 |
Growing Strong Roots Mentor Tristan Remi reviews charts with
Jake Wells, a new CNA at RiverLedge |
OGDENSBURG – For a company with nearly 1,000 employees
recruiting new employees and then retaining them for an extended period of time
is an important part of its operations.
United Helpers Human Resources Manager Jean Rowe said that
in a typical year the company has an employee turnover percentage of roughly 20
percent, a number that has climbed higher in each of the past two years.
Ms. Rowe said that in 2015 the percentage was 25.97%, while
2016’s employee turnover percentage climbed to 32.6%
“The turnover for 2016 was astronomical,” Ms. Rowe said. “We
normally hover right around 20 percent, so the past two years have been higher
than normal.”
Recognizing this, the company’s recruitment and retention
committee formed an on-boarding sub-committee that began meeting late in the
first quarter of 2016. That committee recently presented its work to the
company’s leadership group.
That work included the unveiling of an on-boarding program
designed to help new employees feel comfortable at United Helpers, and
hopefully stay with the company for an extended period of time.
“On-boarding is the process of acclimating and welcoming new
employees into an organization and providing them with the tools, resources,
and knowledge to become successful and productive,” Ms. Rowe said, noting the
process began with a survey of the company’s newest hires.
“Sixty-four percent of them reported that a mentor or buddy
would have been beneficial,” she said, adding that the plan to assign volunteer
buddies to new hires has been approved by company management and will be
implemented in the very near future.
Mosaic Assistant Administrator Colleen Aldridge, who served
on the committee, said, “Their buddy isn’t necessarily going to be the person
who is training them, but they’ll be someone new hires can go to for questions
about anything.”
“To help us retain employees, this will definitely be a
valuable tool,” Ms. Rowe said, noting that she’s seen data that suggests as
many as 90% of employees decide whether they plan on staying with a company
within their first six months of employment there.
When asked if there was an organizational goal, Ms. Rowe
said goals connected to turnover percentage will be left up to each individual
campus.
On the nursing side of the company, both RiverLedge and
Maplewood have already implemented a mentoring program for CNAs that began in
October of 2016. Since that time, both campuses say they’ve already seen a
reduction in turnover.
At Maplewood, Staff Development Assistant Robin Leonard said
they’ve hired 22 new CNAs with only two leaving the company. At RiverLedge,
Staff Development Assistant Jennifer LaFlair said they’ve hired 11 new CNAs,
all of whom are still employed there.
The program, known as Growing Strong Roots, includes 14
mentors at Maplewood and 15 mentors at RiverLedge.
Both Ms. Leonard and Ms. LaFlair reported though, that new
hires aren’t the only ones benefitting from the program.
“One of our mentors said that going through this program has
made her an even stronger CNA,” Ms. Leonard recalled.
“Going through this program has helped our more experienced
staff learn new ways of doing things and handling different situations,” said
Ms. LaFlair.
Larita Flanagan, a mentor at Maplewood, agreed. “I really
enjoy teaching people, but I found they’re not the only ones who are learning,”
she said.
