November is National Home Care & Hospice Month

Elder Care Guides joins our colleagues in the California Association of Health Services at Home (CAHSAH) in celebrating National Home Care and Hospice Month during the month of November.

"During National Home Care and Hospice month, we take time to honor the thousands of individuals in home care and hospice who, on a daily basis, provide remarkable care in people's homes. Thank you for all that you do."
-- CAHSAH President Joe Hafkenschiel

Every day, Elder Care Guides' geriatric care managers and caregivers are actively engaged in our mission to better the lives of elders living with physical and cognitive impairments, providing services that center on the goals of the individual, and foster within them a lifelong sense of purpose. We see firsthand the impact of our team approach, of finding "the right match" and seeing a client transformed -- whether it is through healthier eating, more physical activity, opportunities to connect socially, or just a hand to hold in the last hours of life.

We're proud of the time, care, and attention to the details that matter most to our clients that our Human Resources department expends in selecting skilled and qualified professional in-home caregiver employees. Day in and day out, they work hard to enhance the quality of our clients' lives, and they have our full support, 24-hours a day, 7 days a week. We take this commitment to a highly professional and well-supported staff very seriously, as they are key to fulfilling our mission.

As such, we strongly support AB-899, the Yamada Home Care Services Act of 2011. This legislation will require California's Department of Social Services to license and regulate home care agencies, holding the agencies responsible for ensuring that their professional caregiver employees are qualified and reputable. For information about this legislation and how to support it, please visit: California's Legislative Information page at: http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/bilinfo.html

We Love Carrots!

I recently attended the 62nd Annual SHRM Conference, the largest HR Conference in the world with over 11,000 attendees from 140 countries. As you can imagine, the general and breakout sessions were packed with valuable information on managing, supervising, and engaging employees. However, one session that stood out above the rest was "The Carrot Principle: How the Best Managers Use Recognition to Engage Their People, Retain Talent and Accelerate Results," presented by Chester Elton.

Elton is a dynamic and insightful speaker, who engaged the audience by encouraging participation, using multiple types of visual aides, and even throwing stuffed carrots into the audience. His message, backed by years of research, was simple: recognize your employees for a job well done frequently, specifically, and immediately, and they will feel valued and appreciated. As mentioned before on this blog, valued and appreciated employees stick around. The metaphor of the carrot as it relates to business is "something used to inspire and motivate the employee." In Elton and Adrian Gostick's book, it states:

"When employees know that their strengths and potential will be praised and recognized, they are significantly more likely to produce value."

So how does this relate to employees that care for elders for a living? The demographic that makes up the majority of caregivers, are those that live paycheck to paycheck. Don't those employees just want more money? Nope. At least, that's not what Elton and Gostick reported. One-third of people you give a cash award to will use that money to pay bills, and one in five won't remember in a few months how much they received or where they spent the money. But they will remember receiving a hand-written note from their direct supervisor, or better yet, the President of the company, thanking them specifically and timely for something they did that was above and beyond. If those appreciative notes and phone calls keep coming, employees will keep going above and beyond, because rewarded behavior gets repeated.

I highly recommend Elton and Gostick's book and website. Read them, study them, and implement a recognition program. Your employees will appreciate it, and become motivated to do better and be more committed, which directly translates to your companies mission, goals, and values.

We Have A Winner!

Elder Care Guides is proud to announce that one of our caregivers, Maricela Pulido, received the award for Outstanding Home Care Service from the California Association for Health Services At Home. The award is given to an individual who is "directly involved in day-to-day care and has consistently provided outstanding service to patients in their homes." Maricela was honored with this award at the CAHSAH National Conference luncheon in Sacramento, CA on May 6, 2010.

Maricela was nominated because she not only has worked for Elder Care Guides since 2004, but she has been a caregiver for the same family for over 12 years. Maricela has managed the changing medications, the bathing routine, the various outings, all while keeping in mind her clients strengths and giving him a sense of purpose during his elderhood. Maricela is punctual, dependable, and has been throughout her tenure with this client over the last decade. She has developed a trust with her client and his family that is beyond measure. In addition, Maricela has been a consistent, reliable caregiver, rarely taking time off and always being flexible with the changing needs of her client. For all these reasons and more, Maricela was nominated for, and won this prestigious award! Congratulations Maricela!

Caregiver Retention and Turnover: Are You Ready for the Recession Rebound?

The caregiving profession is notorious for turnover. The nature of the business dictates it, and human resource professionals hear every day "I need to work." Although we do our best to keep good employees with as much work as they'd like, it isn't always possible. Due to the recession, however, caregivers have stayed with their employers as active, steady clients have been few and far between for all home care companies. The total employee turnover rate in the U.S. was 16% in 2007, and only 8% in 2009.

The economy is going to recover though. Economists predict a slow, steady recovery, and we have already seen signs of hope. The last piece to regain strength will be employment, but employers need to get ready. Two-thirds of U.S. employees are expected to turnover as the recession deminishes, and that number is even greater for professional caregivers. All those caregivers who have been faithfully sticking by their employers, will start looking elsewhere if they can't get a steady case. Do you want to keep your key employees? What can you be doing to ensure good caregivers don't seek employment at the agency down the street?

We have spoken in this blog before about employee engagement and satisfaction. It's time to start developing a company culture that makes caregivers want to stay, because the economic impact of losing solid, top employee is too great. The most successful retention strategies encompass many factors, including employee engagement, high employer communication, and decentralized management involvement. When employees hear consistent and constant feedback from all levels of the organization, it creates a high sense of belonging and in turn, reduces the desire to seek employment elsewhere. Do your employees know what the company mission and vision is? Are you soliciting ideas from your caregivers on how they can help the growth of the company? We have all heard of exit interviews, but how about STAY interviews?

Employee retention and turnover is a process, not an event. Making sure employees know how essential they are in the success of the business will undoubtedly make them feel valued. Caregivers who are treated as professionals and feel valued and a senses of belonging are the ones that will stay.

National Home Care Aide Week

November is National Home Care and Hospice month, and although Elder Care Guides is not a home care company, we want to recognize and illuminate our wonderful employees, the professional caregivers. The National Association for Home Care and Hospice has named November 8th - 14th National Home Care Aide week, with the theme "Home Care Aide: Loving Hands and Compassionate Hearts." This special month and week was announced to bring attention to and celebrate those to spend their lives caring for others. A noble profession, caregiving doesn't often get the attention it deserves. Care Management support, a personalized care plan, and the expert care of a professional caregiver is what allows the growing elderly population to stay at home much longer than originally thought possible.

There are many ways to contribute to and acknowledge that special caregiver in your life, and we encourage you to branch out this month to increase awareness of this much valued career.

• Educate yourself about Care Management and Caregiving by requesting books and materials on the topic at your local library.


• Pass out small gifts or tiny treats to volunteers and caregivers at a local assisted or independent living retirement communities.


• Talk about Care Management with your neighbors and friends who may be struggling in the sandwich generation and don't know where to find help.

As you go about your days in November, stop and notice all the caregivers that surround you. These amazing people are sitting with an elderly person at a restaurant, helping them with their meal. They are reaching for an item on a high shelf at the grocery store for a person in a wheelchair. Every day, they are giving of themselves physically, emotionally, and spiritually, all to assist another person to live with dignity and purpose. To the professional caregivers, we salute you. Happy National Home Care Aide week!

Caregiver Appreciation

The most important customers any company has are its employees. If your employees are given the highest quality customer service (employee relations), benefits and guidance, your company will flourish. This is certainly true in the elder care industry, when the employees are caregivers.

Caregiving is an extremely demanding position, both physically and emotionally. There are many ways in which a company can express appreciation to their caregivers. The most obvious choice is offering benefits, which come in many forms including medical and dental insurance, holiday pay, tuition assistance, educational offerings, and regular performance reviews. Additional appreciation avenues can include soliciting feedback via quality assurance surveys, caregiver appreciation parties, holiday gifts, and sending birthday cards.

An important way Elder Care Guides is showing Caregiver appreciation is through our quarterly newsletter, dedicated solely to our caregivers. Included within the newsletter is an announcement and spotlight on a chosen "Caregiver of the Quarter," one who has gone above and beyond in their work with their client, or employment in general.

A little goes a long way in Caregiver appreciation, and the dividends can come back tenfold. A happy caregiver is not only likely to refer quality prospective Caregivers, but future clients as well. Caregivers who feel valued produce high quality service, which translates directly to your clients and subsequently, their families.