Almost 70% of providers are currently using a professional training program—how does yours measure up? Audit your training program by evaluating it against these top metrics to see if it’s living up to its fullest potential.
From 5th position in 2019 to taking the #1 spot in this year—lack of training has risen to the top of the list of caregiver complaints, according to the most recent HCP Benchmarking Report.
Which means caregiver training in home care isn’t making the grade, and your employees are noticing.
It’s time for a refresh. It’s time to audit the effectiveness of your training program.
Measure your training program against these 5 essential metrics to see how you can turn your caregivers’ number one complaint into your agency’s top marketing asset.
Your Program Offers at Least 8 of these Basic Training Topics
As the caregiver turnover rate stayed at 65% this year, the average agency is going to have to hire 81 caregivers by the end of the year—unless your training program is working how it should.
Since 57% of all caregiver turnover happens in the first 90 days, the average agency’s current training program isn’t setting caregivers up for success. You have just under 3 months to equip your caregivers with the skills they need.
So which topics should your training program include?
Over half of all home care agencies currently offer their caregivers training in the following 8 topics: personal care (ADLs), client safety, infection control basics, employee safety, Coronavirus, client rights, communications and other soft skills, diseases and chronic conditions.
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Carefully assess your caregiver’s individual needs to ensure you’re providing topics that will take them from competent, to proficient, to an expert in their role in their first year.
Download our free Learning Ladder resource to learn how you can tailor your training topics to your caregivers’ specific needs.
Your Program Includes an Above-Average Amount of Both Orientation and Ongoing Training
How much training do your caregivers actually need to succeed? We’ve calculated the magic number that ensures your caregivers perform at their highest level while giving you the best bang for your buck.
The average caregiver currently receives a median of 5 hours of training at orientation and 8 ongoing training hours. However, agencies who offer at least 8 hours of orientation training and 12 ongoing training hours in a caregiver’s first 12 months make an average of $701,072 more in revenue each year than agencies with less training.
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If you’re currently only training for compliance or to fulfil state regulations, adding an additional 8 hours of training per caregiver will make you over $700,000 more in revenue this year.
You Offer Your Caregivers Specialty Training Courses
It’s no secret that offering your caregivers advanced training courses significantly reduces turnover, as it encourages them to progress upward along your company’s career ladder.
In fact, over 82% of agencies jumped on board in 2021 to provide their caregivers with advanced training options that cover topics beyond the required basic skills.
Which advanced training topics are worth investing in?
7 popular topics are hitting the charts.
According to the 2022 HCP Benchmarking Report, over 75% of agencies offer specialized training in Alzheimer’s and dementia. Providers are also offering courses in palliative care, behavioral health, infection control, reducing readmissions, and restorative care.
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While offering specialty training courses may feel like an optional luxury for your agency, soon clients and caregivers everywhere will be expecting these courses—so start adding a few more advanced topics to your training program for optimal satisfaction.
You Have a High Training Completion Rate
It’s one thing to implement a training program, it’s another to motivate your caregivers to complete it. You can have the most successful training program on paper, but if your caregivers don’t recognize the benefit of it, you’re wasting your resources.
The most effective strategy guaranteed to boost graduates from your agency’s training program is to pay them for their time. However, there are additional tips that can help you motivate your employees.
Ensure your training competition rate is as close to 100% as it gets by catering your training program to fit your caregivers’ needs:
You Provide Both Online and In-Person Training Options
70% of millennials have left or considered leaving a job because it lacked flexible work options—and the home care industry is no different.
Which is why almost half of all home care agencies introduced online training into their program in 2020 to keep up with the evolving demands of the pandemic.
But do you really need both online and in-person training options?
From the outside, they seem to produce similar statistics: the acquisition cost only varies by $9 and the median revenue per caregiver employee is $14,506 for in-person training and $14,801 for online.
However, a more in-depth analysis shows that each type of training has its own advantages. In-person training produces a 66% turnover rate, while there’s a 56% turnover rate at agencies that offer online learning. Caregivers are proven to benefit from both an online and hands-on learning approach, meaning if you haven’t added blended learning options to your training program, now is the time.
Want both options all in one place? HCP Training is the only provider to offer a true blended solution that includes both online and hands-on learning.
First Step Audit, Next Step Certification!
Congratulations! You are now 5 steps closer to the training program of your caregivers’ and your revenue goals’ dreams. Why not show off your top-notch training program by taking it one step further?
Enhance your agency’s credibility and your employees’ long-term satisfaction by getting your caregivers certified with HCP Training—ranked the top professional training program, used by the most providers in 2021.
Great read!
Thank you! We are so glad you liked it!
Excellent thank you so very much.
Mary Walsh
Thank you for reading, Mary! We are glad you enjoyed it.