With more than 40 years in healthcare as a provider, and more significantly as a strategic market analyst, consultant Irving Stackpole knows a thing or 300 about your business and the struggles you face. 

So when he talks about things like staffing problems, people tend to listen. Or should.

One of the first keys he emphasized on a recent recruitment and retention webinar, is to work on what IS in your control. Federal spending per capita and a host of societal “isms” (ageism, sexism, racism, etc.) are prime national issues that need fixing. But you’re not going to affect them in the short run.

Instead, focus on listening to and learning from your employees, and then change.

Retention should be your No. 1 goal. Work on keeping what you have, and then get better at it. No. 2 should be a focus on recruiting. If you do No. 1 right, existing employees will be your best weapon for No. 2. Then, everybody wins when you cultivate a better work environment.

“Culture produces relationships,” Stackpole reminded, adding that relationships will determine the work environment, and also whether workers want to stay.

You should be conducting more exit interviews, and truly listening to your departing employees, he added. Also listen to why they stay. What you hear will be ready-made help for your HR department.

After conducting tens of thousands of employee satisfaction surveys and interviews, Stackpole says the No. 1 reason workers leave comes down to a supervisor that “just doesn’t listen,” or convey that they were listening. That’s why Stackpole says leaders need to bone up on empathetic listening.

So even if your legs are tired, your back is aching and your ears are already burning after more than two years of historic pandemic conditions, your mission is clear: Start listening to your existing workforce more. 

And more good news: You can stop throwing incentive money around. Recruitment bonuses — for incoming employees, as well as for referring employees — may be more trouble than they’re worth, Stackpole believes.

Cash incentives are seductive but built on “faulty logic,” he continued. Instead, get the culture right by making changes such as more flexible shifts and better-situated supplies to build trust. It’s not “granted from above,” Stackpole reminded.

In other words, make a point to listen to concerns. Learn. And then change.

From the July/August 2022 Issue of McKnight's Long-Term Care News