Collaboration targets retention of new leaders

An aged care consultancy and recruitment company have teamed up to create an onboarding initiative that aims to improve the success rate of new leaders and reduce turnover rates for providers.

The joint initiative from Anchor Excellence and E4 Recruitment supports new recruits through their first 100 days in a new role with online industry-based mentoring.

Called Setting you up for success, the program is for line-level leaders through to executives and CEOs who are new to the sector, as well as people already working in aged care and moving into a larger role.  

With recruitment and retention key issues for many providers, the companies have partnered to innovate a better way to help leaders be successful and fit-for-purpose for the roles they take on, said Cynthia Payne – managing director of Anchor Excellence.

The program was developed “to help providers enable a stronger success rate in enabling leaders who may not have deep experience or the opportunity to be considered for higher duty roles. This is a critical part of supporting the growth of leaders to take up more senior roles who in the current climate may be overlooked,” Ms Payne told Australian Ageing Agenda.

“It is also about reducing turnover rates, which is a significant cost for providers. Leader engagement and support is critical to help leaders navigate greater complexity as they progress their careers, which again is critical for the success of the sector as we see increasing demand for services.”

Inadequate leadership development and poor retention were among issues raised by the aged care royal commission. The challenges continue with latest quality indicator report showing 6.5 per cent of service managers left their workplace during the July-September 2023 quarter.

“As an aged care staffing agency with over 12 years’ experience placing leaders and managers into facilities, we are very aware of the shortage of leaders and managers the sector faces,” said Edward Freeman, director and co-owner of E4 Recruitment.

The collaboration allows the recruitment company to offer a solution as part of the hiring process, he said. “We want to provide the best possible talent to our clients and give them access to the tools that will ensure a great outcome long term,” Mr Freeman told AAA.

“We feel this [initiative] will give an increased level of confidence to both employers and new hires in an environment that needs it. The future of Australian healthcare will become more stressful with an increasingly ageing population. Having staff equipped with the best leadership skills will make a big improvement to care delivery across role types.”

The mentoring program is curated to help the leader reflect on their role, team and organisational strategy and engage with their manager, team and stakeholders, said Ms Payne. “This is all about enabling leaders to be more successful so that we reduce manager churn, reduce costs for providers and prepare leaders for the next phase of reform.”

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