By Pam McDonald

When Robert (Rob) Crowe and Rachel Nader spoke at our Tech Foresight summit in August, they got it right. They described senior living’s recruitment and hiring process as “hunt and chase”, an apt depiction. Luckily, they went on to explain how their company, Matchwell, has adapted today’s technology to ease the pain involved in hiring practices that haven’t changed much in decades.

Matchwell was founded in 2017 and Rob brings to it over 20 years experience in healthcare staffing. Rachel adds her 10 years in senior living to the company. Matchwell’s purpose: to make it easier, faster, and more efficient for employers to connect with potential employees.

No Good Options

Rachel points out that unless communities have a well-stocked pool of qualified, standby staff (which very few have), there are essentially only 2 ways to handle the unexpected need for staff coverage: ask existing employees to work overtime or pay staffing agencies to make up the deficit — at fees much higher than the hourly rate they typically pay.

Matchwell recently surveyed some senior living recruitment and hiring professionals to find the sources of their greatest pain. These included (in order from highest to lowest) the following: the nursing care staff shortage, census fluctuations, staff turnover, overtime, and the time and energy required to complete the process.

Getting hiring right really matters when it comes to residents too. They and their families want and need consistent, quality care based on plans built through relationships by caregivers with servant hearts. And, it reassures residents to see the same faces day after day.

On the flip side, what employment candidates want is vital to securing their services, and it is fairly straightforward. In order of importance they want:

  • Transparency of pay information
  • Urgency with near-instant follow up
  • Listening and looking at things from their perspective

How’s your community doing with these attractors?

While you’re thinking about that, now’s a good time to assess the tools you’re using to reach job candidates. There are the tried-and-true techniques including job fairs, partnerships with schools, cold calling and texts, bonusing current staff and residents for referrals, and, of course, staffing agencies.

Around the 1990s, many of these practices were transferred online. We saw newspaper ads became website pages, postcard mailings become emails, community events become social media posts, and referrals become ratings on Glassdoor or Yelp.

Imagine More

But imagine what more your leadership team could accomplish if they were spending less than half of the time they do now on recruiting, hiring, and scheduling staff. What if the clutter of resumes were removed and you received names of only 1 or 2 qualified candidates looking for open positions?

What would it mean if you could tap into the flex workforce of retirees or pre-identified temporary workers directly, and without a middleman? What if you could significantly reduce the average cost of new and short-term hires? And, what if you could convert temps to full-time hires with no buyouts or fees?

Saving Time and Money

Matchwell uses the advantages of technology to save employers time and money. It provides curated user experiences that matter to job seekers. It enables direct and transparent communication. API integrations make data easily transferrable between systems, and algorithms that utilize machine learning and AI provide predictive rather than reactive data.

And, amazingly, they’ve sweetened the pot even further by individualizing each client’s platforms and guaranteeing a financial return on investment.

Seriously, it’s time to consider giving up the hunt and chase of staff recruitment and hiring by learning more about Matchwell. Visit their website or watch their session at Tech Foresight. All sessions of the virtual summit are available online by registering here.