Why Company Culture Is so Important for Home Health Care Agency Owners

When your core focus is working with and caring for people, the impact of your company’s culture is difficult to overstate.

Home health care agencies are held accountable for the wellbeing of their clients, as well as the happiness and welfare of their staff. The two are inextricably linked. The quality of caregiver you have on your team will ultimately impact the quality of care you deliver to your clients.

With that in mind, the culture you build and foster as a home health care agency owner needs to become part of your employer brand and the filter you use for your employee management processes.

The Impact Home Health Care Agency Culture Can Have

When it comes to your team of caregivers, it’s important for them to be engaged and feel that their employer can accurately identify their strengths and organize their tasks and responsibilities accordingly.

According to research from Gallup, employees’ chances of being disengaged at work are only 1 in 100 if their manager focuses on their strengths or positive characteristics.[i] In addition, the more time employees spend working on tasks that maximize their strengths during their workweek, the less anxiety, stress, anger and worry they report experiencing.

As a result of happier, more engaged caregivers, you can see a boost to other aspects of employee management and business operations. These include:

• Reduced absenteeism and/or missed shifts – When caregivers feel valued and love what they do, they’re more likely to hold themselves accountable for each and every shift and client
• Less employee turnover – Similar to reducing the number of missed shifts or employee absences, a strong company culture often helps keep your staff loyal to your agency
• Reduced need for micromanagement – Caregivers who feel empowered and engaged tend to feel more accountable for their responsibilities, which can result in less of a need for constant oversight over each individual caregiver.

To achieve this level of employee management, you need to invest heavily in processes that promote your company culture and make it part of your team’s daily routine.

Putting Culture into Practice

A key component of establishing a company culture is ensuring your core values help you achieve your mission and vision. With BrightStar Care, our mission is our “why”:

We offer “peace of mind” by providing healthcare staffing solutions that help families and businesses live and perform their best.

Our values empower us to provide compassionate care and exceptional service.

Any time.

Any place.

And our core values are the qualities that enable franchisees and their team members to achieve that mission:

• Compassion
• Integrity
• Family
• Excellence
• Trustworthy
• Accountable
• Diversity

George Sanchez, who owns and operates four BrightStar Care Agencies in Austin, is an example of a franchisee who has taken these core values to heart and built an award-winning home health care agency.

He’s done so by creating processes, specific job roles and protocols that enable each of his team members to live the core values. For example, he created a position called a field specialist, who are certified nurse aides and are on call from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. seven days a week in case a regular staff member can’t make a shift. This provides an additional layer of support and ensures his team can play to their strengths and focus on upholding the agency’s values.

To learn more about how George has been able to create exceptional employee management processes and build an award-winning agency, download our eBook, A Strategic Guide to Owning a Home Health Care Agency – Insights from BrightStar Care Owners.

[i] https://news.gallup.com/businessjournal/167462/employees-strengths-company-stronger.aspx