Beyond Hiring: How Recruitment Marketing Builds Trust with Home Care Clients
Why the way you recruit caregivers affects how clients and potential clients view your agencyÂ
When choosing a home care agency, clients want to know that the people they select are committed to the health, safety, and wellness of their loved ones. Home care is very personal, so the character and trustworthiness of caregivers are of utmost importance.
Your sales and marketing campaigns are an important part of building that trust within your community. Did you know that the way you recruit and hire caregivers is just as important?
In this post, we’ll show you why recruitment marketing is so valuable for establishing trust with your current and potential clients—and how to make the most of it.
Why recruiting caregivers can cultivate client trust
Imagine you’re looking for a new pediatrician for your kids. There are a few doctor’s offices in town—all of which are taking new patients—so you start checking them out on social media.
One of them looks polished enough. It uses nice stock photos in their feeds and makes announcements about office closings and health awareness months. Another fills its social media feeds with photos of its staff and bios about their history in healthcare and what personally draws them to the field. It highlights outstanding performance from its employees and celebrates their tenure, success, and career growth.
Which doctor would you call first?Â
The second doctor’s office may not be actively hiring staff at the moment, but they are doing some employer branding—and scooping up new patients in the process.
The way you hire workers will affect the decisions of those who are in the market for home care, and it might be the tie-breaker between your agency and a competitor. Because caregivers work directly with clients, their work environment is also your loved one’s care environment. You want to show them that you’re trustworthy enough to come into your home.
How to recruit caregivers and clients at the same time
As you market your home care agency as a great place to work, you can expect to hook a few new clients as well. Prospective job candidates and prospective clients want to know a lot of the same information.
Here’s how to build a positive reputation and get their attention:
- Ask your caregivers to rate and review your home care agency on employer review sites like Glassdoor and Indeed (don’t forget to claim and complete your profiles on these sites). These websites often show up in search engine results when users search your agency’s name.
- Share stories of bonds between caregivers and their clients on both your website and social media channels (and be sure to ask for permission from all parties). Caregivers will see your agency provides meaningful work, and clients will see the work is personal for your agency too.
- Identify and demonstrate your company’s core values. What drives your standards of care? What is your business philosophy? This will affect the way you vet and hire caregivers and will be reflected in the client care you provide. Publish them on your home care agency’s website, put them on social media, and reward employee behavior consistent with company beliefs.
- Outline how you screen job applicants. What qualities and qualifications do you look for when recruiting caregivers? How long does the hiring process take and what are the steps?
- Publish the standards you hold caregivers to. What certifications and licensures do you require? What kinds of training and upskilling do you provide? Caregivers will know the quality of peers they’ll have, and clients will know the quality of care they’ll receive.
- Advertise your employee value proposition. Your EVP is what your agency can offer caregivers that others can’t. Maybe it’s career development opportunities, ample paid time off, or your unique philosophy of care. Don’t forget to publish compensation and benefits on your careers page and job descriptions. Happy caregivers produce happy clients.
- If turnover is low, talk about it. If it’s high, fix it. Give your employees plenty of reasons to stay with your agency: an inclusive and supportive culture, opportunities for growth, competitive compensation and benefits, and recognition for outstanding work and long-term service. Clients will love to see that your caregivers are happy, long-time employees who provide experienced and consistent care.
- Sing the praises of your workforce. Without caregivers, there would be no home care, so recognize the difficult but rewarding contributions of your staff. Publish bios and backstories of your caregivers (with permission, of course). Blog posts about moments when your staff went above and beyond to provide exceptional care. Not only does this show potential hires what kind of people they’ll be working with, it tells clients what kinds of people will be caring for their loved ones.
Dos and Don’ts of using recruitment marketing for attracting new clients
Don’t: Mislead your clients and leads. If you find that your company culture needs improvement, make a plan to do so. Dishonesty in your marketing campaigns (recruiting or otherwise) will do more harm than good.
Do: Project an authentic image of what it’s like to work at your home care agency. Let your caregivers speak for themselves and share their honest experiences. Your agency doesn’t need to be perfect, but it does need to be transparent.
Don’t: Advertise fake job openings just to make it look like your agency is growing. Not only will this frustrate applicants, your clients may find out you’re not entirely honest about your practices.
Do: Practice recruitment marketing even if you’re not actively hiring. It’s never a bad idea to publicly recognize the great work of your staff or tell your community what your home care agency is all about so clients can know your agency is one they can trust.
Start bringing in new caregivers and new clients—at the same time
Ready to start boosting your agency’s recognition and reputation in your community? At Home Care Marketing Pros, we specialize in exactly this. The same technology that powers our CareFunnels client marketing engine also powers and integrates seamlessly with our CareFunnels Recruit platform, so you can recruit new caregivers—and new clients—at the same time. Book a demo to see how.
