How to Address the Growing Challenge of Caregiver Ghosting in Home Care?

Ghosting, a common word in the dating scene, has now also found its way into the home care industry. How? Courtesy, in-home caregivers not showing up at appointments at the last minute (and this happening so often that it got synonymous with one’s date ghosting them during a meet).

Here’s the complete definition of ghosting; the caregiver suddenly stops showing up for scheduled shifts and cuts off all communication.

Simply put, they disappear from the job without notice. Imagine the state of the care recipient and their family now left scrambling to find replacement care!

Why do candidates ghost the care recipients and employers?

There are various reasons. Let us go through them stage by stage:

Candidates ghosting during the interview:

• Unclear descriptions in job postings
• Lack of or failure to communicate with the employer
• Improper scheduling of interviews
• Treating the employee poorly during the interview process
• Unclear or slow hiring process
• Overly personal inquiries
• Lack of clarity about employee expectations
• Poor agency reputation
• Lack of alignment of values and culture between employer & employee
• Low compensation offered
• Bad patient reviews

New hires ghosting during onboarding:

• No organization of onboarding program
• Lack of an onboarding program
• Employee found a better/preferable job after accepting an offer
• Lack of communication during onboarding
• Caregiver found the same job with better benefits or pay after accepting the offer
• Caregiver found the same job, similar pay, but a better culture fit after accepting the offer
• Lack of transparency during the interview, which is not covered during onboarding.

In-home caregivers ghosting their first day of work:

• Lack of confidence in the employer
• Lack of self-confidence
• Inadequate support
• Inadequate training
• No expected tools & technology to properly perform the job.

So, these are the reasons why employees are ghosting. It’s a problem among all industries, not just in-home care services. To give you the numbers:

How to keep track of a caregiver showing signs of ghosting?

It is crucial for all home care agencies. A primary sign is that the caregiver candidate wasn’t comfortable during the interview.

It can indicate that they didn’t have enough training, weren’t comfortable with the personal questions, didn’t feel like they were a culture fit, or didn’t find the compensation appealing.

It could also be because the employer could not understand what the candidate wants regarding work type, training, or culture.

It is common for home care agency owners to be unable to keep up with the hundreds of resumes they receive and the number of candidates they interview.

Thus, they often lose track of who has ghosted and why they disappeared.

Besides the signs listed above, here are some other signs of a caregiver’s possible ghosting in the future:

• The employee has shifted base and is no longer interested in the job.
• The person has been offered another job but has not accepted it yet.
• There could be an issue with their visa status or other personal factors that may affect their ability to work in your country.

One way to keep track of who you have reached out to and who has ghosted you back is by using an applicant tracking system. These systems help you keep track of all your applicants, including those who have dropped out or gone silent.

Another way is to create a Word or Excel document that you update with job candidate information like their contact information, when you send messages, and whether or not they responded.

Here, consider the time gap between your messages and getting a response. If it increases consistently and eventually they stop responding, you can mark the candidate as unresponsive and consider them as ‘ghosted’.

Summing up

So, now that you’ve read the blog, follow the most suitable and convenient way to track a caregiver’s possible ghosting.

It’s best that you note the signs we mentioned and keep them in mind as soon as you start the hiring process so the chances of ghosting are minimized (or eliminated).

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