How to hire staff for your assisted living facility or home care agency.

From the time you open the doors to your Assisted Living Facility or Home Care Agency, and throughout the growth of your business, hiring an outstanding staff should be a top priority. It’s important to remember that not only will you want to start out with an amazing staff, but the process of hiring and maintaining a good team is ongoing. Of course, it’s not easy, and is often a time-consuming process with monetary and reputational consequences if you end up making a bad hiring choice.

As a business owner it is important for you, or your hiring manager to take the time to find the right person for the job. In fact, when possible, do not put yourself in a situation where you are so short staffed that you are scrambling to hire and a forced into a bad decision. The right person for the job is not only one who is technically capable, but also a good fit for the company. The most successful Assisted Living Facilities and Home Care Agencies have a hiring process that includes attracting high-quality candidates, a process that takes the time to thoroughly get to know them, and evaluates the candidate in several different qualifying areas. The following are a few more tips to help you build your team and hire the best people for the job and your company.

Start with a great job description Although it makes sense to start with a detailed job description, many care facilities are just so eager to get a post out, that they are not careful in detailing their needs. A bad post can deter great candidates from applying. Many Assisted Living Facilities and Home Care Agencies scare off potential hires with long lists of responsibilities and requirements. While it’s important to get across requirements for the job, remember not to alienate qualified employees by being overly thorough. You can always get into the details during the interview.

Focus on soft skills While the right skill set may seem absolutely crucial to finding the right candidate to fit the role, the truth is, many of the skills required can be learned, however personalities cannot. A major part of working with senior citizens is being able to communicate effectively while also possessing a loving, caring personality.  Those soft skills are priceless in the long run. Be sure to consider all types of skills without becoming pigeonholed into thinking a person requires a specific type of experience or skills. Think more about interpersonal skills, communication skills, thought process and emotional intelligence when making your final hiring decisions.

Check social media profiles Although you might feel like you are stalking the individual or being a bit creepy, checking into a candidates social media profile is absolutely crucial. This is a quick way to do an informal background check and see what comes up about the person. Be sure to Google them too. If you don’t look through their social media profiles, you could be missing some key information about who they are and what kind of employee they will be.

Improve your interview process When you interview your candidate be sure you are not pressed for time and always pay attention to potential red flags from candidates. If you are not confident in your interviewing abilities, consider bringing someone else in to do the interview with you. Having two people interview one person can help get two solid perspectives. After the interview you can collaborate and discuss things that one another may not have seen. The better the interview, the less characteristics about the person – good and bad – will not be overlooked.

Ask the right kinds of questions While you can’t come out of the gate and ask if someone is a jerk or if they are just interested in the job for the money, you can sculpt your questions in such a way that the person will answer these types of questions for you. Besides asking them about their skillset and experience, be sure to ask questions that tell about a person’s drive and ambition. Questions like, “What gets you out of bed in the morning?” and “Where do you see yourself in 5 years?” are a few such questions.

Remember, finding good employees and maintaining a quality staff is hard work. The hiring process should be ongoing as you never know when a current staff member will leave. Always maintain a file of solid resumes of qualified candidates. Also, try to put feelers out and build a network so you never become short staffed. Of course, the more you can keep your current staff happy and satisfied, the less you will have to search for new staff members. Like with any industry, hiring for your assisted living facility or home care agency is no easy task.

In addition to reaching your prospective patients and their families faster, consider using SSMPAS.com to advertise your Assisted Living Facility or Home Care Agency when you are hiring too. We look forward to helping you grow your business! Related Article: How to hire staff for your assisted living facility or home care agency.