Together With

Good morning.  Here's a story we're all familiar with.  It's 8:00 AM, and you're in front of 10 bright-eyed, or half asleep, new employees on their first day of orientation.  You're playing the part and going through your welcome script while in the back of your mind, you're scanning the room, asking yourself which employees are the "orientation hoppers" and what 4 or 5 smiling faces, if you're lucky, will still be here in three months?

The truth is we have more control over this statistic than we believe.  Today, we sit down with Chris Magleby, CEO of Pinnacle Quality Insight, to hear what his team has learned from surveying thousands of employees during their first 100 days.

We take the interview a step further and turn his insights into actionable tactics you can put into place in your community to boost retention and support the culture you desire.  Our conversation had so much great insight that we're saving part two for next week's newsletter. 

The first 100 days

Chris Magleby grew up in senior living, literally.  As a child, he would help out at his father's SNF's working in the gardens and installing new landscaping.  Since then, he has grown Pinnacle Quality Insights into one of the industry's most trusted firms specializing in capturing and operationalizing employee, resident, and family feedback.  

Question: On the employee side, you really focus on the first 100 days of employment.  Why is that?

Harvard business review did a study looking across every industry in the US looking at the timeframe when most people leave their jobs.  They found there was a big spike around the first anniversary.  After you get past that spike, the turnover rate drops again, and at around the second anniversary, it spikes again.  After this spike, turnover, as a whole, drops off again.

We thought that was interesting and started compiling data specific to the senior living and senior care industry.  We uncovered a completely different story.  There is no peak at one year and two years. And instead, the majority of turnover happens during the first three months.  We found that in long-term care if you can get your employees through that critical first three months, the chances of them leaving go way down.  Pre-pandemic, our industry lost about 30% of new hires during the first 90 days of employment.  We've seen this number rise to 40-60% in some organizations throughout the pandemic.

Key takeaway: It's not uncommon for providers to lose 6 out of 10 employees during their first three months of employment.  You need to know this statistic for your community.  You cannot fix what you don't measure.  Start collecting the data today and share it with your team regularly at stand-up.

Question: As an operator, I see this vicious cycle occur.  You're short-staffed, so you get new team members through orientation and out on the floor as soon as you can, bypassing a good onboarding experience.  Do you see this cycle reflected in the data?

I think you're right.  We've learned that there is a high correlation between tenure and the perception of the quality of training the employee received.  People who rate the training process as poor are newer employees.  Employees who rate the training as higher quality are the more tenured employees.

Key takeaway: A good portion of a new employee's training happens through experience and learning as they work.  Not everyone is willing to stick it out to get that on-the-job training.  Mentorship is critical to the process.  New employees need an experienced team member so they can feel comfortable asking for help or guidance.  

Question: How do we know, in real-time, if an employee is at risk during the first 100 days?

What we do at Pinnacle with our Retain program is new-hire check-in surveys.  We use casual check-ins to ask new employees during this critical time things like how are things going, how has your training been, do you need anything to be better at your job?  We've found that employees who take at least one of our new hire surveys are 50% more likely to make it to day 100.

Key Takeaway: Ask.  Intentional check-ins will give you critical insight into how an employee is doing.  Create a program where your managers take a few minutes to sit down with or call employees throughout their first 100 days.  If they don't respond, you already know they're at risk.  A weekly scheduled touchpoint during the first 30 days is a best practice.

Stay tuned for next week's newsletter to learn more about reducing turnover rates during the first 100 days of employment.  Together, we can be part of the solution.

Tech we love

Together with Pinnacle Quality Insight

We pride ourselves on bringing you solutions that work.  We're thrilled with the results that Pinnacle and their Retain solution are delivering to the industry.  

Retain gives your employees a voice and your leadership team real-time feedback (through quick, text message-driven engagement surveys) to better engage employees, especially during the first 100 days of employment when the chance for turnover is at its highest.

To learn more about their Retain software and how it cuts turnover by up to 65%, reach out to contact@pinnacleqi.com.

Grab your coffee and make it a great day.  We appreciate you and your dedication to your team and residents. -Thank you!