How to hire employees for your home care franchise
Dedication, hard work, and a good business brain are key ingredients for an effective franchisee. But making a success out of a home care franchise is a joint effort, and something you can only achieve with the right team and organisational structure.
This is particularly true in the home care sector. Look at reviews on homecare.co.uk, the TripAdvisor for home care. You’ll find that a common theme is the compassion and kind heart shown by care professionals; that’s what will help build your business’ name in the area and help it grow. And that’s not forgetting the other employees you hire who ensure business operations run smoothly.
An advantage that Home Instead’s franchisees reap is a set of proven processes to recruit the best Care Professionals and keep retention rates high. It’s how they can meet local demand for care and maintain a profitable business.
How our franchisees recruit well
Giving our franchisees access to an industry-leading applicant tracking system (ATS), we enable them to recruit quickly, efficiently, and intelligently. From the moment a candidate applies to when they are recruited, their application is tracked.
Using an ATS, franchisees can gain data analytics. They can establish what recruitment channels have worked well for them – perhaps one job board performs more highly than another? With these insights, they can develop more effective recruitment strategies.
These data analytics that you can get from an ATS include typical demographics of applicants. It helps franchisees understand whether they need to work harder to attract a certain demographic that they’re keen to recruit more of. An ATS will indicate what channel is most effective and should be invested in more.
Home Instead is the leading home care franchise, and our enhanced company profiles on major online job boards reflect this. Those looking to apply for care work can see what makes Home Instead a supportive employer, as well as look at accolades such as reaching number three in theFinancial Times’ Best Employer list.
Recruiting well also means employing the right people; those who share Home Instead’s values. Our global vision for care is well-defined, and it gives our franchisees a way to screen applicants. Someone who shows as much enthusiasm as we do about personalised relationship-led care already suggests that they will deliver it successfully after training.
How we help our franchisees retain Care Professionals
Keeping Care Professionals engaged whilst in their roles is an ongoing responsibility. Home Instead’s Employee Value Proposition (EVP) is how our franchisees try to keep retention rates high.
Training is a key part of our EVP. We’re keen to help Care Professionals feel confident in their roles and set them a career pathway for them to progress through. Our franchisees are provided with the resources to train Care Professionals to a high standard in various aspects of care. This includes personal care,dementia,Parkinson’s, and healthcare tasks to support clients with complex needs. Our training has won awards, including the Princess Royal Training Award for both our dementia care and end of life care. Giving Care Professionals skillsets to work towards helps keep them engaged and ensures that they feel supported when performing their role.
With access to a number of benefits, including an Employee Assistance Programme, Care Professionals have access to counselling and 24/7 support, helping them reduce stress in their professional or personal lives.
Often, just knowing that you have a supportive employer who’s willing to listen is enough for a Care Professional to feel valued. Home Instead franchisees are encouraged to keep the door open for team members to share concerns or simply have a cuppa with their manager, in addition to regular feedback sessions and appraisals to support employee growth.
A local home care company with a national brand’s support
Being a Home Instead franchisee means having the backing of a national brand while reaping the benefits of a local business. On a regular basis, Home Instead’s National Office promotes the role of a Care Professional to encourage people to come onboard. This is underpinned by the recruitment page which offers a video, case studies and information on why it’s a worthwhile career route.
The website is a great resource for franchisees to link to when advertising roles. It conveys the strong national Home Instead message, and when candidates apply, their nearest office will have access to the application.
Getting legal support for hiring employees
Particularly for first time business owners, it can be difficult to know how to stay compliant with employment law. Becoming a Home Instead franchisee means being introduced to a network of suppliers, and that includes an HR consultancy. They can give guidance throughout the employee lifecycle, including recruiting right and dealing with employee grievances.
A strong team
A business is only as strong as its team, and that’s certainly true of the home care sector. Having operated in the UK for 20 years, Home Instead has seen effective ways of recruiting Care Professionals and keeping them engaged. Our franchisees capitalise on this to build and maintain a team that makes a meaningful difference to clients thatenables them to grow.
Become a franchisee
If leading a team of dedicated Care Professionals sounds like a role you can do, book a call with Franchise Development Manager Luke Spellman.