Stories
Carrington Place Staff Retention Success Story
Submitted by: |
Karen Etzel, RN, DON |
Facility: |
Carrington Place of Toledo (formerly Grandview Acres) |
403 Grandview Drive Toledo, IA 52342 |
|
641-484-5080 |
Timeframe: 2006-2007
Brief Description: To reduce staff turnover, Carrington Place looked at their processes of hiring, awards and recognition, and termination to determine why staff was leaving. During the prior year staff retention was at 59 percent.
Our Story:
Hiring Process: When a person applies for a position at Carrington Place, an interview is conducted. If the person interviews satisfactorily and is a prospect for hire, it is the facility’s practice to have drug screening, background and reference checks completed on every applicant offered a position. If the applicant passes, they are hired and orientation begins. Orientation begins by having a mentor lead, direct and guide the new hire. The new employee orients on every shift, so they have an understanding of what tasks the other shifts have. The mentor stays in contact with the new employee through the 90-day probation period. Upon completing 90 days, input is derived from co-workers, supervisors and mentors and the new hire is evaluated. Counseling may be needed and the probation period may be extended an additional 30-days. Carrington Place is thinking about developing a 30-day evaluation checklist to catch problems earlier.
Rewards & Recognition Process: Both full-time and part-time new hires receive a hiring bonus after successfully completing the probationary period. Annual reviews result in merit based pay increases and monetary seniority bonus’ are given at 1, 3, 5 years and every 5 years after. Agency staffing is never used. Instead, double time pay is offered for extra shifts or for staying late or coming in early. Benefits include paid vacation, sick time/personal days, holidays, bereavement leave and perfect attendance bonus’. The facility provides good medical, vision, and dental insurance plans and contributes 75% of the employee’s health coverage. They also provide free life insurance to all full-time employees. The administrative team makes special efforts to celebrate the nurses and CNAs during the national recognition weeks and throughout the year. They keep a bowl filled with candy, have an open-door policy, allow staff to vent when needed, and ask staff to present a solution when they present a problem. They make every effort to accommodate vacation and other special requests. They provide team-building education, a clean environment to work and pleasant surroundings. They encourage relationship building with the residents and each other.