The Problem
A low initial training completion rate means that an agency needs a lot more applicants to fulfill an opening. Since caregiver recruitment and onboarding is very expensive for most agencies it is much easier for agencies to retain their current caregivers than to hire new ones. One of our customers told us, before our pilot began, that on average 10% of caregivers would actually show up for the initial training. That means that, out of all of their applicants, only 10% of their caregivers would finish initial training and be available to visit clients. This is incredibly low considering that there are many clients that need home care workers. Since agencies do not have enough caregivers that have completed their initial training they cannot fulfill all their clients needs, which reflects poorly on the agency. Additionally since initial training is required for caregivers in most states, agencies can not avoid making sure their caregivers complete it. So what are some solutions to help agencies recruit, onboard and retain their caregivers?The Solution
One way to help with this issue is to provide online training to caregivers so they may take classes wherever and whenever they want to. With online training, this customers saw an increase in initial training completion to 65% of all caregivers hired. Because caregivers can complete their initial training with their mobile phone at the comfort of their home or at the client’s home, the initial training completion rate skyrocketed. The time it took to complete the training was also reduced from weeks to a few days. Having access to online training is much more efficient for the agency and the client. In addition to that, video-based online training can eliminate the need of in-person training period. Especially if the online training is of high quality, with scenarios shown in videos, agencies can completely eliminate their in-person training or keep it for very specific cases, which helps save on cost and helps train more caregivers efficiently, effectively and more quickly. Since initial training is required in most states agencies must make sure their caregivers get the training they need. With this comes many obstacles because in many cases it is hard for caregivers to attend in-person training. However with online training, agencies can then hire caregivers faster, and make training more efficient.
