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McKnight’s guest columnist Diane Wiley recently posted an article that asked the question, “how can we attract millennials?” In this article, Ms. Wiley argues that working in senior care is very well aligned with millennials’ desire to do meaningful work.
Senior care offers a lot to millennials, but some things must change
Ms. Wiley cautioned that while there are many things that millennials would find attractive about senior care, including multiple workforce entryways, flexible work hours, and employment sustainability, there are several problems that should be addressed to successfully recruit millennials. Ms. Wiley argues that the greatest challenge companies will face is the need for a culture overhaul. Companies will need to move away from institutionalized company culture that reinforces vertical leadership toward one that empowers every team member equally.
As noted in the article, the first part of this culture change starts with proper onboarding, expectation-setting, and support from management. This support, it turns out, is not just important to millennials. A company culture where employees are encouraged to give feedback and where managers see it as their responsibility to listen and respond to their employees is a positive environment that employees of all generations can thrive in.
Hagerty and Buelow recently published a study in the American Journal of Health Sciences that explores perceptions among Certified Nursing Assistants from different generations. While both baby boomers and millennials value working in a supportive environment, baby boomers (defined as those born between 1946 and 1964) looked for this support from their supervisors while millennials (defined as those born between 1980 and 2000) looked for support among their peer group. According to the study, younger CNAs (millennials) reported more internal gossiping and negative peer interactions than did older CNAs. In other words, older CNAs felt less support from their supervisors and younger CNAs felt less support from their coworkers.
Investing in corporate culture is crucial
While the Hagerty and Buelow focused on generation differences between these two-generational cohort, there have been several articles published by the Journal of Nursing Management pointing out the need for supervisors to develop an understanding of the five generations currently in the health care workforce. Knowledge of such generational differences requires supervisors and their organizations to think differently in order to utilize generationally-tailored strategies to promote employee success. Successful organizations will be those that support all generations, recognizing that retaining staff is as important as finding and recruiting them.
Straightaway is committed to bettering corporate culture
Straightaway is committed to making the challenge of culture overhaul easier for long term care facilities nationwide. Our three-part solution, CNA Edge is designed to influence company culture to be a supportive environment for all frontline staff. It is our belief that this culture shift will foster a better facility atmosphere and exponentially increase the quality of care for residents. To learn more about CNA Edge, click here to schedule a demo with our team.
