March 2008
Note from the President Best Practices from Private Duty Insider Advisory Board Healthcom Best Practices
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Note from the President
Leann Reynolds I am excited to see all of you in New Orleans. We have a great agenda planned with the majority of sessions being lead by fellow Franchise Partners. Additionally we have new business partners who will be attending the conference to meet you all personally. The goal is to equip you with new ideas to drive additional revenue to your businesses, cut your expenses through efficiencies (and new programs) and share best practices. I know you won’t be disappointed. HomeShare launched the beginning of March. If you don’t know what it is, I encourage you to contact your support manager immediately. One of the important features of the new extranet (HomeShare) enables you to measure current SEO and PPC performance from your homewatchcaregivers.com website web pages. The biggest allocation of funds from the NMF this year will be on the website (40%). It is our best tool from a national and local perspective to build the brand and drive new business. I will be laying out in detail our plans for the NMF this year at the annual conference. We have some great new financial reports we have been working on that capture average
service lengths and billable revenues per client. If you are interested in these types of metrics for your operation, please contact Bob Sternberg at bsternberg@homewatch-intl.com and he can help you produce the reports. This data has been very valuable in the budgeting and forecasting process. We have had several Franchise Partners work with us on their cash flow planning and budgets for 2008. It is not too late for us to provide assistance with these activities for the remainder of the year. We are always willing to help out in this arena. In February, I had the opportunity to attend the Northwest Regional Meeting in Portland, Oregon. We had a great turnout with offices from Portland, Seattle, and Vancouver, British Columbia. We will be completing 6 more regional conferences this year including one in Canada this summer. Based on Franchise Partner feedback, we will discontinue the quarterly executive calls. The team will provide updates on key projects and measures via HomeShare. As always, if you have additional questions or concerns, please feel free to call any of us at any time. I included the 2008 annual plan with my annual report that was sent out last month. If you are interested in reviewing it, please search for “annual report” on HomeShare. It can be found on the last two pages. As always I am here to listen and act, please call me if you have questions, concerns or want an update on where we are going. Together we will meet our Vision: To be recognized as the premier provider of home care services worldwide.
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Recruitment & Retention Strategies---ideas
Private Duty Insider March 2008 issue
Caregivers want to be treated with respect. Caregivers want effective communication and support from office staff. Caregivers want good relationships with clients, with family members and with each other.
Consider the following field tested strategies that will help you recruit caregivers.
Ask caregivers to put an advertising magnet on their car. When an inquiry mentions the ad, and engages in services, the caregiver gets a predetermined bonus. Use your web page as a resource to attract potential hires and gather applications.
Retaining - - - Keep staff longer.
Newspaper ads need to be run in the areas where you need caregivers, simply worded, to the point, and run in a highly visible category. The “General Help Wanted” section is a good area because caregivers come from all walks of life, not just health care. Give your ads a break. You should post a different ad every week to stay at the top of the listings. Use talent-based ads versus “desperate” ads that imply you are “looking for a warm body to fill a shift”. Recruit an applicant’s references. When checking an applicant’s references if appropriate, ask that person if he/she is looking for a job or is interested in working for an agency like yours. Provide space on the job application for caregivers to list three or more people they believe would make a great caregiver. Reward the caregiver with a bonus for referring a friend that is employed with your agency for a determined amount of time.
Provide gas cards for special efforts Offer special pay rates for special jobs Spotlight your top caregivers in your employee newsletter Offer a paid time off benefit for caregivers after 1,520 hours in one year, which means they have to work full-time during the last year. And ½ benefit for part-time caregivers Recognize and reward your staff monthly with a gift of their choice. For example, one of six gifts (Starbucks card, grocery card, department store card, cash, gas card, movie money) for: o a job well done o perfect attendance o taking a shift at the last minute o first to complete and return the Caregiver Assistance News Quiz What can you do to retain caregivers? Respect them, recognize them and reward them for their work Give them access to expanded training opportunities Operations personnel need to provide effective leadership and set a good example Offer a mentoring program!
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The agency should provide a positive work environment Caregivers, trainers, supervisors and administrators should network to provide support and share resources and best practices Information also gathered from Homewatch CareGivers Quick Guide to Hiring, Training and Retaining Caregivers!
extra copies will be available for distribution. Requests must go to Sue for additional copies. Work on post operative marketing collateral (brochure, possible bi-fold brochure) for all ages is going well. Final interviews for new PR firm ongoing. We are interviewing three possibilities; each is entirely different but all have extensive experience with seniors and personal experience as well. Armada chose not to submit a proposal. Leann stated the ROI was not good with Armada, and Sue agreed that based on past experience such as the Vets Campaign, results were disappointing. Sue attended the International Franchise Association (IFA) convention two weeks ago and attended sessions regarding building brand awareness & marketing. Business Development, Support Updates Jennifer Tucker: Healthcom Pilot – previously we partnered with Healthwatch (who merged with Lifeline). The Home Office reviewed several options and have chosen Healthcom; there are 15- 17 offices of all sizes participating in pilot. Their goal is to offer solid training & support; also to develop goals and objectives for each office. Recruiting for personal/24-hour care core group – Jennifer is working with Sue on a core focus group, including Phoenix, for niches with lots of emphasis on the business focusing on insight and personal care. If interested, contact Jennifer. Issues will include
ADVISORY BOARD MEETING
February 26, 2008 Beverly Brinson Present: Ralph Fern, Mike Gianino, Dale Kiesz, Patty Servaes, Belinda Gordon, Beverly Brinson, Ramona Streit, Jon Hersh, Bill Freshwater, Leann Reynolds, Jennifer Tucker, LaShelle Fuller-Chapman, and Sue Nelson. Updates from Advisory Board Regions Leann led the meeting; reported the sale of her franchise to a new owner, Wes Carson and that the purchase will be closed Friday 2/29. They just completed a Northwest Region meeting. All regions are doing well; Bev reported teamwork on a disaster plan for the state of TX & said other members are welcome to have access upon completion. Marketing Updates Sue Nelson: Sue reported on the Caseworker Management Society of America bimonthly magazine, Case In Point – our first ad appears in April &
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overtime, state regulations & care. The entire system is open. Leann clarified that not only will collateral be affected, but operations and marketing – as well as every aspect of the operation – will be affected. Heartland Home Health and Hospice is interested in tightening the relationship. Great success, especially in Ohio; meetings with VP in Toledo are planned. Expect another push in the second quarter. They previously partnered with Home Instead unsuccessfully because of poor metrics collection. In Colorado, there is cross training ongoing, and hope this is fruitful on both ends. MOU/Business agreement is scheduled tomorrow; it is very helpful in going forward. LaShelle Fuller-Chapman: Annual Conference – registrations are still coming in slowly; new information is scheduled to be released at the conference. New partners will pay a $500 charge that applies to the conference expense, whether they attend or not. LaShelle points out that the most successful owners are those who have been attending the conference. Now we need to finalize all the details, so please encourage everyone to attend. WebPages –All Franchise Partners need to look at Plano, TX, Richmond, VA, Charlotte, NC and Vancouver, BC websites. These Franchise Partners have done the “care and feeding” of their website. Please ensure you are doing the changes to your individual websites as recommended. This is of critical importance to get the web spiders pointed in
your direction. Google’s recommendation is that we set aside 3 hours/month for updates and changes. Look at key terms, site map, location and zip codes. Extranet-HomeShare – release is March 4 for HomeShare. Plug in a search term, i.e. caregiver retentions and get all related information. Each Franchise Partner can upload documents and their individual website stats will be listed on their own page. This is tremendously interactive compared to the extranet; alerts will now be sent that this has been updated for all Franchise Partners so that the Friday Focus will not be sent any longer. Elections – Mike Gianino, Dale Kiesz and Beverly Brinson have expired terms. Leann Reynolds: The 2008 annual report went out last Friday; this report reviews 2007 and 2008 targets. We have highlighted the accountability measures of the goal. We looked at every Franchise Partner’s revenue & asked all Franchise Partners to submit the goals for growth in the next year. If Franchise Partners do not provide this information, corporate will project next 2 years of goals. We are reviewing what additional revenue is being driven to the system; 17 marketing blitzes are planned for 2008. These offices can expect an uptick in activity. Business development, such as CareScout should increase 140% which will equal $1 million in trackable revenues. The push now
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is to focus on what type of return is coming from the actual partnerships, and focusing on those that drive revenue to the system. Leann also wants to be clear that no royalties are used for marketing or optimization efforts! The NMF money goes to program support and people who can support FPs. Leann asked for feedback about the conference, relating to low attendance. Other companies place non attending Franchise Partners in default, and although she does not want to do this, she is wondering why Franchise Partners are not coming. Bill Freshwater reports that Franchise Partners express concern about price, support, and not enough ROI. However, the trend is that Franchise Partners who do not attend for whatever reason seem to be less successful. If price is the only consideration, should we supplement with the national marketing fund? She adds that feedback shows Franchise Partners want to pay less and go to Lake Tahoe. Jon feels that involved, established franchises will go but the ones who operate in a “bubble” do not engage as in group participation. The board discussed options rewarding attendance, and discussed the vacation vs. work options. Ralph suggested finding a reason that each person is not coming. Advisory Board members are to talk to everyone not going to determine the reason for not attending. We will use this information at the conference.
Get to Know Healthcom in New Orleans
Jennifer Tucker Healthcom, one of our newest business partners and a Gold Sponsor at our upcoming conference, will unveil the latest in its suite of integrated in-home technologies in New Orleans. You will have the chance to meet some of their key people and check out their products at the Business Partner Expo on Friday and Saturday. The Connected Caregiver series will provide Franchise Partners with a unique and profitable platform that builds community presence, brand awareness, and a market for homecare services. Based on advanced General Electric (GE®) technology, the Connected Caregiver system continues Healthcom’s leadership in emergency home response (CareLink), monitored medication management (CareMed), and wireless telehealth (CareVItal). Healthcom invites you to attend their breakout session Telehealth: The New Frontier on Saturday from 4pm-5pm in New Orleans to learn more about putting these tools to work in your business.
“Best Practice”
Alex Morrison Our February Panel of Pros “Best Practices” conference call focused on caregiver retentions techniques. Kathryn Parks in
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Columbia, Maryland feels that “hiring right from the start” is critical. This includes interviews and criminal background and reference checks. Screened caregivers are invited back for orientation where Kathryn “sets the bar [and] sets the expectations.” Kathryn drug screens caregivers “at hire” (like Denise Myers in Dallas, Texas) and “at random.” Kathryn diligently tries to keep caregiver travel distances to a minimum and will even pull good “caregivers into the office if hours are not available.” For benefits, Kathryn offers caregivers a “25% break” towards Aflac “dental and vision plans” and “Christmas bonuses (gift cards) for tenure.” Kathryn treats “her caregivers with respect and sends thank you cards” to recognize reliability and integrity (Best Practice). Additionally, Kathryn posts her caregiver training schedule on her website (Best Practice) and the “first three caregivers who complete [their monthly] training modules (hand in their quizzes) receive bonuses.” Finally, Kathryn performs quarterly caregiver “skills checks” in her office and offers her clients caregiver introductions (“if the clients want it”).
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