By Susan Saldibar

Have you ever discovered that something you resisted at first ended up totally transforming the way you work? Who hasn’t, right? I know I have. (But more about this later.)

First, a bit about Brittney Brady, Flexpath Program Director for Signature Healthcare, LLC, a family-owned national network of services that include assisted living, skilled nursing, memory care, home health, and telemedicine, to name a few. She handles, among other things, their flex staffing and PRN float pool. 

Brittney is one of those people we really need to be listening to in this industry. Her story is one we wish we heard more often; a career starting as a third-shift CNA, then tenaciously working her way up to management positions, now a program director. We need more people like Brittney.

Today Brittney handles staffing for 24 Signature properties. If you’ve ever been in charge of staffing, you can feel her pain. On any given day, she’s dealing with logging in to the staffing agency website, the tedious process of reviewing applicants, scanning resumes, and checking last reviews. Flex staffing is especially challenging. “The problem with flex hiring through agencies is that they come in, work a shift and leave,” Brittney says. “We lose a lot of compassion for residents in the process.” (Not to mention money.)

At First, the Timing Seemed Terrible

Brittney is the first to admit that her job is challenging, even in the best of times. But throw in a hot mess of a pandemic and her world, like so many, turned upside down. The ripple effect on employee turnover was dramatic, especially in long term care. Brittney recalls how people “just wanted to stay home”, which made recruiting even harder. And then there were those companies offering huge incentives to go and work for them. Brittney says it became almost impossible to compete.

“When I came on board, here in Tennessee, the entire area was deadlocked with COVID,” Brittney tells me. “That meant we had no events, such as job fairs, to help bring in people.”

So into Brittney’s COVID-rocked staffing nightmare comes Matchwell (a Senior Living Foresight partner). And it wasn’t met with open arms, Brittney admits. The timing seemed terrible, for one thing. To have to learn a new staffing tool in the middle of an all-hands-on-deck crisis was not what Brittney was looking for. And, she felt threatened. “To be honest, I saw Matchwell as a competitor to what I was already doing,” she says. “I felt that maybe they thought I wasn’t doing a good job.” I thought I feel that I’m doing okay, I have the people I need right now.” 

Then two things happened which changed Brittney’s opinion fast. 

From Feeling Threatened to Feeling Empowered

First, was Matchwell’s Mackenzie Burk, Client Success Manager for Signature. “She was great,” Brittney says. “I soon realized that Matchwell was here to help me. Not to outperform me.”

Second, was the tool itself. Matchwell has quickly become a time saver for Brittney. “Now I get alerted with an email when there are new applicants. And they’re all pre-vetted,” she says. “Four clicks and it’s done. It’s so easy to use.” A process that used to take hours now is completed in about 30 minutes, according to Brittney.

And a bonus for Brittney has been Matchwell’s ability to tap into talent located in more rural parts of Tennessee, typically an area that is hard to recruit from. 

Today Signature is in the process of replacing their agencies across the board with Matchwell. “Eliminating agencies will really save us money,” Brittney says. “And we can reinvest it into our communities and pay more to our employees,” she adds. 

A Great Recruiting Source

We’re all hungry for silver linings these days. Matchwell is one. Stories like Brittney’s should give us hope that we’re finally understanding the value of technology and its power to transform the way we work.  

I asked Brittney if she would share any takeaways from her experience that others can learn from. Especially those who are looking at tools like Matchwell. “Make sure that your people don’t feel threatened. Instead, they should look at Matchwell as a great recruiting source!” 

You can get more information on Matchwell for senior living here.