank and they did programs on budgeting and we tried to coordinate it when we have our training. So they’re here at the office. ’cause I mean, we’re very rural area and it takes some people an hour and a half, half to get to our office.

Speaker 1 (22:03):

Oh wow.

Speaker 2 (22:04):

And so, you know, that’s hard for them to run in for like an hour budgeting. But we parent during training and things like that, we come and they, they love that we’ve done security issues, cybersecurity, goodness. I can’t think of all the different programs that we’ve had that they’ve come in for. And that, that’s always a good feedback that we get from that.

Speaker 1 (22:34):

I bet. I bet. So do you offer any bonuses? We

Speaker 2 (22:37):

Do signin and referral.

Speaker 1 (22:39):

Okay. Okay. And are there any bonuses along those first a hundred days? Or is that what <crosstalk> Yeah. Yeah. Okay. So you, do you split it up or?

Speaker 2 (22:50):

We do, it’s 30 days and then 60 days.

Speaker 1 (22:53):

Okay. So what do you think, I mean, and I, this is just spontaneous questions, so I don’t know, you probably don’t have the stab, but just approximately how many do you lose before the 30 days? And if they stay to the 60, do you feel like okay we’ve we’ve got

Speaker 2 (23:08):

Yeah, I, yes. Yeah. A 60. Again, like I said, I think most of ’em are, you’re gonna lose in that time. It does take them so long to get started. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> with the tb, I just feel we lose so many mm-hmm. <affirmative> before that orientation part even comes. And

Speaker 1 (23:30):

That’s a state regulation. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (23:33):

Yeah.

Speaker 1 (23:33):

So to avoid that, they’d have to go outside of healthcare. Yes. Right. It’s not unique to your agency. Right. Yeah. Yeah. Right. Interesting. How do you handle people who do call it, I know you have a lot of, again, it sounds a bit demeaning, but you know, the carrot versus the stick. You have a lot of carrots built in with your recognition and your appreciation. Are there any sticks that you use or, or do you stick mainly to the positive reinforcement, positive appreciation.

Speaker 2 (24:01):

So I have my policies and they know the policies. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> and they know upfront. I’m very honest with them upfront. And I say communication will get you so far in this office because that’s what we need to hear. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, you know, we expect you to be calling the office if you’re running late to a shift. And if that’s something that you are continuously, besides not just running late but not calling us. Yeah, no. They know. And yeah, we do have a policy where, you know, you could get a written reprimand depending on what it is. You could probation. And they know that. And when they come in to sign the paper,

Speaker 1 (24:47):

They’re like,

Speaker 2 (24:48):

I know. And they, they will hold their head down because they do, you know, they, they,

Speaker 1 (24:55):

They wanna live up. They wanna live up to your ex account. They do.

Speaker 2 (24:58):

They really do. So yeah, I mean, I, because I mean, we’re taking care of clients and we can’t just not show up for them. So you do have to hold ’em accountable, you know, I think you need to show them and understand where they’re coming from too.

Speaker 1 (25:16):

Meet them where they are and, and not come down hard at the first defense and Yeah.

Speaker 2 (25:22):

Yeah.

Speaker 1 (25:22):

For sure. Yeah. You know, if you had to sum up some things up and give like one or two words of wisdom or action steps to owners or administrators who would like to add more gratitude to their company culture, what would you say? It’s

Speaker 2 (25:37):

Constantly, you know, every email I send out, I always say, thanks for all you do for your client and our synergy team. And I include that in emails. Like even when I’m addressing it, good afternoon, synergy team, you know, hope everyone’s having a good day. And it just makes them feel that they are a part and they are, you know, again, what I said early on, they’re your backbone if you don’t have them, you’re <inaudible>. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. And they just like feeling like they’re part of the team.

Speaker 1 (26:14):

Little mm-hmm. <affirmative>.

Speaker 2 (26:16):

So, yeah. Well,

Speaker 1 (26:17):

Let’s look at, if there’s a few comments and questions, let’s look at that. I see Darcy Davis right at home is asking, how do you handle e a p? Do they have to be signed up for health benefits?

Speaker 2 (26:28):

No, the e a P program I have is I pay a yearly fee for it and they get a flyer during orientation. And when I send out reminders, I always remind them, Hey, we have the e A P, then they can call for financial advice. They can call for, you know, mental health and it’s all anonymous. I don’t know, I do know it’s used mm-hmm. <affirmative>. ’cause I, you know, as an employer, you have to make sure you’re not just paying for something and it’s not getting used. I getting used. I know it is because I, you know, contact the company that I go through and they say, yes, you know, all is on such and such, but I know nothing of the name or the content. That’s such

Speaker 1 (27:15):

An important benefit.

Speaker 2 (27:16):

Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1 (27:18):

Yeah. Especially now that, you know, the, the, the, the stigma about, you know, mental health or stress or other issues that anyway has, has diminished somewhat and bmware willing to reach out for assistance. Yeah,

Speaker 2 (27:32):

Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1 (27:33):

Yeah. Jen in his as is saying, we tried doing the gift cards, but turns out we need to report that as income for the caregiver. How do you handle that?

Speaker 2 (27:42):

You, you do. And then you know, you’re paying the tax and that too. So, I mean, that’s just part of what you have to do. But the caregivers, you know, they love it and you know, I think they love the fact that they get the synergy bucks more <laugh> than they actually do the gift card and the compliments. I mean, they, they love it when they get phone call calling them and telling them, Hey, your client called in today and they just wanted us to know what you did for them. And they appreciate it and we appreciate it. And I think that’s, you know, the big thing. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (28:22):

How do you, how do you run the Synergy Bugs program? I mean I, I I assume it’s not Monopoly money since some people live so far away. So

Speaker 2 (28:30):

No, it’s not actually I have a stack of it behind me because if it’s everywhere, but yeah. So it’s, it looks just like this.

Speaker 1 (28:39):

Okay.

Speaker 2 (28:40):

And they accumulate it. We keep a running total and anytime they come into the office they can pick it up, they can choose to hold onto it or they can turn it in then. And you know, was it last Christmas, I think somebody saved up all their Synergy bots and they ended up getting over, uh, $3 worth of gift cards that they used for Christmas gifts. Oh

Speaker 1 (29:07):

Wow. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (29:09):

Meant so much to them. So, you know, recording that is, you know, I think is fine with them. It also may be a way of savings for them. Mm-hmm.

Speaker 1 (29:19):

<affirmative>. So you record it when you give the gift card. Yeah. Yeah. So Yeah. Yeah. Let’s see, someone else asked the same question there. Um, Vicki wants to know, can you describe how you pay mileage? Is the commute to the office or first visit excluded from paid mileage? And then conversely the commute home from the office or the last visit excluded. Okay.

Speaker 2 (29:41):

So I don’t pay mileage to their first shift of the day. But if they have several shifts, which a lot of the caregivers do during the day, they get mileage paid with that travel time. Okay. So they don’t get paid the mileage back home from their last shift. Mm-hmm.

Speaker 1 (30:00):

<affirmative>, that’s just to and from work. Like, just like

Speaker 2 (30:03):

Right. Exactly. And I mean, it’s, like I said, we’re very rural so when, you know, you

Speaker 1 (30:11):

Can add up I guess,

Speaker 2 (30:12):

But yes. Yeah. Yes it does actually. Yeah. And our software system s that for us, so.

Speaker 1 (30:18):

Wonderful. That makes it a lot easier to might

Speaker 2 (30:23):

Yeah.

Speaker 1 (30:24):

Darcy commented, expectations are so important. Most people raise to rise to the expectation. That’s absolutely true. You know, they’ll form the way you expect them to perform most cases, right? Yeah. Yeah. Uh, Marie Claire says, hello, I’m the palliative care nurse from Lebanon. I would like to ask if we’re gonna receive the recording, I’m not able to follow the session. Yes. We are recording it and we’ll send it out to everyone who justed for it for this session. Vicki, our agency transition to QU on TB blood tests for TB screening due to the challenges with the two TB skin tests. So we

Speaker 2 (31:01):

Are looking into that, but what we’re finding is then we have to have a doctor that write each script to go to, um, to take it to the lab. So our urgent cares around here have not started that yet.

Speaker 1 (31:18):

Okay.

Speaker 2 (31:18):

So you have to go to a lab to have that done. So we’re really looking into it and we’re really pushing urgent care that we go through now. ’cause they’re all over my territory that, to try to get that. Mm-hmm. Because, you know, I don’t have a doctor that is gonna write the scripts.

Speaker 1 (31:37):

She says we use LabCorp and have standing orders from the medical

Speaker 2 (31:41):

Director. That’s good to know. Thank you.

Speaker 1 (31:43):

I love it. I love it when people share information that that can help everybody. Thanks Vicki.

Speaker 2 (31:49):

Yes. Because we checked into our labs around here and I don’t know where lab, if there is one around here. I’ll, I’ll dig into it though.

Speaker 1 (31:59):

Sabrina asks, how is that determined in how much bucks they receive? Is there a guideline on how you are rewarding them with it? So we

Speaker 2 (32:08):

Sort of, in the office, I if the, we, you know, the guidelines for getting so much a month for, you know, late notices and no call offs and things is set. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, they get 10 bucks for each of those. So they start out with 20. And then for picking up shifts, they might get five to 10 depending on, you know, the urgency of the shift that we needed to get filled. Okay. Same with the compliments. We sort of use our own discretion mm-hmm. <affirmative>, but it’s typically, you know, a $10 synergy

Speaker 1 (32:42):

Bucks. Okay. Now, does, does every employee receive some synergy bucks, would you say? During, uh, a quarter or a month or, yeah.

Speaker 2 (32:51):

Oh yeah. Yeah. Especially if they’re doing what they’re supposed to be doing and Yeah. And, and things definitely. They usually, you know, if we don’t hear from clients about some of the caregivers in that, that also triggers us that we need to reach out and see how things are going. And

Speaker 1 (33:10):

That’s a really important point. The silence, right? <laugh> Yeah. The lack of communication. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (33:18):

Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1 (33:20):

Yeah. Gotta gotta focus on that. Vanessa interested in Washington state. She also has the two BTB requirement. Most people know this and have it and it’s not an issue. Those already have it. Okay. Those that don’t, we will pay for it and have them get that complete before their first schedule shift. So she’s kind of in the same boat.

Speaker 2 (33:40):

Yes.

Speaker 1 (33:41):

Yeah.

Speaker 2 (33:42):

Okay. Somebody, yeah. Vicky. Yes. I guess how many caregivers I have, I call,

Speaker 1 (33:47):

I missed that one. Sorry. Yes, sorry Vicky. That’s okay. I

Speaker 2 (33:49):

Currently have a hundred little over a hundred.

Speaker 1 (33:53):

Well that’s, that’s a lot of wonderful growth from, from you and that into your first <inaudible>. Who helps you do that? 24 7 Joey. Right? Yeah. That’s wonderful. Do we, we have time for a few more questions if anybody wants to type something in. In the meantime, we’ve got a few questions of ours too. So one thing that I wanted to ask you, Michelle, before we get to those polls, well, no, let’s start the poll first. The, the data shows clearly that employees who participate in satisfaction surveys are 65% less likely to leave their workplace. So I’m asking all of you out there, would you like to learn more about how H C P can help you retain satisfied employees long-term? So please just take a moment to answer this question on the screen. And while we’re running it, Michelle, you utilize satisfaction surveys for your staff, right?

Speaker 2 (34:44):

I do.

Speaker 1 (34:45):

Can you tell everybody what you have gained from using employee, uh, action surveys?

Speaker 2 (34:51):

That’s when I started implementing the Synergy books. When I started the satisfaction survey, uhhuh, we were like, they felt like they weren’t getting recognized and that was the biggest thing that we saw. They would just like to know they’re appreciated and, you know, always thought that I did appreciate ’em, but by words. But I think they also lean needed something else for physical, you know, to put behind it and, and things. And um, and you

Speaker 1 (35:21):

Wouldn’t have known that if you hadn’t Not satisfaction. No,

Speaker 2 (35:26):

No. We implemented the more like the shadowing. Mm-hmm. Um, because they said they needed more training mm-hmm. <affirmative> and not just sitting and, you know, over some videos and doing several courses. You know, Pennsylvania, you can take a test and just send anybody out there. Right. You know, and then you don’t have to have the videos in in that. But when I first started, what I would do is I had met every new caregiver and, excuse me, at their first shift and I stayed with them for a couple hours. Well, I quickly also, I couldn’t do that. You know, you

Speaker 1 (36:07):

Have not scale. Yeah. <laugh> as

Speaker 2 (36:10):

So I do have, you know, a person that does still go and meet them and, you know, even with the shadows, that if we think it’s gonna be a case where, you know, we definitely need to meet the caregiver out there, we’re there with them and you know, meeting them with the family and stuff. So yes, the survey has showed us a lot and we implemented a lot because of the surveys.

Speaker 1 (36:38):

Good to know. We have a couple of questions that have come in. What platform do you use for your employee satisfaction surveys?

Speaker 2 (36:44):

The Activated Insights.

Speaker 1 (36:45):

And that was from Vicki. Zoe wants to know we have issue with just finding good caregivers. Any recommendations?

Speaker 2 (36:52):

That’s tough. It is really tough. And I mean, we’ve even been going through that too, to find the good caregivers. And you have a

Speaker 1 (37:00):

Referral program, don’t you, for your I

Speaker 2 (37:02):

Do.

Speaker 1 (37:03):

Yeah, I do.

Speaker 2 (37:03):

And that, that helps a lot too.

Speaker 1 (37:06):

Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, didn’t you tell me that? Sometimes they’re scared that their friends won <laugh> to, to their standards.

Speaker 2 (37:13):

<laugh>. That, that sometimes they’ll be like, now I have this person, but you know, I’m afraid to send it because I’m afraid that, you know, they might mess up and then that looks bad on me. I said, we don’t hold that against you, you know, and things, but usually the people that are current caregivers are ringing to us are great because they know what, that they’re work, they could be working with their client at some time and they want their client taken care of, you know, so yeah. I think it, that’s, you know, a good resource there to get caregivers.

Speaker 1 (37:49):

And we’ve got, you can feel free to type any more questions in the meantime. We’ve got one more little poll for you. Would you like to learn more about Synergy Home Care? You’ll see another poll pop up on your screen. You know, I really love Synergy’s mission. Michelle. I, I read it on the website. I’m gonna read it to bring wholehearted life energizing care to as many people as possible on their own terms, in their own homes, no matter their situations. And it sounds like you and your team really live that mission. Oh, thank you so much for being here today and for sharing so many great tips. Obviously our audience has really appreciated them as well. And, um, you know, I think kind of what I’m hearing from you is that if you focus on the little things, is that, is that what I’m hearing? That you can get really tremendous results? Yeah,

Speaker 2 (38:37):

I think so. I focus on the little things and focus on showing them how much you do appreciate them by telling them every time you see them, you know mm-hmm.

Speaker 1 (38:48):

<affirmative> and a little thing like a candy bar or a hot chocolate bar. I mean, that’s not any big thing, but if you do enough of those little things through the year mm-hmm. <affirmative>, they, they really add up. Yep.

Speaker 2 (39:01):

They do.

Speaker 1 (39:01):

They really Well. You can see on your screen too, if you’d like a free copy of a resource for proven methods to reduce new higher turnover, please feel free to answer that poll. And in the meantime, Michelle, if people wanna get in touch with you and chat with you more about this, what’s the best way for them to get,

Speaker 2 (39:18):

Um, email would be the best. I email’s very simple and it’s also on our website, but Michelle Lisk, m i c h e l l e l i s k@synergyhomecare.com.

Speaker 1 (39:30):

Okay. And I can be most easily reached on LinkedIn to look for my name. Linda Lely, l e e k l e y. Thank you all so much for joining us today. If you have a story that you’d like to share on vision, you can find our guest submission form@homecarepulse.com slash podcast. And then you can also find our previous episodes there or on any of your, your favorite podcast listening platforms. And again, thank you all for taking time to join us. And Michelle, thank you for, for your wisdom. You’re welcome. And good lunch. Great

Speaker 2 (40:03):

Being here. Thank you. Well.