By Patrick Filbin
More than 18 months since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, senior living providers face extraordinary staffing shortages and employee retention challenges, including in their dining operations.
A recent survey of 110 senior housing facilities by Senior Housing News, conducted with Sodexo, attempted to gauge how companies are experiencing the staffing crunch, utilizing training to overcome the fallout, investing in technology to improve dining safety and experiences, and how they are attracting talent in an increasingly competitive hiring landscape.
The writing has been on the wall for some time now in the senior living industry, which is currently in the midst of a historic staffing crisis, and one that shows no sign of letting up any time soon.
Indeed, dining staffing shortages were a major pain point for senior living organizations in the first half of 2021, according to the survey. Of the 110 respondents, 75% reported that hiring dining staff was “much harder” or “harder” than in 2020.
An overwhelming 90% of respondents said they anticipate more staffing challenges to come in the second half of 2021.
Rising to the challenge
In response to the workforce crisis, senior living providers are taking a variety of measures, including increasing training frequency. Among survey respondents, 65% said they have increased training frequency as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.
But when it comes to attracting new staff, raising wages and offering more flexible schedules are the most common strategies:
Pay and scheduling are obviously crucial considerations for prospective employees, but Kendal Corp. VP of Culinary Services, Operations and Procurement Ben Butler has also had to take a step back and “really create a vision for what it looks like to identify qualified, energized candidates” and to also understand a clear pathway for folks who “feel respected, honored and engaged as a valued member of our team,” he told Senior Housing News.
Butler said key factors in hiring qualified candidates and driving retention include sustainable practices, paying a livable wage, conducting business in a professional manner and giving people a purpose.
“We’ve got these really good values,” Butler said. “They’re authentic and they’re driven by the culture, but how do we engage and empower the staff and make sure that we meet people where they’re at?”
LivGenerations has struggled to fill open positions but has done a great job of retaining its core staff throughout the pandemic, according to Cara Baldwin, vice president of hospitality for the Tempe, Arizona-based provider.
“Now that we’re back to sort of full speed, we need to have more servers around and other positions that during Covid we were able to live without,” Baldwin said. “There’s always a revolving door in the hospitality world, and it’s certainly harder today to fill that revolving door.”
Baldwin said LivGenerations offered $1,000 referral bonuses to current employees who refer new staff members and also offered retention bonuses for new employees who stayed on staff for a certain amount of time.
Butler said Kendal Corp. and so many other companies in the industry have been hit by three big things since the pandemic: the great resignation; higher lead times in finding employees based on a lack of applications; and vaccination policies.
“In markets where we’re competitive with wages, we’ve had success with attracting full-time staff – managers, supervisors and chefs,” Butler said. “Where we’ve struggled is with the part-time or per diem staff.”
In order to combat those issues, Butler said Kendal Corp. has been adjusting to more online job postings and offering flexible time slots for people, and has started to transition to a new training program with Pineapple Academy.
“It’s standardizing the training, it will have an impact on retention and overall improvement of operations,” Butler said. “That’s going to be tied to career ladders for culinary folks.”
LivGenerations has adapted to a new way of caring for employees and making sure they feel valued in a post-Covid environment, Baldwin said. That includes paying for time off if an employee even suspects they have tested positive for the virus.
In the next six to 12 months, Baldwin said a focus will be on finding the right people for the open positions they have. While she does not like the practice of poaching employees, she believes that finding talent in the current environment might call for some measures that she finds distasteful.
“I think you have to go out, go to some of the local restaurants, engage with some of their employees that seem to know what they’re doing, have a good work ethic, good interpersonal skills,” she said.
At the end of the day, Butler said cultivating an enjoyable workplace environment is the top priority for him and the rest of Kendal Corp. moving forward. In a post-pandemic world, that looks a lot different these days. It has Butler thinking big.
“We’re (aiming to) truly evolve and perhaps even revolutionize the model that can be created, in partnership with a network of individuals and organizations, thinking beyond the confines of what it is now and how we work,” Butler said “Really redefining not only the work, but the experience and the energy that we bring to filling these positions.”
“I think we really have a holistic view of that,” he added. “The benefit, I think, is a dramatic impact on the residents and the staff. For [communities] to be a great place to live, they have to be a great place to work.”
For complete results of the Sodexo/Senior Housing News survey, click here.
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