Caregiver Recruiting in 2020: Part Art, Part Science—and All Out Competitive

In today’s competitive, we-all-need-more-caregivers environment, the most successful recruiters are good planners, fast movers, great listeners, astute assessors, and champion sellers. (Who knew you had so many talents?)

Conveying respect and support goes a long way in helping a caregiver fall in love with your agency’s values and culture. Combine that with running more efficient online ads (more on that below) and moving caregivers from application to interview faster—and you’re setting up your agency for sustained growth.

We talk with our large pool of caregivers frequently to understand what matters most to them and how best to support them. Most recently, we checked in with over 300 caregivers, and they confirmed that the #1 thing caregivers want is respect. Number of hours was a close second, but respect remains the most important element in how satisfied caregivers are with their agency.

Showing prospective caregivers—rather than just telling them—that your agency is a place that treats people well is crucial.

• Make it fast. A shorter process for work-ready candidates can mean the difference between strengthening your team with a great caregiver—or losing them to a faster-moving competitor.
• Make it easy. Caregivers are busy people with a lot of commitments. Show that you understand that by limiting the number of times they need to come to your office. Do orientations near where caregivers live and at times that are most convenient for them.
• Make it free. Many caregivers have limited funds. Consider paying for background checks and drug tests, as we do at Honor, plus TB tests, HCA registration, and fingerprint checks, if applicable. This shows caregivers that you support them from the outset.

In our experience recruiting caregivers across multiple states, we’ve noticed that the more complex the online experience, the higher the drop-off rate—especially since so many caregivers look at ads on their mobile phones. It’s best to take candidates straight from an online ad to your application.

Today, three of the top five sources for recruiting caregivers are online. If you’re not familiar with digital marketing, it can feel really intimidating. We get that. So let’s review the basics of running more effective ads. (Which lead to more quality respondents—and more long-term growth opportunity for your agency.)

• Target by area. Potential caregivers often live in different areas from where your clients are located. So be sure to run online ads where your caregivers—not your clients—live.
• Track your results. Pay attention to three numbers:

1) Your cost per click (CPC).

2) Your cost per applicant (CPA) that moves into your pipeline.

3) Your cost per hire (CPH). CPH is crucial. It’s the total amount of money your agency spends on each caregiver you hire, factoring in the cost of online ads, vetting, background checks, orientation, and training.

• Pivot as needed. Not all ad channels are equal in your area and for your agency. One may give you lots of applicants—but also a really high CPH. Track the results of your ads to see if this holds true for your agency.

According to the 2019 Recruitment Media Benchmark Report, most caregivers look for work early in the week, and responses to online ads drop significantly after Thursday. So we often turn off our ads by Wednesday. More tips:

• Keep ad copy short. Use basic, general descriptions. Keep headlines to 3-6 words. One of our best performing headlines? “Hiring Skilled Caregivers in Your Area”.
• Start ads on Monday. Jump on the higher volume of responses you’re likely to get early in the week. Then budget the time you’ll need to move applicants through the process during the rest of the week.
• Monitor ad results and know when to turn them off to save $. Set a time each day to check on ad results. If you have an office manager, that person can help here too. We sometimes turn off our ads in the afternoon, since responses tend to be lower then.

When you make your recruiting process fast, easy, and free, everyone benefits. Caregivers feel respected and valued right from the start—and you get the quality caregivers you need to help more clients in your community. Read more tips on caregiver recruiting and retention in this related post.