Together With

Good morning. One of the most significant lessons learned from the pandemic is that all progress, or lack of progress, leads back to the operator.  It's always been the case, but the last 27 months have removed any doubt.

The fact is, you get $hit done.  No matter what it is, what departments of SMEs it involves, your organization looks directly at you to drive results.  You're here because you answer the call and deliver, time after time.

Remember this fact the next time you're frustrated with the lack of results from others.  Turn the frustration into reflection and quickly decide what you can do differently to help others reach their goals.

This mindset will bring you continued success and more importantly, a lot less frustration.

#ExtremeAccountability

Webinar opportunity 

Be sure to register for the upcoming webinar from our partners at Base 10.  Your clinical team won't want to miss learning about the role nurses, and precision medicine can play in managing cardiovascular disease in the skilled nursing and senior living setting.  I'm impressed with the common sense services Base 10 brings to our industry.  Utilizing a resident's specific genes to determine the most appropriate medication regimen means better resident outcomes, reduced med pass times and decreased pharmacy spending.- The trifecta.  

Elevate your operation 

Speaking of extreme accountability, it's time for operations to take control of the hiring woes plaguing our industry.

Nurses and caregivers are indeed leaving the industry in droves.  Certainly, we cannot compete with the higher wages agencies, and traveling assignments provide.

It's also true that it's all an excuse.

Unless you're reading this from a farm town in Idaho, there are people in your area that would accept your rates and the work you have to offer.

Now take a deep breath before you email me all the reasons I am wrong.  Remember, today, we're taking extreme accountability by ignoring what we cannot control and focusing on what we can.

Once you start digging into your internal process, you will find enough opportunities to keep you busy for a long time.  Resist the urge to use external factors as an excuse, no matter how true and significant they might be.

Lead your team by focusing on what you can control.

Here is what's working for me.  It can work for you too.

Work with your HR partner and leadership team to come each day to your Stand-Up meeting armed to report on these four key metrics.

Key Performance Indicators for hiring

-# of applications (Nurse and CNA or wherever your priorities are) received the day prior

-# of applications we followed up with same-day on the previous day

-# of interviews scheduled from those follow-ups

-# of offers made and accepted in the previous 24 hours.

-Rolling # of new hires we've lost during their first 100 days of employment  (Did you know that turnover in our industry peaks on day 90?)  If we can keep them past day 90, the average length of service is over two years.

Throw it on a spreadsheet and add to it each day, and you quickly see where your pipeline is stuck.  Off #'s cause me to ask the following questions…

-Low applicants --> Where and how are we posting jobs?  Can you find them yourself online?  When is our next scheduled job fair?  Are our rates/sign-on bonus front and center in the ads?  Are our rates market competitive?  How are we pushing referral bonuses?

-Low # of the same day follow-ups --> Do we have a process or a resource issue?  What do we need to change to respond to every application or inquiry within 24 hours or less?

-Low # of interviews--> What's the cause?  Why are applicants declining to interview?  Are we following up quickly enough?  Are managers readily available to interview?  Are we getting the right applicants?

-Low # of offers made and accepted--> Where are we stuck?  Is our HR team empowered to make the offer to land the candidate?

-High turnover in 100 days --> Why did they leave?  What can we learn from the exit interview?  How many 1:1's did the manager have with the employee?  Did we know they were at risk?

In a 3-5 minute conversation each morning, you will uncover hurdles and move the needle.  When we talk about metrics consistently, the accountability goes up, and the needle moves. 

Employee Communication 

It's essential to be transparent with frontline teams where we are with staffing, where we want to be, and how we plan to get there.

Tell them if your goal is to hire 30 employees in 30 days.  Put a scoreboard in an employee-facing area and tally it up each day.  Arm your leaders with the stats each day to share during team huddles and staff meetings.  Gamify it. 

The same goes for referral bonuses.  Make a goal to give away $__ in the next 30 days in referral bonuses.  Set up a tracking board and celebrate with your team as you reach your goal.

The same idea and transparency can go for just about any critical metric.  The teams need to know the plan and how we measure progress.

When we don't communicate our plans, team members will assume nothing is being done.

If you want to see what the ultimate hiring experience looks like and how your organization can improve yours, visit Five Guys career page and see how easy it is to apply for a job and schedule an interview.  It's impressive.  

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