Recruitment A presentation of the Paraprofessional Healthcare Institute Perspectives and Expectations High quality Difficult to find match Systemic Barriers in recruitment Whether wearing the hat of a consumer, advocate, agency director or other person interested in supporting clients who need long term care services, we all share one common perspective - the value of having a high quality personal assistant worker is essential to an improved system of services. Also share the common perspective that identifying and selecting this individual is oft-times quite difficult. Setting aside livable wages and decent benefits (a clear recruitment barrier in many long-term care settings today), it is still not an easy job to find the right person. Our experiences have shown us whether a PAS works in a facility, home or other community based setting, conventional screening methods are often not adequate in identifying the most suitable candidates for this very complex and often challenging job. Finding an Aide/ Assistant Conventional screening methods not adequate in identifying suitable candidates - Education credentials - Employment records - Criminal background checks - Medical assessments - Shift availability Typically, screening for the "right" person focuses on educational credentials, employment and criminal background checks, medical assessments (often including drug screens) and ability to work certain hours or shifts. Finding PAS Workers Two universal qualities critical in identifying suitable candidates: Intrinsic value in assisting others Good (independent) Problem-Solving Skills Each criterion is important when looking to one degree or another when looking for the suitable candidate. But our practice shows that there are two primary qualities that cut across all settings - and in our opinion are critical in identifying those most suitable for this work - individuals who derive intrinsic value to assisting others, and have good (independent) problem solving skills. Recruitment Takes Time ... Failure to take time in the recruitment process results in: High turnover Compromised expectations of service Consumer dissatisfaction "Always enough time to do it over, never enough time to do it right." While agencies may have a resource advantage i.e. administrative staff, for agencies and consumers alike, screening for these qualities requires a necessary investment of time and skill. Failure to take this time results in high worker turnover, compromised expectations for quality service, and general consumer dissatisfaction . For agencies in particular, this turnover creates a costly dynamic of continuous recruitment and training to fill vacancies. ..but Investment Pays Off ... Develop and maintain linkages with public and private community based organizations: Non-profit social service organizations Department of Labor One-Stop Centers Public Authorities Independent Living Centers Faith Based Organizations Community Health Centers How can we "invest" more in the recruitment process in an environment of shrinking resources? Need to work more collaboratively with existing public and private organizations that serve unemployed and other job seekers. Some of these organizations receive funds to provide an array of services to low income individuals. Forging these alliances provides opportunity not only conduct outreach to these individuals. In some cases, staff at these organizations can be oriented to conduct pre-screening of interested applicants, saving often wasted and precious agency staff time. (DOL One-Stop Centers who provide full case management services, non-profit organizations addressing educational, employment, housing, transportation and other social service needs). Dual Value to investing in forming and maintaining these relationships: they serve as a referral source to identify workers, and they are partners in helping these employees maintain stable work and/or personal lives. Mary Ann will discuss in a little more details how some of these organizations can provide specific pre - and post-employment services to assist low-income workers in making the difficult transition to full-time employment. Some organizations I.e. Easter Seals, MS Society and disability advocates/ councils may offer similar services to consumers wishing to employ their own workers. They may offer applicant pre-screening, and support in interviewing and assessing candidates. Develop Standard Tools Structured interview guides Suitability rating scales Whether the assessment process is consumer or agency directed, use of standardized screening tools can help to more effectively identify the most suitable candidates. Screening staff can develop and use structured interview guides and suitability rating scales, based more on the candidate's response to questions designed to elicit attitudes about serving others and solutions to typical problems faced in a given work setting. Consumers can learn how to adapt these interview tools to enhance their existing screening process. Within agencies, the value of using standardized instruments provides a consistent selection practice that can be taught to new staff, and tweaked over time as specific consumer needs may change over time. Interview Tools Minimal Work History? Assess further... Is there anything that you haven't listed that may be pertinent to this position? How do you think your prior work experience prepares you to provide personal assistance services to someone with a physical disability? Have you done any similar volunteer work? What attracted your volunteer choice? Increasingly, organizations will see more candidates for these jobs who have minimal formal work history. Having methods for exploring a person's informal work history would be beneficial. These questions should help the interviewer achieve a better understanding. E.g. questions in the guide might include: Is there anything that you haven't listed that may be pertinent to this position? How do you think your prior work experience prepares you to provide personal assistance services to someone with a physical (developmental) disability? Have you done any similar volunteer work? What attracted your volunteer choice? For attitudinal assessment: What attracts you to this type of work? What are you looking forward to most if you are hired? What do you think will be the more challenging aspects of this work? What are your feelings about working with people who are different from you? What do you think is the most important role of a personal services assistant? To assess an applicant's suitability in terms of attitude, the interviewer might ask an inexperienced candidate the following questions: What attracts you to working with people with (physical) (mental) (developmental) disabilities? What are you looking forward to most if you are hired? What do you think are going to be some of the harder parts of this position? What are your feelings about working with people who are different from you? What do you think is the most important role of a caregiver? Responses to these types of open-ended questions can give you a fair degree of information about the applicant's attitude toward providing services to someone in need, their thoughtfulness about needs of others and the position, and strengths and limitations in how they express themselves (verbally and non-verbally). For problem-solving capacity: Present "real life" scenario Assess for "ideal" or "preferred" response based on job description and likely on-the-job situations To assess for approach to independent problem solving, we recommend that you include "real life" scenario as part of your interview. Even though candidates may have never faced the situation, seeing their problem-solving approach in action is a good indication of of how they'll attempt to address unknown problems they may be confronted with. For example: You have been assigned to work with consumer with MS who lives with her adult daughter. Your plan of care states that you are to assist the client with her personal care, escort her to her doctor appointments, assist with her medication and light housekeeping. When you arrive the client tells you that her she doesn't like strangers touching her body and that her daughter (who works) will handle her personal needs. She says that she wants you only to worry about the housework while you're there. However, you notice that she is in a dirty nightgown, and her hair looks pretty messy. How will you try to handle this type of situation? * Do they seem understanding of the consumer's needs? Do they immediately look for an outside person (supervisor) to solve the problem? Are they impatient, inappropriate in their response to the consumer or client? Are they too controlling etc.? Or, consumers can present typical situations that their personal assistant might face working with them, and ask how they would handle the situation. Whether using hypothetical or real situations, both the agency and consumer should have a clear understanding of what might be the preferred response based on the job description and situations candidates are likely to face to determine how closely the applicant comes to the "ideal" response. Close with a Caveat: in an environment of worker shortages, it is obvious that compromises will need to be made about how close an applicant may come to the "preferred" response. At a minimum, this type question allows you to get more detail about the overall strengths and developmental areas for given applicants if you make an offer. "Barriers" Assessment A well-intentioned and motivated individual who lacks stability in terms of supports, will likely become a "problem" employee... Child Care Housing Transportation The most well-intentioned, motivated and caring candidate who begins employment with inadequate childcare, unstable housing, unreliable or no personal transportation option will soon become a "problem" employee. Acknowledging, through a more formal pre-screening process, that stability in the worker's life is important to you as the employer demonstrates recognition for the challenges they may face. It also establishes a frame for ongoing support once the individual is employed. Identifying these problems as part of the screening process helps the recruiter (whether a consumer or agency-based staff) assess the individual candidates readiness for immediate employment. Agencies clearly may have an advantage in this area to hire a counselor or other human resource person to establish and maintain the linkages that help candidates begin to address an obstacle before making a hiring commitment. Where possible, agencies can design and conduct a "barriers assessment/ reduction" session prior to the individual beginning training or employment. The purpose of this session is to work one-on-one with the individual to determine if specific transitional barriers exist that may be addressed prior to starting a program and/or work. These sessions may be conducted in small groups with time for a private personal assessment. Human resource personnel at agencies have used these sessions to test for basic reading/math skills, and review of aspects of the job as a further assessment of applicant's communication, attitudinal and behavior appropriateness. Linkages with community-based social service organizations can be very effective in helping newly hired workers address issues like childcare, transportation, housing and other problems that may present themselves. It is clear that consumers will likely have less of an ability to provide this level of support (with the exception of recommending organizations a worker might contact). Therefore, consumers may find it necessary to apply a more rigorous screening standard around employment readiness issues.