This article is sponsored by HCP. In this Voices interview, Home Health Care News sits down with Kristen Duell, Chief Marketing Officer of HCP, to learn the strategies that home health providers can use right now to improve staff engagement, not just with the aim of keeping staff members in their own hospice agencies, but more broadly in the industry at large.

Home Health Care News: Kristen, what career experiences do you most draw from in your role today?

Kristen Duell: It’s from the bottom to the top. I started out in this industry as a volunteer at a hospital as a unit assistant and then became a non-clinical aid out in the field at a home care agency. Those two experiences are what I draw on as a leader now in this industry.

I think it’s important to remember what it’s like to live paycheck-to-paycheck. I think it’s important to remember what our caregivers go through, the emotional stressors that are out there, and being able to help them with that through your leadership and your approach.

What hacks are home health agencies missing that they could use to improve staff engagement?

Duell: I think it boils down to three main areas: process, communication, people. If you have strong processes in place that drive great communication, that allows you to focus your energy and time on investing into your people. That means more than pay. I don’t think the hack is “pay more money,” and then that’s just it. People do want to be able to make more than just enough to live paycheck to paycheck, but it’s also important to provide them with technology and tools that make their day-to-day better. It’s the career path that you provide them. It’s also the insight into the business that you give them so that they can see they are making an impact on the people they’re serving.

What adjustments must home health agencies make in response to economic shifts, not only to retain staff, but also to keep staff in the industry as a whole?

Duell: We are still living in unprecedented times. I think we’re all getting ready for an economic downturn too right now. That’s adding a bit of fodder to an already intense situation with our industry having staffing shortages. I think this goes back to recognizing who’s your target market. Who are your target employees? Who is your target market? How are you communicating with them so that they know that you’re the place they want to work and the benefit statements around that?

I think it’s also really important to understand that your target market, our industry, the caregivers, are majority women. How is your organization set up to help women to have that integration of work and personal life? What tools does your company provide that set you apart? What career paths are you offering? What support systems or benefits are you offering that allow them to not have that “mom guilt” of going to work and being able to take care of others?

I think those are the things that agencies from home health, home care and hospice have to focus on. As an industry, we saw the mass exodus due to the pandemic. We really have to hold on to our people.

Going along with that, how can flexible specialty training show staff a path forward in their agency and in the industry?

Duell: It is more than just training, but training is a great tactical tool for creating those career paths. You have to paint it in the right way. Saying, “You’re required to do this training” feels like homework, but saying, “This training is going to allow you to be able to reach new heights of your success and here’s how it’s going to do that” — that feels right. You have to make sure that you’re communicating and painting that overall picture to them.

When I was in entry-level positions, it was hard to see the big picture, to see all the different opportunities that are out there. You need somebody else to show you, and to shine a light on where to go and what other opportunities exist within this industry that we live in.

When a home health agency must be more strategic than usual with its budget, how do you determine what’s really, or how do they determine what’s really worth the investment?

Duell: I think that when it comes down to your people, it’s really easy for you to make those calls if it’s worth it. You’ve got to invest in your people through your tools and through the educational solutions that you offer, and how you structure your organization so that it creates a benefit for them. Obviously these investments should benefit the patients as well, but I think it really boils down to focusing on your people, because your people are always going to pay off.

How can home health agencies best communicate their value to clients and staff, and how can they leverage feedback on their performance from clients, patients and staff?

Duell: Leveraging great solutions like survey applications, caregiver satisfaction and client satisfaction is an excellent way for you to gather feedback and then deliver it back to clients, patients and staff so that they can see how the agency as a whole is scoring and who has been awarded best home care agency in that area. Those are tools and solutions that Home Care Pulse actually provides.

Finish this sentence: “The top strategy that home health providers should employ in 2022 to best prepare for 2023 is…”?

Duell: I think it’s alignment, not only in your agency but also as an industry. How does home-based care — whether that’s home care, non-clinical, skilled or hospice — align as a whole to move the needle forward on the standard of care in the industry? It’s critical to work with businesses and partners that make that process easy, to use tools that work together seamlessly so that providers can focus on what really matters: their staff and patients.

Editor’s note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Whether through its Care Intelligence Platform, annual HCP Benchmarking Report or Best of Home Care awards, HCP — a leader in the home-based care industry in experience management, training and reputation management — empowers providers in home care, home health and hospice to attract and retain employees during workforce shortages. For more information, visit homecarepulse.com.

The Voices Series is a sponsored content program featuring leading executives discussing trends, topics and more shaping their industry in a question-and-answer format. For more information on Voices, please contact [email protected]