3 Ways to Successfully On-Board New Dining Staff

Staff turnover has always been an issue when it comes to care and retirement homes. Turnover is a huge issue because it has hidden costs (financial, time & morale) which include – the cost of constantly having to train new staff members (as a result of no standard onboarding process), damage to morale at the home (if people keep leaving) and loss of knowledge (because there are no internal champions of culture & best practices at the home).  A high-pressure job that’s often not viewed in the same context as other high-pressure care jobs – staff suffer from higher burnout rates, and some leave the profession entirely. This was exacerbated by COVID-19, which brought new and intense pressures on staff. During and after the pandemic, turnover and staff leaving this line of work grew so high that some described it as a “staffing crisis”. We look at ways to deal with new staff (full-time) and agency workers employed at your residence to ensure that they have a smooth onboarding process so, they feel comfortable, but also ensure that there is no decrease in the quality of the resident experience.

1. Have a standardized training process

Having a standardized training process is critical to onboarding new staff at all levels. Staff should be trained up to similar levels as a priority, and until staff have reached that level, they should feel supported by management and other staff. Often, agency staff are left behind in this process, but it’s important to ensure they are trained, too. If a permanent member of staff branches over multiple areas of your residence, and an agency staff just works on mealtimes, you need to make sure each onboarding program is tailored to the individual. Using shared software across all staff can help make it simple for everyone to be brought up to the same level of knowledge quickly and easily.

2. Use technology to help staff get acquainted with residents.

Using technology to help staff get acquainted with residents can be helpful in getting permanent and agency staff up to date and leaving them in a position to create a positive rapport with residents. This is because technology, such as residents’ profiles on a dining module, holds information such as names, preferences, allergens etc. Not only does this make life easier for your staff member, but it also drastically reduces the chances of a new staff member making a mistake when it comes to allergens or medicine interactions. 

3. Knowledge Champions

Having a few of your best members of staff as “knowledge champions” means that there is a procedure in place for knowledge sharing when staff leave, and new staff start work. This added responsibility helps smooth the transition for new staff members, and knowledge is often transferred that is not always captured in online systems, such as the general culture of the residence and how the new staff member should be fitting into that.

At Continyou Care, our solution can increase your chances of giving staff the best possible onboarding process and help to retain those staff members to decrease your costs while ensuring a wonderful & consistent resident experience. For more information or to book a demo, click here.