These are the facts in 2013
The overall cost to the sector of recruiting the wrong person, who was never cut out to be a carer and who leaves before one year costs the sector in excess of £3,500
With the churn rate of carers running at 19% for the UK, that is over 122,000 carers leaving the profession every year.
122,000 carers x £3500 = £430 million approx.
So if this tool recruited just 30 people who where the "right stuff" that is a saving to the sector of over £100k, and for every one who does stay that's a saving of £3500 year on year.
Not only do you save funding, at the same time you recruit the right people who do care, are compassionate by nature and who will stay in the sector for long periods of time. The savings are there year on year, plus all the additional benefits with continuity of care, experience acquired over years that can shared with new carers, its a long list.
With the churn rate of carers running at 19% for the UK, that is over 122,000 carers leaving the profession every year.
122,000 carers x £3500 = £430 million approx.
So if this tool recruited just 30 people who where the "right stuff" that is a saving to the sector of over £100k, and for every one who does stay that's a saving of £3500 year on year.
Not only do you save funding, at the same time you recruit the right people who do care, are compassionate by nature and who will stay in the sector for long periods of time. The savings are there year on year, plus all the additional benefits with continuity of care, experience acquired over years that can shared with new carers, its a long list.
The Employers Tool
Not everyone is an experienced interviewer so for owners and
managers it’s a great addition to their recruitment tool kit. Used to help
identify likely candidates prior to interview, or even as part of their on line
recruitment process when advertising posts. I often liken it to the triage
approach, but used in the early recruitment stages.
Employers must be swamped with people who just want a job and not a career
in care, but in that mix of applicants there will also be golden nuggets,
natural carers, the ones who will stay because of the job satisfaction they get from caring.
Given the rates of pay, candidates lose very little
financially by quitting a career in care for a job in a supermarket, so
retention is that much harder to achieve.
As part of the overall recruitment process it does provide employers with another reference point when assessing suitability.
As part of the overall recruitment process it does provide employers with another reference point when assessing suitability.
If employers have any doubts they can always refer to one of
the clips, and discuss that topic in more detail with the applicant, topics like “how would
you cope with death?” can be a wake up call to those who only saw the "fluffy" side of care. Its a lot more than making teas and tucking people up for the night.
The Applicants tool.
People looking at care as a career don't always have an accurate picture of what is involved day to day, and have not considered the harsher realities of the job.
The Recruitment tool lets applicants get a feel both the people who work in care & the up and the downsides of the job. Therefore it's best viewed before applying for a job in care if possible and certainly prior to being interviewed.
So by the time they have done the quiz section and watched the clips that follow they will know in their hearts if they are up to it. So those that can't manage the more challenging aspects of the job will drop out and look for something else. This is good for both the applicant and the employer.
Each person that drops out at this stage because the tool has helped them realise now rather than later saves the sector £3,500
The tool therefore works in both directions, finding the right people and finding the wrong people
Evaluation of the Tools EffectivenessThe Applicants tool.
People looking at care as a career don't always have an accurate picture of what is involved day to day, and have not considered the harsher realities of the job.
The Recruitment tool lets applicants get a feel both the people who work in care & the up and the downsides of the job. Therefore it's best viewed before applying for a job in care if possible and certainly prior to being interviewed.
So by the time they have done the quiz section and watched the clips that follow they will know in their hearts if they are up to it. So those that can't manage the more challenging aspects of the job will drop out and look for something else. This is good for both the applicant and the employer.
Each person that drops out at this stage because the tool has helped them realise now rather than later saves the sector £3,500
The tool therefore works in both directions, finding the right people and finding the wrong people
When you are trying to evaluate the softer stuff, discover
where hearts are, what is motivating someone to investigate a career in care
it’s never going to be a precision tool, unless you use PentothalJ
So like any “questionnaire” it can be manipulated by a user
wanting a high score, but its novel approach makes that harder especially when
you play it for the first time.
It provides a great indicator and saves both employers and applicants time by making the recruitment process more efficient all round.
From a directors POV the acid test is to show it to anyone who delivers care themselves, that is the target audience I am connecting with, if they feel it defines what makes them a carer then I can be confident that is it's on target. From all the feedback sinse it's launch that would seem to be the case. No matter what changes occur, the values of a carer and what is in their hearts will always remain the same.
It provides a great indicator and saves both employers and applicants time by making the recruitment process more efficient all round.
From a directors POV the acid test is to show it to anyone who delivers care themselves, that is the target audience I am connecting with, if they feel it defines what makes them a carer then I can be confident that is it's on target. From all the feedback sinse it's launch that would seem to be the case. No matter what changes occur, the values of a carer and what is in their hearts will always remain the same.
Delivering the Tool to All Audiences
I spent some while deciding what format to use, I needed to
ensure that even a care home still running on Windows 95 could use it. I opted
for a CD platform, and used my encoding skills to make the high quality video
clips run smoothly. So its reach is massive and will also work well on android
phones or play direct from a USB memory stick as well as on line.
I also made it so anyone can simply copy it and share it easily because the more people that use it the better.
I also made it so anyone can simply copy it and share it easily because the more people that use it the better.
Flexible Template
The format was designed for multiple uses in other sectors, e.g. by changing
the interviews so that they represented the audience group you wish to engage it
could easily be reworked for nurses, health care assistants etc. Very importantly it is fun to do, and much more engaging than any written format.
It has a role with careers officers in all area's of the
education sector I believe not just Job Centre Plus.
The sector needs to find carers at a steady rate as 122,00 of them
leave each year and need to
be replaced just to tread water and with dementia for example treading water is not a realistic option.
The
Training & Qualifications version is targeted at several audiences, one
being the returner to care, who may be frightened off by the raft of exams and
qualifications. These people are gold dust as we know they have both the hands on experience and also no illusions about the job they are returning to.
I have not updated this version as qualifications have changed from the NVQ days. This does mean it will only play on Window XP machines, or any previous version of window.
Conclusion
Its waiting to be used in the care sector but needs vision and backing to do its job effectively and a small refresh of the intro.
It is also possible to do "regional versions" that will resonate better with regional audiences. One might argue that the last 4 years was when we needed it most to reduce costs in the care sector.
In my experience to date, it is much harder for people who are not naturally carers to understand the power of this tool, where as those that do have the instinct to care "get it" and are moved by it and are motivated purely by the job satisfaction the career care offers.
This has worked against me when trying to explain it's power to decision makers as it doesn't naturally resonate with them for the above reasons. It's no different from being with friends who like football and you don't, if you don't have that football thing its hard to connect on that level with them.
It is fit for purpose, great value for money,road tested and the concept can be re worked for many uses outside of recruiting carers as the health sector faces many similar challenges. It can also do a lot more but that's for another blog.
This is only the first third of the complete tool but why don't you play the quiz ..."and see if you have what it takes to be a carer".
To play the quiz click this link and off you go. You will need to Allow ActiveX, it's perfectly safe to do so.
http://tinyurl.com/aayqrgp
To learn more about the compassion/recruitment tool here is the blog.
http://tinyurl.com/bfp3qw3
Thanks
Jon
I have not updated this version as qualifications have changed from the NVQ days. This does mean it will only play on Window XP machines, or any previous version of window.
Conclusion
Its waiting to be used in the care sector but needs vision and backing to do its job effectively and a small refresh of the intro.
It is also possible to do "regional versions" that will resonate better with regional audiences. One might argue that the last 4 years was when we needed it most to reduce costs in the care sector.
In my experience to date, it is much harder for people who are not naturally carers to understand the power of this tool, where as those that do have the instinct to care "get it" and are moved by it and are motivated purely by the job satisfaction the career care offers.
This has worked against me when trying to explain it's power to decision makers as it doesn't naturally resonate with them for the above reasons. It's no different from being with friends who like football and you don't, if you don't have that football thing its hard to connect on that level with them.
It is fit for purpose, great value for money,road tested and the concept can be re worked for many uses outside of recruiting carers as the health sector faces many similar challenges. It can also do a lot more but that's for another blog.
This is only the first third of the complete tool but why don't you play the quiz ..."and see if you have what it takes to be a carer".
To play the quiz click this link and off you go. You will need to Allow ActiveX, it's perfectly safe to do so.
http://tinyurl.com/aayqrgp
To learn more about the compassion/recruitment tool here is the blog.
http://tinyurl.com/bfp3qw3
Thanks
Jon
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