Home Care Assistance is Changing the Way the World Ages. This is the latest installment of our “How To” series, where we lay out smart and easy-to-understand advice on navigating the aging process.
This month, we sat down with Home Care Assistance Montreal’s Tim Thomas to understand how the labour shortage is affecting the industry itself, and the ways sourcing support through an established team can ease the strain.
How is Home Care Assistance Montreal building the team in this challenging labour market?
Tim: In the three years leading up to the pandemic, job vacancies in Quebec more than doubled. Fast-forwarded to now, and the ongoing COVID0-19 crisis has even more businesses scrambling to find workers. That’s why our team is so invested in our recruitment strategy. For us, team building isn’t something you do once or twice a year. We have a dedicated team in place that’s constantly seeking out, recruiting and processing new team members. That means no matter what changes in the broader market, we are continuously onboarding a steady flow of qualified, compassionate folks ready to build their careers with us.
What benefits does this hiring approach bring to clients and families from day to day?
Tim: First and foremost, we’ve worked with a broad base of more than 1,000 qualified caregivers in recent years. Because we’re always focused on building our team, that gives us a huge talent pool to tap into and draw from. The breadth and depth of that group helps us ensure we can deliver on the personalized service that sets us apart. We dig deep to understand individual client and family needs before we match them up with a caregiver. Because we have such a strong network, we can really focus on making the best possible match. This approach also supports our ability to provide continuous care, no matter what. When a caregiver needs to change roles or replace themselves, we’ve got a broad list to draw from. That means no matter what pops up, we can continue delivering the same level of consistent, personalized care. That’s really important to us, and to the families we serve.
How do you ensure that caregivers are well-suited to their role?
Tim: We take a lot of the guesswork out of the hiring process by doing extensive due diligence at the front end. When an individual family searches for a caregiver privately, it can be hard to know where to start. Because we have established rigorous hiring processes, we can verify every caregiver’s credentials and training. We’ve honed our hiring framework over the years to ask the right questions, and get the best possible understanding of every person we hire. We learn about them on a personal level. That’s another big piece of how we match the caregivers we hire with the clients who entrust us with their care. We know our team plays a special role in our clients’ homes. That’s a responsibility we take seriously and we’ve built out our processes to reflect that.
What’s the best advice you can offer a family searching for a home care professional today?
Tim: So much of good care comes down to good fit. Families should always feel comfortable asking a lot of questions when they’re assessing a potential caregiver. Those questions should cover the caregiver’s training, credentials and experience, but also who they are as an individual. What are they interested in? What do they love about their job? How do they like to communicate with clients? Lining those qualities up against your loved one’s specific needs is important. It’s all part of how you make the best possible decision for your family.
Closing thoughts
Navigating a tough labour market is tricky for any family looking to hire a professional caregiver. Working with an established team can help ease the burden, while ensuring you’ve checked the most important boxes on credentials, background, and fit.