When hiring, they generally look within first, Putzier says.
“That doesn’t mean we always have somebody inside for what we have open,” she says. “We look within the industry, and we look outside the industry — if there is a parallel in terms of philosophical and cultural fit, we will teach skills that are necessary.”
Boosting attendance and continuity
Below the management level, recruitment and retention is even more difficult, but no less important.
Putzier says there are 150 other jobs an hourly person could be doing for the same money and the work itself is tough. Therefore, something compelling has to bring employees back every day to a place where senior residents count on seeing the same faces every day.
That’s why retention of hourly workers is probably what they spend the most time on, as it relates to personnel.
“In our industry, everybody says the resident is first,” Putzier says. “And although that’s true, the resident is why we’re there, without the right staff and the right attitude, you will never be able to do what you’re setting out to accomplish.”
At IntegraCare, they reinvent recruitment and retention tools at least quarterly — always trying to understand the struggles of those they employ and what would make their lives better.
“And one of the things we learned pretty early on is what you or I might think would make our life better is not (necessarily) what is going to make their life better,” Putzier says.
For instance, she says every company she’s ever worked for had annual perfect attendance awards. At IntegraCare, they recognize attendance monthly.
Many of the hourly staff are single moms, Irwin says, and when they make it to work regularly, the management team knows that they have tried very hard. So he and Putzier want to recognize that.
This year, Irwin and Putzier are even giving away a new car in every community for workers with perfect attendance. This will be added to various other recognition programs that encourage and engage the workforce.
Irwin says they also ask their customers to help make the communities better places to work, which in turn makes it a better place to live.
“We basically implore our families, the families of our residents, to help us in our endeavor of retention of the hourly team by saying to them, ‘We need you to help us encourage the hourly staff; to help them see the difference that they make, to tell them how much you and your family value the service they provide to your mom and dad,’” Putzier says.
A cut above
IntegraCare seeks to be a cut above in its industry. It may not sound like a lofty goal, but when it comes to implementation, it means more work for comparable pay and benefits.
“When we’re interviewing for a leadership position and we say we’re setting out to be a cut above, there’s nobody who is going to look at you and say that’s not what I want,” Putzier says.
A department head needs to understand how it translates into his or her job.
A maintenance director will have to paint a door jam that’s been banged up by a wheelchair or walker every month, rather than every three years like some senior living communities, she says.
IntegraCare doesn’t want odors at each site, so for housekeeping that can mean more processes, more rounds and even looking at residents’ clothing in their closets.
“So it takes somebody who is wired with that same value system that we have to really plug into that and perform,” Putzier says.
Don’t hide the bad news
“Come work for us, you’re going to do more work” doesn’t sound like the best recruiting strategy, but IntegraCare is looking for people who take pride in intangibles.
