Among healthcare facilities, assisted living communities are truly unique. Long-term residents and competition with home healthcare mean that community is especially important in assisted living. In addition, jobs in assisted living communities need to be attractive to candidates in order to combat staffing shortages.
These staffing shortages can burn out workers, put patients at risk, and erode that all-important sense of community—the quality that can make assisted living communities so special. The rise of the so-called “silver tsunami,” or a rapidly aging population, threatens to cause additional strain.
Hiring the best candidates quickly is crucial. But what do these ideal candidates look for in jobs in assisted living? Read on to find out more.
1. Competitive Pay for Jobs in Assisted Living Communities
With inflation on the rise and limitations on funding, offering competitive pay may be easier said than done. However, it’s still worth mentioning as something that assisted living workers are looking for. If you’re unable to increase your current salary offers, try perks and benefits, as well as improving your company culture and reputation. No salary will convince someone to work somewhere they don’t feel valued.
Hiring Tip: List Salary in Your Job Ad
Did you know that only 12% of job ads have a salary range listed? Listing salaries for your job will help you stand out and let candidates know that you’re a transparent employer.
2. Healthy Company Culture
A healthy company culture, with work-life balance and open communication is a necessity for many people looking for jobs in assisted living. Improving your culture can have the additional benefit of increasing resident retention. In the unique atmosphere of an assisted living community, a healthy culture for workers can also help foster a healthy community for residents.
3. Flexible Benefits
According to MetLife, 72% of survey respondents said that they would feel more loyal to their place of work if it offered flexible benefits. These benefits allow employees to structure their perks to better suit their personal lives.
4. Career Support
Jobs in assisted living aren’t easy, but hard times at work can feel more manageable when employees can envision a path forward. When you create career paths for your employees, you show that you value them as individuals and you’re invested in their future. Cultivating careers has the additional benefit of saving you money by allowing you to hire internally and increasing retention.
Hiring Tip: Provide In-House Training
In-house training programs can be instrumental for cultivating careers. With in-house training, you have the advantage of knowing exactly what your employees and candidates learn, so you can be sure that they’re getting the skills they would need in a new position. Offering in-house training can also save you recruiting costs in the long term and boost your reputation in the community.
5. Good Communication
Transparency and communication are vital to a supportive work environment. But communication isn’t just important to your current employees. Healthy and effective communication begins when a candidate first considers applying to one of your open roles. A clear job ad and effective hiring process sets the tone for an employee’s time with your company. Streamline your hiring and onboarding process to show candidates that you’re an open, understanding, and communicative employer.
Hiring Tip: Text Your Candidates
In our digital era, texting can be vital when it comes to candidate communication. When you email candidates, you’re relying on them having a wifi connection and time to check their inbox. Texting is accessible, and allows candidates to respond during their busy days. With texting, you can quickly move through the hiring process and improve that vital first impression. Curious about texting candidates, but not sure where to start? Here are some texting best practices.
Better Hiring With Apploi
Apploi’s streamlined hiring and onboarding services can help you fill your open assisted living jobs with your ideal candidates. Interested in learning more about how you can recruit, hire, and onboard healthcare staff quickly? Contact us today for a free demo of our end-to-end talent management solution.
