The Caregiver Retention Conversation Home Care Needs

The Caregiver Retention Conversation Home Care Needs

00:00:09
Hello and welcome to CareSmartz360 On Air. I’m Dennis Gill, Senior Sales Consultant at Caresmartz. Karla Rodriguez knows that behind every successful home care agency is a strong, supported, and a reliable care team. So as a people manager at Hallmark Homecare South Charlotte, she works at the center of scheduling, recruitment, onboarding, workforce coordination, and daily operational continuity. So in this episode, Karla shares the real world insights on why caregiver retention has become one of the biggest conversations

00:00:49
in home care today and what agencies can do to build stronger teams, reduce burnout, improve communication, and create such a workplace where caregivers genuinely want to stay in. So welcome to the podcast, Karla. >> Thank you so much, Dennis. Happy to be here. >> No, we’re really glad you were able to devote your time today for our listeners all over the world and uh we really hope that this is a very beneficial and a fruitful session for all the listeners whoever are listening to our session

00:01:20
today. Really glad for that. Okay. So without wasting any time Karla, I’ll straight away jump in with my first question for you. So Karla, according to you, why do so many home care agencies still struggle with caregiver retention today? Yeah, that’s a really nice question and I just think that first of all, caregiving is such emotionally demanding work. Um, that caregivers sometimes feel very drained after just one shift, right? >> Plus, they also feel like regular

00:01:54
agencies are treating them like they’re interchangeable, which means that they can be, >> you know, moved around at any place. and that doesn’t sit well with them, right? They have obligations. They have a, you know, certain amount of things that they need to cover with the money that they’re receiving if they feel like they don’t have anything stable. Um, they prefer to kind of look around and move elsewhere instead of keeping or staying with one agency, right? Um a

00:02:28
A lot of agencies are still reacting instead of proactively supporting the caregivers. So for example instead of having a consistent schedule they are having last minute changes they are having lack of recognition they are having lack of communication and that’s something that really struggles with a person. If you don’t feel stable, if you don’t feel like something is um right for you, then of course it’s going to be hard for them to stay in in the same agency. >> Definitely. Definitely. I completely buy

00:03:01
your point of that. And uh how can agencies build a culture then which caregivers genuinely want to stay in? So I would say that to build culture it’s through daily experiences right um caregivers are not looking for someone that can you know tell them a slogan or or send them you know something that it’s the company moto right they want >> daily experiences um they caregivers want to stay where they feel respected protected appreciated and is well connected with the company. >> So I would say that the best things that

00:03:44
The best steps that they can take to build a great culture for a caregiver is consistent communication, recognition for great work, reliable scheduling, >> fast support when they’re having a problem, which you know as a home care problem can come at any point, right? Um >> they need as well managers that can listen to them, >> give them clear expectations but as well give them some extra training so they can you know as well start developing skills that probably they don’t have and

00:04:19
opportunities to grow. >> Opportunities to grow. So basically a clear sense of their role profiles. should be clear that what their exact role profile is and regular assistance is provided to them and a very happy culture to work in. >> Yeah, definitely. I think that communication is the main point uh for culture and as well for them to be listened to cuz they go through a lot in one shift, you know, like a lot of things can happen for them and sometimes they just need to be listened to as well.

00:04:52
>> Yeah. And continuing with that thing, so communication as you were talking about is the most important thing. So what role does communication play in reducing caregiver burnout and turnover? If you want to add something to that, I know we have discussed something in the previous questions. If you want to add something onto that. >> Yeah, definitely. For sure. I mean, I think that poor communication creates a stress very very quickly, which you know, stress is is is the main point of

00:05:18
burnout. So caregivers feel like they’re ignored or they’re not uh informed correctly or there are surprises within schedule changes or surprises within the care that that somebody needs then that frustration builds up really really fast. So I would say that um the role that plays communication in reducing burnout it’s critical and in order to manage that of course agencies need to give clear expectations they need to give quick responses honest conversations as well um you know and listening to the

00:05:57
caregivers’s concerns >> definitely and how should agencies handle the last minute call offs to you without even overwhelming the caregivers Yeah. So, you know, last minute call outs are one of the biggest operational challenges and it’s something that is really hard to manage or control because, you know, >> last minute emergencies to people can happen. It can happen to everybody, right? >> Yeah. So I see that the mistake that many agencies make by solving this call offs is creating another uh

00:06:39
Another problem I want to talk about. So there is always this caregiver that we all agencies know that is available that will take anything that needs the work and everything but we are as well overloading this caregiver right um >> so what I would say and what I would like uh to see and what I like to do is actually prevent this call outs and what do I do is I normally have backup plans even if I don’t have the call outs so I would probably be like you know kind of like talk with people, talk with some

00:07:13
caregivers and see if they will be available for last minute call outs. Um, have them ready in case this happens. I would have two to three options, not only one, two to three options, I would say. Um, make sure that I’m not calling the same person every time a call out comes in. um you know as well it would be a a really good um option to offer incentives whenever a last minute situation comes like this >> and as well monitor how how many hours someone has worked already the the the the past week

00:07:51
>> to make sure that we’re not overworking this person because um that’s one of the main reasons for burnout as well. overwork someone >> overwork and now the most important thing and the most talked about thing do you think AI and automation can actually improve caregiver retention in home care I would love to hear that >> I mean I think it could help out however it would not be removed completely because I’ve seen that caregivers really want to have a relationship with

00:08:28
with their managers. So exchanging interaction with AI or a robot, let’s say, uh it’s not going to be beneficial for them. Um this is a very emotional industry, I want to say, and people really want to be listened to and want to have a real conversation. However, AI can help reduce scheduling chaos, which is a stressor for a caregiver. Um, it can improve communication speed. >> Yeah, >> it can as well predict staffing gaps, which again can reduce the burnout from other caregivers. Um,

00:09:10
it can as well help coordinate response faster when it’s needed. And as well, it can be a great factor of help whenever we’re matching a caregiver with a client. um because this that AI can give us like the best match that we can have on the system based on clients needs but I don’t think that if we removed everything and do it with AI would be beneficial for caregivers um >> because like I’ve said they want a a relationship um >> and you know technology is supposed to

00:09:47
support humans instead of replacing them. So I would just say that >> AI should be something that we can use to support us not completely remove tasks. >> Yeah. And because in this industry as you must be aware human touch is always that is required. Yeah. That is because that I’ve heard with all the listeners that I’ve because this is a question I have with all the listeners that I have worked with and that’s the one thing that I’ve heard in common. Human touch. >> Yeah. Human touch. This is not an

00:10:15
industry that you can remove humans from. For sure. >> Correct. rightly said. And lastly, what will the smartest home care agencies do differently for caregiver retention in 2026? >> So, I would say like the smartest thing that agencies can do in 2026 is stop treating retention as an HR issue and start treating it as a business strategy. >> They’ll become far more proactive and data driven while still staying deeply human. So I think that if we’ll still see leading agencies focus more heavily

00:10:54
in predicting burnout before it happens, flexible scheduling, faster communication, career development for the caregivers, right? better caregiver client matching which means we should be aware of what caregivers know what to do and what the clients need and send the appropriate person right I’m not going to it’s not correct to send a caregiver that does not know about feeding tube for example with a client that has a feeding tube that’s that is something that is not correct so better matching real time feedback

00:11:33
>> um Again, if we introduce AI to assist us in admin situations, I think that it will help the operation better. And as well, if we can implement an emotional and wellness support initiative for the caregivers because like I said, this is a very emotional um work that they do. I think that agencies will thrive better and if if they implement this these things >> rightly said because I would also tell you that when few years back in case 360 when we started this thing of finding a

00:12:08
A caregiver is an apt caregiver. We have that option and it really really helps the agencies they love that feature because it matches the skills and attributes every client is looking for every caregiver has and even the scores that have been provided which caregiver lives near. So yeah, that is a pretty helpful tool for the agencies. >> Yeah, definitely. For sure. And everything involves living near a client. It’s one of the most important things for a caregiver that they don’t like traffic. They’re

00:12:36
already tired. So >> yeah, they don’t have to travel much to go and provide care to a person. >> Rightly said.. All right. So thank you Karla. Thank you for your time today. uh know it was a very crisp session but it was a really informative one for all our listeners today. I really hope that they really gained a lot of knowledge about this topic today and we would really love to have you again on our show with more detailed versions and more detailed questions in future.

00:13:07
>> Yeah. No, thank you so much as well for the invite. I just want to close by saying that at the end of the day, caregivers are the heart of home care. Agencies that invest in supporting, listening, and protecting their caregivers are the ones that will grow sustainably in the years ahead. So, I will gladly be back here if you guys have me and thank you so much for your time. Surely, surely we would love to have that and thank you. Thank you to all my listeners today. So, this is Dennis Gill.

00:13:36
I’m signing off today and I’ll be shortly back with you guys. Thank you.