WLTCAC: Long-Term Care Worker Recruitment and Retention Resources
The caregiver shortage is a nationwide issue and continues to grow within long-term care. This webpage offers resources on ways to combat the shortage, as well as ideas from the field on how to improve worker recruitment and retention. The Wisconsin Long Term Care Advisory Council (WLTCAC) compiled this information to help address the issues long-term care organizations face recruiting and retaining staff.
Resources
Resources include articles, studies, guides, and books.
General publications—articles
- Finding Employees, Betterteam (2018)
- Recruiting and Hiring Top-Quality Employees, Entrepreneur
- The 7 C's: How to Find and Hire Great Employees, Forbes (2012)
Health care publications—books, guides, studies
- Self-Directed Supports in Family Care, Family Care Partnership, and PACE: A Best Practice Manual for Interdisciplinary Team Staff, Wisconsin Department of Health Services (2017)
- Long-Term Care Nursing Staff Studies Recruitment and Retention (PDF), Texas Center for Nursing Workforce Studies
- Staff Recruitment, Retention, and Training Strategies for Community Human Services Organizations (PDF), Research and Training Center on Community Living, Institute on Community Integration, University of Minnesota (2012)
- State Based Initiatives to Improve the Recruitment and Retention of the Paraprofessional; Long-Term Care Workforce, United States Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (2003)
Health care publications—articles
General publications—articles, books, guides, studies
- 15 Actionable Employee Retention Strategies You Can Use Today, ZoomShift
- Effective Employee Retention Strategies, Robert Half, June 2018
- Effective Retention, Career One Stop Business Center
- Eight Effective Employee Retention Strategies, Zippia
- Employee Retention Guide: How to keep your top talent on board (PDF), American Institute of CPAs, Women's Initiative Executive Committee
- How to Retain Employees: 18 Practical Takeaways from Seven Case Studies, SnackNation
- Talent Retention: Six Technology-Enabled Best Practices (PDF), Oracle
- The Seven Key Elements of Employee Retention, The Undercover Recruiter
Health care publications—books, guides, studies
- Antecedents to Retention and Turnover among Child Welfare, Social Work, and Other Human Service Employees: What Can We Learn from Past Research? A Review and Metanalysis, University of Chicago, Social Service Review, 2001
- Direct Care Worker Retention: Strategies for Success (PDF), Institute for the Future of Aging Services (2010)
Health care publications—articles
- Six Steps to Effective Employee Retention, Very Well Health (2018)
- The Keys to Reducing Turnover in Long-Term Care, McKnight's Long-Term Care News (2014)
General publications—articles
- 10 Shocking Stats About Employee Engagement, CLEVERISM
- 59 Awesome Employee Engagement Ideas and Activities for 2018, SnackNation
Health care publications—books, guides, studies
- Employee Engagement: The Key to Improving Performance (PDF), International Journal of Business and Management, Volume 5, No. 12 (2010)
- Staff Empowerment Practices and CNA Retention: Findings From a Nationally Representative Nursing Home Culture Change Survey, Journal of Applied Gerontology, Vol 37, Issue 4 (2016)
Health care publications—articles
Health care publications—books, guides, studies
- Direct Care Nursing Aide Turnover in Long-Term Care Facility (PDF), University of Southern Maine (2018)
- The Cost of Frontline Turnover in Long-Term Care (PDF), Better Jobs Better Care (2004)
Health care publications—articles
- A Perfect Storm: High Turnover and Increasing Demand for Long-Term Care Workers, On Shift (2015)
- The Elephant in the Room: Staff Turnover, Relias (2017)
Ideas from the field
Here are ideas submitted from human services colleagues to help recruit and retain quality staff.
- Communicate clear and consistent expectations across teams
- Create a supporting and fun culture at work
- Create job security
- Eliminate unnecessary tasks (i.e., busy work) as much as possible
- Ensure work-life balance is manageable—create action plan to support staff
- Focus on areas of strength and passion with projects
- Give autonomy to staff—people invest more when they are trusted and accountable
- Give birthdays off without use of staff personal time off
- Hold quarterly meetings with supervisor's boss
- Match or offer competitive pay
- Pay for education and continued training
- Conduct weekly or biweekly meetings with supervisor
- Create suggestion box or employee survey with concrete plan on how to follow up and create change
- Give recognition (awards, cards, gifts, thank yous, raises, etc.)
- Offer relaxed dress code or casual Fridays
- Provide opportunities for socialization with peers at onset of employment (assign new employee to shadow peer, pair on projects, etc.)
- Train supervisors to train their staff to replace them
- Turn failures into lessons, not shaming or bringing people down (have the "Challenge of the Week" with lessons learned, include leadership, etc.)
Submit your ideas
If you would like your idea, training, or resource to be listed on this page, please email the Bureau of Adult Quality and Oversight.
Related DHS information
Other related information
Disclaimer about advisory council content
This content reflects the views and opinions of the advisory council. It may not reflect the official policy or position of DHS.