Resident care and provider reputation among top reasons staff stay in aged care: ACWIC report

The opportunity to engage, interact and support older people is the key motivator keeping aged care workers in the industry, according to a new workforce report. 

Drawing on insights from over 109,000 aged care employees, the Aged Care Workforce Narrative profiled the motivations and opinions of past and current staff. 

Along with resident and client interaction, it was found that location and the reputation of an organisation were among the top reasons people were attracted to an employer. 

The report found that retirement, poor wages and bad management were the main factors staff have quit over the past decade.

The data also showed that 62 per cent of workers believe there has been more investment into staff training, which is a gradual increase from the 50 per cent recorded in 2011.

Published by the Aged Care Workforce Industry Council (ACWIC), the report also contained a number of strategies to attract and retain workers.

Alluding to data which found that around half of direct care workers are under the age of 40, the report suggests that providers create incentives to attract younger staff.

Providers and managers should also invest in high quality induction programs to ensure new workers remain employed for longer periods of time, according to the findings.

While many workers found their managers to be approachable, only 10.4 per cent agreed that upper management ‘lead by example’.

The report confirmed that overall confidence in aged care leadership decreased each year a worker stayed with an employer. This was attributed to perceived lack of ‘soft skills’, such as conflict resolution, personal drive and ability to adapt to changes. 

In order to address competency issues, providers should make efforts to ask workers how they perceive their managers and leaders, the report said.

Do you have an idea for a story?
Email [email protected]