Senior Living Experts Share Their Best Employee Engagement Advice

At this years’ Argentum Senior Living Executive Conference in Denver, CO, I had the opportunity to meet with many smart and talented senior living leaders and attend some great sessions on workforce issues.

As part of our partnership with Argentum, I also had the opportunity to moderate a fantastic panel called “Winning the Millennial Market: How to Attract and Engage Millennials in Senior Living.”

The four participants in the panel, Matt Bromen, Aaron D’Costa, Lisa Fordyce, and Krystyna Keena, are all senior living industry experts and all have a large proportion of millennials in their workforces. Together, they formed a dynamic group with a great deal of first-hand experience and many actionable suggestions to share with the attendees.

While the entire session was incredibly valuable, I want to share some of the key takeaways uncovered during our discussion:

1. Millennials embrace technology. This fact has several implications for employers. First, millennials will use all of the resources available to research your company before they come in for an interview. Millennials also love their phones and social media. Your organization should have policies that address both. Millennials also want to work for companies that invest in and utilize technology to be efficient on the job, such as for scheduling, HR and clinical applications. Use social media to promote the work you are doing, and share the fun you’re having. Not only will you attract more millennials, but residents and their families will like feeling connected through your posts.
2. The senior living industry needs to do a better job telling our story. Millennials are attracted to jobs and industries where they feel they can make a positive impact in the lives of others. Senior living is directly involved with caring for and improving the lives of seniors. Matt Bromen pointed out that the senior living industry is not well known by millennials. Individual companies, and the industry as a whole, should make it a priority to share the great things that senior living has to offer in a career. Partnering with high schools, colleges and universities is a great way to expose younger workers to senior living at the point when they are making decisions about a future career.
3. Build relationships with the millennials that work with you. In our discussion, Lisa Fordyce suggested that millennials are looking for feedback from their managers, but they also want to know that you care about them. Offering reviews at a higher frequency makes sense for positions that turnover quickly. Checking in with those employees each quarter can help with engagement and retention. Aaron D’Costa recommended tying a small raise to employee reviews to prevent them from leaving for 10 or 15 cents more at the community up the road.
4. Millennials are not just looking for a job, they are looking for a career. Have a clear career ladder that helps employees understand the next steps they can take to grow within the company. Helping employees to grow within their roles and prepare them for more responsibility not only keeps them engaged, but it also sets up your organization for success long-term with trained employees ready to take on leadership positions.
5. Work/life balance really means being flexible. Millennials are willing to work long hours, but they like the flexibility of being able to run an errand during the workday without having to take PTO. Matt Bromen said that for his organization, using OnShift has been helpful in offering flexibility for frontline staff. Using technology for scheduling can help employers be flexible with employees swapping shifts, and being able to communicate in a time sensitive way. You need to carefully balance the benefits of predictable schedules (employees being able to plan in advance and consistent assignment leading to better clinical outcomes) with an employee’s need for occasional flexibility. 

Though the session was geared toward engaging millennials, I think many of the suggestions can be useful to creating a more engaging workplace for all employees. In the senior living industry, employees work hard on a daily basis to make seniors’ lives better. Often, employees just want to feel valued and appreciated. I encourage you to watch the full recorded session below and find some key takeaways that will help you to make your organization a better one for your employees.