1. Key Concerns  |  2: Training Requirements  |  3: Successful Training

Workforce Development Tops the List of Key Concerns on the Minds of Senior Care Organizations

Silverchair Learning Systems products and services help Senior Care organizations address their top concerns, one of the most pressing being workforce development and retention.

The Challenges of Workforce Development

As senior care organizations compete for residents and strive to provide the highest level of care for those residents, workforce development and retention (especially of paraprofessional frontline staff) becomes more important than ever. Organization leaders face the challenge of recruiting competent frontline staff, getting them through orientation and training so they can begin work, staying compliant with regulations, and keeping the staff satisfied to avoid massive turnover.

Most paid providers of long-term care are paraprofessional workers. After informal caregivers, these workers are the most essential component in helping older persons and younger people with disabilities maintain some level of function and quality of life. Paraprofessional long-term care staff includes nursing assistants, home health and home care aides, personal care workers, and personal care attendants. They provide hands-on care, supervision, and emotional support to millions of elderly and younger people with chronic illness and disabilities.

Despite being the care centerpiece of long-term care organizations, the paraprofessional workforce is difficult to retain. Low wages and benefits, hard working conditions, heavy workloads, and a job that has been stigmatized by society make worker recruitment and retention difficult. In fact, long-term care providers report unprecedented vacancies and turnover rates for paraprofessional workers. The paraprofessional workforce is often poorly trained and inadequately supervised. Core competencies like interpersonal communication, clinically informed problem solving, and critical thinking are often missed. There are no incentives for ongoing training. These factors lead to a labor supply that is less than ideally qualified.

So how can senior care organizations turn this massive workforce challenge into a competitive advantage? The answer lies with comprehensive, effective training and workforce empowerment. Silverchair’s eLearning allows you to accomplish both, with courses that are appropriate for frontline staff learning levels, easy-to-use technology, flexibility (staff can train anywhere, anytime), and most importantly, a sense of ownership and empowerment when it comes to their own development. The sense of independence and morale boost that our system provides is the key to recruiting and developing a talented, caring workforce—and reducing turnover. When senior care organizations are able to eliminate their recruitment and retention issues, they’ll see a significant increase in their competitive standing.