Staffing crisis — what can employers do?

It’s no secret — filling aged care vacancies is the biggest challenge in aged care not just nationally, but globally.

Attracting and retaining sufficient staff with the right skills mix is essential to providing quality care but can be difficult to achieve. There is intense competition for workers across the care sector. Registered nurses were the most in-demand occupation in Australia in the final quarter of 2022, and aged and disabled carers were the third most in-demand role over the same timeframe.¹

The move to 24/7 nursing, as a result of the recent Royal Commission, is a high-value integrity measure, but it is a measure that for some is proving a tough ask.

I would like to acknowledge the federal government for navigating the Royal Commission’s findings and taking a stance in recognising the significant contribution of the aged care workforce. I believe nurses and those in the caring professions are as important as teachers, doctors and firefighters. They should receive a higher proportion of the nation’s GDP for the contributions they make to society.

The recently announced Aged Care Industry Labour Agreement, including an expedited two-year pathway to permanent residency for migrants, should make it easier for providers to recruit desperately needed staff from overseas and raise the bar on providing clinical support in residential settings.

While our sector has been under unprecedented pressure for some time due to the pressures of reform, the global pandemic and reduced migration, there are resources available for providers who are looking to improve their employee value proposition and reduce their staff turnover risk.

Both the Aged Care Workforce Industry Council (ACWIC) and the Department of Health and Aged Care have resources available on their websites as a starting point.

ACWIC’s free Workforce Planning Tool was developed with and for the aged care sector and can be used by residential and in-home care providers. It assists them to understand the current state of their workforce and create a strategic workforce plan so they can effectively build their staffing models to provide holistic, human-centred and quality care. Workforce planning is critical to ensuring older people continue to receive a high standard of care, and that the wellbeing of workers remains a priority.

The Department is offering retention payments for aged care registered nurses and COVID-19 leave payments for those with no personal leave entitlements. I encourage providers to apply for these payments (as appropriate) and pass them on to eligible staff members. Infection prevention and control training grants of over $13,000 are available for registered nurses.

Additionally, there are many actions providers can take to move the dial.

For instance, consider what makes you a good employer. Develop your employee value proposition (EVP) and ensure current and potential employees know about it.

Part of your EVP may be offering above-award wages, or at a minimum, pledging to pass on the 15% pay rise recently awarded by the Fair Work Commission to direct care, head chef and lifestyle/recreation staff. While we know many aged care workers love the non-financial rewards of their job, ACWIC continues to advocate for increased wages for all aged care workers, to recognise the essential and increasingly challenging nature of their roles.

Consider focusing on the other benefits employees are likely to value, such as maximising the time staff have to forge positive bonds and work with older people. Workers want to feel they are making a real contribution to older people’s lives.

Focusing on employee experience is vital to the success of your HR strategy.² If your organisation isn’t offering a quality induction process for new hires, mentoring, flexible rosters, adequate shifts or opportunities for training and career progression, it’s likely your employees will consider looking elsewhere.

Explore high-quality traineeships and student placements. Offer promising students roles before they graduate. Take the time to understand and support their career aspirations.

Make use of the Work Bonus initiative and hire older people who can earn up to $11,800³ before it impacts on their pension.

Training supportive supervisors is another opportunity. Those managers are your workers’ key source of information about your organisation and are crucial to championing your culture and values.⁴

Leading providers already have many of these practices in place and are now reaping the benefits.

This is only the beginning of a tectonic shift in Australian society as our population ages. It’s a shift that requires a big-hearted country to tackle the looming challenges of that aging population so we can care for them as much as they cared for us.

There’s no silver bullet to solve the labour shortage the sector, and the nation more broadly, is experiencing. We must all continue with the great work and recognise that there is so much more to be done.

*Graeme Prior is the CEO of Hall & Prior Aged Care, Deputy Chair of ACWIC and President of the International Federation on Ageing. Founded in 1992 with a single, family-owned nursing home, under Graeme’s leadership Hall & Prior has expanded to include 25 ‘centres for healing’ across Australia offering care, amenities and programs, servicing 1600 aged care residents and employing 2100 permanent staff. Prior is passionate about improving the quality of aged care services through education, workforce enablement and the use of technology to implement evidence-based practice. His focus is on knowledge creation to ensure better evaluation, planning and delivery of care services.

^{1 https://www.jobsandskills.gov.au/reports/labour-market-update-december-2022
2 https://researchoutput.csu.edu.au/en/publications/the-role-of-leadership-in-building-facilitating-and-sustaining-a-
3 Until 31 December 2024. Bonus reverts to $7800 from 1 January 2024.
4 Isherwood, L., Mavromaras, K., Moskos, M. and Wei, Z, 2018, Attraction, Retention and Utilisation of the Aged Care Workforce: Working paper prepared for the Aged Care Workforce Strategy Taskforce, University of Adelaide, RCD.9999.0176.0001.pdf (royalcommission.gov.au)}

Image credit: iStockphoto.com/vchal