Phone app adopted to recruit aged care staff
A Umina aged care facility has had a 25 per cent increase in job applications after adopting a phone app to recruit staff.
The phone app is used by Peninsula Village as part of a new employee referral and reward program, where existing employees can earn up to $400 and micro rewards by referring others to job vacancies.
The facility now hires 35 per cent of its staff through the app and the average time to fill vacancies has reduced to 35 days.
Since May, 24 new staff have been hired and none of these have since left.
Executive manager Ms Nicola Burton said the Care Friends app had helped to address some of the key challenges in recruiting staff, including finding candidates with the right qualifications and who lived locally.
"When we use online job boards or even our website, we get a lot of people applying who we can't consider because they don't have the correct qualifications or they live internationally," Ms Burton said.
"Care Friends has helped us to reduce this problem significantly.
"Our recruitment is now more targeted, and we love the fact that we can work in partnership with our staff and reward them for being part of our recruitment process," she said.
While over a third of its starters have care or clinical qualifications and experience, Ms Burton said Peninsula Villages had seen the most volume to recruit for positions that did not require a qualification, such as traineeships and housekeeping roles.
"Employees can invite their friends and family members without prior experience to apply for these roles," she said.
SOURCE:
Media release, 11 Jan 2024
Nicola Bolte, Brilliant Logic