Adapting Employment Strategies to Assist Partners

The senior living industry continues to feel the pinch of a tight labor market for frontline workers. While all segments of the industry are experiencing challenges with recruiting and retention, foodservice operations continue to be the hardest hit. According to Jim Moran, Sodexo Seniors’ vice president of human resources, some of the challenges with hiring and retaining service employees are as follows:

• Service-level jobs are experiencing an increase in demand and a decrease in job applicants
• Sourcing and hiring have become far more competitive, requiring employers to expedite the interview-to-hire process
• Organizations are challenged to keep up with prevailing wage rates, which impacts recruitment and retention
• Employees are quick to leave if they feel disillusioned or burned out or are working in a poorly staffed or unsafe environment

Consequently, employing frontline workers in the current job market requires abandoning the traditional recruiting and hiring playbook. When determining which jobs they apply to, today’s generation of workers looks for more than just competitive wages. Job applicants seek a streamlined hiring process that is personalized and makes them feel valued. In essence, workers want to ensure that their potential employers are a good fit.

 

New Strategies Yield Positive Results

To compete more effectively for talent, Moran says that Sodexo Seniors has implemented new strategies to recruit, hire, and retain workers. Key among these tactics is creating separate teams of dedicated recruiters for managers and for frontline workers and analyzing wage and market data to ensure that Sodexo Seniors’ wages are competitive. Other strategies include the following:

• Contacting qualified applicants within 24 hours of receiving their job applications
• Conducting virtual interviews and extending job offers within 48 hours
• Enhancing the onboarding experience to ensure that employees are socially and technically acclimated to their new roles
• Training workers for their current positions and engaging them in discussions about career advancement opportunities
• Moving from annual performance reviews to quarterly performance discussions that enhance employee engagement

 

These tactics, along with other actions, have elicited positive results, Moran says, such as a 12% decrease in the time to extend job offers and an 8% decrease in time to fill positions. In addition, the turnover rate for frontline staff has decreased by 17%. The market will continue to be challenging, but Sodexo Seniors is committed to adjusting its recruitment, hiring, and retention strategies to ensure its competitiveness in the market.