Last week, the Hospital & Healthcare Compensation Service released its 20th annual “Assisted Living Salary & Benefits Report”, which chronicles the compensation details of individuals employed in the assisted living sector. The report displays mostly positive results: overall turnover has decreased since last year. However, selected positions did show increased turnover rates.
The report surveyed more than 37,000 individual employees from over 600 assisted living communities, with compensation data provided for 20 management and 29 management positions, on a global scale. It reflected the 12-month period ending in October. The data was recorded based on for-profit and not-for-profit status, geographic region, state, county, revenue size, and unit size. In addition to overall turnover rates, the report also recorded results for turnover rates by department as well as predicted salary changes for 2018 and 18 different fringe benefits.
As a whole, turnover across all positions decreased from 34.96 percent in the previous year’s survey to 31.71 percent in the most recent report. However, the results varied within individual positions. Dining services employees displayed by far the lowest retention rates, with turnover in fact increasing to 36.91 percent from 35.74 percent in 2017. Certified nurse aids and environmental services employees also showed increases in turnover. On the contrary, top-level executives exhibited the lowest turnover rate with 9.01 percent (from 11.33 percent in 2017), and marketing employees, medication aides, registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, and resident assistants/personal care aides all saw decreases in turnover.
When 282 respondents were asked the question, “How has overall turnover changed in the past 12 months?”, 47.16 percent of participants stated that they thought assisted living turnover had stayed the same, 43.26 percent felt that it had increased, and 9.58 percent said that it had gone down.
Employee retention can be a difficult task for assisted living facilities; the work can be both physically and emotionally demanding, and salaries are frequently on the lower side. In addition to being difficult for the employees, high assisted living turnover rates are also likely to have negative effects on the residents’ satisfaction if they are constantly adjusting to new or inexperienced staff.
These are some steps that assisted living facilities can take to reduce their turnover rates:
- Pay attention during the hiring process. Prioritizing careful hiring will help facilities to reduce their risk of hiring disengaged employees. Facilities should put in extra effort to craft accurate job descriptions, conduct multiple in-depth interviews, and really take the time to get a feel for each prospective employee’s work habits.
- Prioritize training. Working in a long-term care facility can be a difficult job, and if employees do not feel comfortable, they could be driven to leave. Provide thorough training to each new employee and regularly hold refresher meetings
- Create a positive working environment. Facilities should let their employees know that they are there for them. Creating a culture that encourages employees to come forward with questions or concerns about their jobs will help staff to feel more at ease with their job and more likely to address their concerns instead of leaving their positions.
About Caitlin Morgan
Managing the numerous risks assisted living facilities is critical to the success of a facility, its census numbers, reputation in the community, and in reducing potential accidents and injuries. At Caitlin Morgan, we specialize in providing broad and competitive insurance programs for assisted living facilities in addition to offering risk management solutions to help stem losses. We can assist you in putting in place the right program for your clients. Give us a call at 317.575.4440.