ABC Services: Recruitment and Selection Essay

Introduction

ABC Services, whose name has been changed in order to maintain anonymity, is an assisted living facility that offers services to older people and people who need care from a service provider to carry on with their life. The establishment is a fairly large one and has five locations that are spread across the USA. There are a total of about 100 patients in the five facilities who have signed up contracts with the company to get assisted living services.

The Recruitment process

The recruitment practices in the company are fairly simple in that the company places an ad for service providers who are offered a salary and perks that commensurate with the existing norms in the industry. Usually, the company places ads in newspapers, and people apply for the jobs that are provided to them. The company seeks personnel who are committed, can work under pressure, and maintain their emotional balance in severely stressed conditions. Often the people who sign up for the services of the company whom they cater are edgy and may require a lot from the caregiver in terms of commitment as well as patience. Potential employees who apply for the position of caregivers have to go through a strict test before being admitted to the facility.

The most common problem faced by assisted living facilities in the US is paradoxical because the number of assisted living facilities is increasing in the country and the number of personnel required as a staff is also increasing, but center managers are frustrated that the people with the right attitude and dedication are hard to come by. The kind of personnel that is required in these facilities are those with a genuine sense of service and a caring mentality. Anyone who takes up the job because of being curious or as a stopgap arrangement cannot face the pressures that they have to undergo as part of the training as well as the actual work requirements.

The fact that the health care aides employed in an assisted living facility have to have a set of educational as well as personality traits makes them exclusive in the job market. Just about anybody cannot be employed as an aid because this work demands a lot of commitment and the ability to sustain a lot of strain, both mentally as well as physically. Often, employees are required to work in extended shifts, and they may have to do so without adequate rest in between shifts. The environment that most of the employees find themselves also adds to the problem. Most of the employees are in the earlier stages of their life, and it is but natural that their expectations in life regarding their work environment would be something that is entirely different from the atmosphere that is available in the assisted living centers. Remuneration is not a problem because the increase in business and the ever-increasing inflow of members to the center ensures that the employees can be paid competitive salaries. On the other hand, the non-monetary benefits actually decide whether the employee continues in service.

Analysis

Assisted living facilities are, in fact, enjoying a boom time in business and the future prospects for such service-oriented organizations are quite promising, particularly in the US. It is estimated by census studies that by the year 2030, the number of aged people above sixty-five years of age would constitute about 13% to 20% of the population. It is obvious that as the industry grows in size, there would be a corresponding increase in the number of employees that are required for the industry. Industry watchers opine that this has been the fastest growing business in the US in the last decade. In addition, the US Bureau of Labor has predicted that this segment will be among the top ten positions in the next decade, where the rate of job growth will be very high. It is also estimated that there are almost 1.6 million caregivers, and an additional 600,000 would be required by 2011. That would be a requirement of close to one hundred thousand a year. In contrast, the national unemployment rate is estimated at 3.9%, and the employee turnover rate for this segment is 93%, a huge difference when compared to other industries where it is only 10%. These results indicate that:

1. There are no sufficient employees for the health assisted living business
2. The number of employees who drop off after having joined the services is phenomenal. [McGurk, 2000]

Hence, there is a growing lacuna in this business area as far as employment is concerned, and experts are finding means to solve the problem. Evidently, the best possible way to solve the problem is primarily to encourage the existing caregivers to stay on with their jobs. Since an increase in remuneration and direct payment methods have not been found to be successful, there needs to be some other kind of alternate factors in the work environment that would maintain the interest of the employee in this job.

The biggest challenge that the industry experts face is, unfortunately, not a dearth of employees but a shortage of employees with the right profile and mental makeup. Typically, women workers who are in the age group of 25-54 mostly represent the sector, and this age group represents about 89% of the workforce. Most of them belong to the minority population and receive their training only after joining the workforce. The biggest challenge of the assisted living facility is that the job here is both low paying as well as traditionally considered unattractive both in terms of career growth as well as in the amount of strain that the employees have to undergo

These conditions are also similar to the problem that is found in ABC Services. Mostly, those who sign up as service providers belong to minority communities. Many join the facility in order to work until new employment comes by. This shows that the number of committed people is less and that the job does not carry much attraction to the majority population. Even though the firm tries to select its candidates effectively, often there is a high attrition rate in the company, and HR managers in the firm often have to keep searching for new candidates to fill the vacancies.

Employee attraction and retention programs

It is indeed heartening to note that the industry has recognized its mistakes in the past and is certainly making an effort to retain employees in their fold. Statistics show that the turnover rate has come down from 106% back in 1995 to 93% at present. The industry has been quick to change its recruiting strategy and is selecting people who are genuinely interested in the job rather than employing people just to satisfy the demand of the industry.

Caregivers are difficult to keep because of the competition around us. We do have good benefits for the employees, some of which have been with us for 15 years. We have a very good management team and a great administrator. We have insurance, a 401(k) plan, and a retention committee. We have drawings for people who have been here for the whole pay period. They get gift certificates for stores and restaurants. They appreciate that. Every quarter we have an employee appreciation day. We have drawings for gifts and money, and we have a meal for them on payday. We have them share their ideas with others” [Your Opinion Counts, 2003].

The first effort that is needed to retain employees in this sector is to understand that the committed aid workers are very different from ordinary employees, and hence their needs and wants are different. Money is not a big motivator and plays only a secondary role to other factors. The biggest requirement is a positive work culture and ethics that treats employees as team members rather than just employees. The importance of team building and individual responsibility cannot be denied in this area of caregiving. A survey that was conducted on aid workers to find out what they valued most in their workplace gave an insight into the following staffing problems faced by the industry.

• Most people valued a workplace that provided them with some degree of responsibility and respect.
• Many employees valued having a positive relationship with the supervisor
• Almost all emphasized that they also value career advancement on an equal footing as other options. [McGurk, 2000]

Most prospective employees see the job of the aid workers as a dead-end job, which does not afford any career growth. To an extent, this is true because the nature of the industry cannot offer fast growth. Hence, employers are finding it necessary to give employees additional benefits that would make their job more interesting and worthwhile in the end. Some of the non-monetary employee retention techniques that have been tested with varying success rates are:

1. On-site daycare facility that would ensure that the children of the employee are taken care of. Most of the employees are not able to attend work because they have to attend to their children back at home.
2. Part-time employment facilities as well as other modes of employment like weekend work, flexible work timings, etc.
3. Non-monetary benefit packages like insurance, medical care benefits, paid to pick up, schooling facilities, etc.
4. Of late, many companies are ready to offer benefits that would ensure that the employees are able to live a life like other better-paid workers. For example, movie passes, free buffet coupons, entertainment tickets, etc., are being paid to employees to attract them to the job. These facilities, which are given only occasionally, do not become a financial drain on the company. The employees who seek such pleasures occasionally are also happy and consider it as a bonus.

In addition, the staff management processes are also very important to ensure that the employees remain with the firm for a long time. For example, techniques like

• An efficient feedback system that can take care of the employee needs
• Better hiring system that eliminates curious job seekers in the first round. This technique has additional monetary benefits because it takes about $2000-3000 to train employees for this particular job, and if the investment is laid waste, the company has to sustain a loss. As a rule, it is seen that most of the costly benefits that have been found to be very successful in retaining employees in other sectors have been found to be ineffective in this business sector. For example, paying a sign-on bonus does not ensure the retention of the employee in the company.
• Advertising through the local newspapers is not an efficient way to attract talent that is required for such companies. Local ad distribution methods like flyers etc. would help to pass the message to the local neighborhood.
• Better work atmosphere and work ethics that is in tune with the mental frequency of the worker [McGurk, 2000]
• Many companies are also coming up with customized solutions for employee care that are specially designed for various ethnic contents in the work population. This would ensure that the employees are not constrained to fall in line with the majority and can live according to their traditions and culture.

The shortage of nurses is also a problem that is related to the shortage of personnel in the assisted living sector. There are many reasons that prompt nurses to make a rethink their careers. A national survey, prepared by the Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals, found that one in five nurses plan to leave the profession within five years because of unsatisfactory working conditions. The main job concerns with these nurses are understaffed hospitals, underpayment, and tight working schedules. As high as 75% of the surveyed group said that they would reconsider their decision if better working conditions were restored in their hospitals.

Conclusion

It is indeed an irony that a business, which has registered consistent growth, finds it very difficult to attract talent for handling the services they render. Rather than being discouraged by the trend, experts have come together to suggest ways and means that can play a significant role in maintaining employee loyalty in the company. Since the aid workers are different in temperament to the normal workers, only a different set of benefits can attract them to maintain their jobs. It is often seen that the employees in the assisted living industry value non-monetary benefits more than monetary benefits. Since most of the employees in this business sector are from the minorities, customized packages that elicit interest from the different cultural groups should be given more importance. The assisted living industry has so far been considered as a low-level job of maids, and hence there is no much glamour remaining in the industry. At the moment, what is needed is a comprehensive change in mental attitudes, which pays importance to the dignity of labor.

Works Cited

1. McGurk, Jessica. Recruitment and Retention Strategies for Assisted Living Facilities. 2000.
2. Your Opinion Counts. Reader feedback. Assisted living success. 2007. Web.
3. White. D. Ronald. Hospitals Seek Cures for Nurses Shortage 2002.
4. Discovering Assisted Living. 2002.
5. Bianca, Wright. Companies Move toward Eldercare Benefits. 2000.