This week is National Nursing Home Week (NNHW). It actually began yesterday (May 13, Mother’s Day – Happy Mom’s day by the way) and runs through May 19, 2012.

This year’s NNHW theme is Celebrating the Journey, as in celebrating the journey of living life to the fullest each day.

For residents in long term care settings the dedicated staff who care for them and the additional staff that operate their facilities contribute to providing the best quality care and quality of life they can so residents can celebrate their on-going journey daily.

Thank you!

Be sure to ‘Like’ the Nursing Home Week Facebook Page.

While you’re at it, feel free to ‘Like’ Insperity on Facebook, too.

Posted By: Nick Venturella – Insperity

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The article, The ‘Smartphone Class’: Always On, Always Consuming Content, identified some interesting information about smartphone users (a group of 93.1 million, as of 2011, and growing).

What the article highlighted that is worth noting is that smartphone users use their phone to consume bits of information whenever there is a free moment – say, waiting in a doctors office or in line at the grocery store.  That make sense when you essentially have a small Internet-enabled computer in your pocket. 

The ‘smartphone class’ – a title given in the article to identify a group of people who use their smartphone to consume small amounts of content throughout the day — contains adult children of aging parents who are seeking long-term care facilities.

These are busy people with kids of their own who are often also helping care for, or trying to find appropriate care facilities for, their aging parents.  They don’t have large chunks of free time to sit and review all of the printed materials your long-term care facility may mail to them.  They have to have a reason to schedule some time to review such information. 

However, if your marketing information is on the web and your website is optimized to be viewable on a smartphone and/or tablet device those adult children of aging parents are more likely inclined to consume your marketing information in the few minutes they have here and there — at least enough to entice them to schedule some more time to learn more about your facility, and possibly read the printed material they received in the mail.

Long-term care facilities can also take advantage of the smartphone revolution.  Those pocket sized computers can be used to help your staff operate more efficiently.  One example is to use a web-based scheduling and time and attendance program to help your facility better manage its workforce.  That in turn can save on labor costs, increase efficiency, which helps increase your staff’s ability to offer quality care.  That in turn helps you create and maintain a good reputation as a quality facility.

So the more you can demonstrate that in small frequent chunks online, the more those adult children of aging parents will tune in to your facility’s marketing.

Posted By: Nick Venturella – Insperity

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Insperity will be attending the upcoming Life Services Network 2012 Annual Meeting in Chicago, IL beginning May 2-4 (visit us at booth #1404).

Life Services Network is one of the largest and most respected long-term care associations of its type in the country.  LSN has represents the complete continuum of services for older adults for over 75 years.

For those in the Long-Term Care industry planning to attend the LSN Annual Meeting we encourage you to take 5 minutes to fill out our online survey, related to the conference. By doing so you’ll be registered for a chance to win an iPad! Here’s where to find the survey: http://svy.mk/2012LSN  (for the survey we’re interested in hearing from CFO’s, Owners, DON’s and Administrators, ideally).

Thank you. We’ll see you at the LSN Annual Meeting.

Posted By: Nick Venturella – Insperity

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Saw this article on Inc. Magazine’s website, 8 Core Beliefs of Extraordinary Bosses. 

I’ve personally had bosses on both sides of the coin – luckily at the moment I’m on the extraordinary-boss-side of things.

How many of these traits do you have?  What would it mean to your company, to your staff, to aspire toward being a more extraordinary boss?

Posted By: Nick Venturella – Insperity

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Insperity will be attending the upcoming LeadingAge PEAK Leadership Summit in Washington, DC beginning April 23, 2012 (visit us at booth #805).

LeadingAge is a national aging services organiztion dedicated to being a progressive advocate for effective services, home health, hospice, community services, senior housing, assisted living residences, continuing care communities, nursing homes, as well as technology solutions, to seniors, children, and others with special needs. 

The PEAK Leadership Summit is an industry educational conference focused on the future of aging services.  Insperity will be there soaking up a bunch of knowledge and helping long term care professionals understand how our workforce management software solutions can help streamline staff scheduling, time and attendance and payroll processes to gain efficiencies and get everyone back to providing quality care for facility residents.

For those in the Long-Term Care industry planning to attend the LeadingAge PEAK Leadership Summit we encourage you to take 5 minutes to fill out our online survey, related to the conference.  By doing so you’ll be registered for a chance to win an iPad!  Here’s where to find the survey: http://svy.mk/LeadingAge (for the survey we’re interested in hearing from CFO’s, Owners, DON’s and Administrators, ideally).

Thank you.  We’ll see you at LeadingAge PEAK Leadership Summit.

Posted By: Nick Venturella – Insperity

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As a business owner, or C-level executive, do regularly check in with your staff to understand their day-to-day and on-the-job challenges?

It’s a good practice to get into because it does a few things:

• It helps build staff confidence in their leadership – staff wants to know that they’re being heard and that the organization’s leadership does care about their concerns.
• It helps build staff buy-in to new initiatives
• It helps staff feel like a part of a larger team whose members are interdependent – meaning they have to rely on each other for the the overall organization to achieve success
• It allows you better insight into your staff and what they need to help you and your organization be successful.

As the leadership of your organization, the catch is, you actually have to care about these things and the success of the people with whom you work and serve, otherwise your organization’s path toward success will fail before it ever truly has the chance to realize its potential.

Even from a workforce management software solution provider’s perspective, it still takes people to make things happen – the software is just a tool that can help people be more efficient in their role.

Learn how your organization can gain a positive ROI by implementing a time and attendance software.  Download our free ROI white paper.

Posted By: Nick Venturella – Insperity

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Seth Godin, the author of many pointed business marketing books, wrote a blog post about not giving up when you think you can’t do something.

Godin’s post is pertinent to many, and on many different levels.  However, here as we talk about workforce management best practices, and with some specific attention on Long-term care, his sentiments resonate well.

In the long-term care industry medicaid and medicare reimbursement cuts, and the general state of the economy over the last few years, have made those running long-term care facilities feel like they can’t keep their quality of care up while keeping their doors open.

Unfortunately, the rules of the game have changed and there are possilby less resources available compared to prior years, but there is a way.  It can be done.  Some creative thinking and mental gymnastics may be required to get there, but you’ll be better for it.

Ways to gain efficiencies that can help save money is a great place to start.  Improving your operations and automating those tasks that can be automated effectively can help, such as your workforce management processes — scheduling, time and attendance, HR and payroll.  Such workforce management software solutions can increase efficiencies, increase productivity, positively impact your facility’s bottom line and get your staff back to what they do best — offering quality care.

Learn how your organization can gain a positive ROI by implementing a time and attendance software.  Download our free ROI white paper.

Posted By: Nick Venturella – Insperity

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I recently wrote a blog post titled, Why Long-Term Care residents care about your facility’s workforce management software. In that post I spoke about why, at least indirectly, long-term care residents care that your facility is using a workforce management system that is efficient and effective.

To underscore that point, I just read an article in Long-Term Living magazine, From great silence to loud booming: The changing face of senior care, by Judah L. Ronch, PhD. This article talked about how the Silent Generation (those born between 1925 and 1945) are in their late 60′s to late 80′s, and Baby Boomers, the oldest of whom are now 66 years old are beginning to look at long-term care facilities and their services. Many are already familiar with such facilities in the Boomers’ care for their own aging parents.

However, the Boomers are less than satisfied with the way many senior facilities run. Boomers want more freedoms, and more ways to socially stay connected – in person and online (via the Internet).

My point is:  it’s more important now, than ever, for your facility to update its operational technology to run more efficiently and effectively.  By implementing a workforce management software system inclusive of automated scheduling program, a time and attendance program and HR & payroll software your facility can reduce it’s total payroll costs between 1-3% — leveraged heavily on an automated time and attendance software.

By saving on your labor costs your facility can displace dollars toward a Wi-Fi infrastructure for residents, and/or other tools for social engagement.

Learn how your organization can gain a positive ROI by implementing a time and attendance software.  Download our free ROI white paper.

Posted By: Nick Venturella – Insperity

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Does your organization have trouble with employees punching into their work day on time?

If so, did you ever consider that it may be because your company offers its employees lousy coffee?

I mean, it’s early morning, at least your employee was able to get themselves out of bed, showered and dressed – perhaps one of their children were up all night with a stomach ache – regardless, not much sleep was had by anyone.

At that early point in the morning, as your employee gets into their car to head to the office, the one thing they look forward to upon arriving at work is a good cup of coffee. Unfortunately, what they get is some bad tasting lousy coffee that does more to make them gag than perk up to start their work day.

So the employee endured their long commute to the office only to punch in 10 minutes late. This may seem like an innocent enough timekeeping infraction, and it happened once, right?

Well, what if each of your employees did that once a week?  Those 10 minutes, or even 5 minutes, begin to add up throughout the year. That equals lost productivity, which can have a negative effect on the bottom line.

Now think about this:  because your automated time and attendance program helps save your company money by increasing the accuracy of the time and attendance data collected, and that data is used by payroll to calculate compensation for employees at the end of a pay period, you have less human errors.  That means no more manual timekeeping process and having to retype info into a payroll system while trying to decipher handwriting that looks like an “8,” but may really be a “6.”

The point is, with the money you save on your total payroll costs by utilizing an automated time and attendance program (often between 1-3% savings), help your employees by giving them something to look forward to in the morning – buy some good coffee!

Trust me, it will help encourage the prompt on-time arrival of your employees – they want to make sure they get some of the good coffee before HR leaves only a swallow at the bottom of the coffee pot (which, by the way, really should be an HR violation…I digress).

Good coffee will help employees perk up appropriately increasing productivity and improving the bottom line.

Posted By: Nick Venturella – Insperity

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This morning I was thinking about long-term care facilities, and their residents and the connection between residents and a facility’s workforce management software.
I thought…If I’m a resident in a Long-term care facility why would I care about the facility’s workforce management software?

Chances are residents in long-term care facilities may not know about their facility’s workforce management software, what it is or does and why it would be important to a facility and their staff.

The truth is: that’s okay. The residents don’t need to know those things. However, the residents and their families want to know that the facility is running as efficiently and effectively as possible to ensure the quality of care being offered is top notch.

Scheduling

A contributing factor of that facility offering top notch quality care is their workforce management software. You see when a long-term care facility uses an advanced scheduling program – part of a total workforce management software solution – the Director of Nursing or Administrator who schedules the staff can review the facility’s census and schedule staff accordingly.

However, what often happens is: during the week one of the staff members might get sick and can’t make their shift. The scheduling software can then send out messages to those on your staff who are available and qualified to cover the shift so it can be filled as quickly as possible – with no disruption in care to the resident.

Time and Attendance

The time and attendance program of a workforce management solution helps the facility by allowing an Administrator to see who is actually punching in and out of their work shifts. This is important because it helps prove in real-time whether the schedule that was created for the week is working out correctly in terms of labor costs for which the facility has budgeted.

Essentially, what time and attendance can mean for quality care is that staff is being monitored to work reasonable hours reducing staff burnout and turnover. If one staff member is approaching overtime the Administrator (who is scheduling the staff) can be alerted by the time and attendance program and make a decision to send that person home to maintain their hours at 40 for the week while putting in place another staff member who is not yet at 40 hours for the week. This keeps staff members from working so much that they get burnt out, which indirectly helps morale – otherwise staff can feel over-tired, over-worked and frustrated when short-handed by poor scheduling (see how this stuff ties together). Plus, it helps the facility manage their labor costs better, which means they’re providing the quality care residents deserve without having to raise their prices due to staff overtime and turnover challenges.

HR & Payroll

Finally, the HR & and payroll software components of a workforce management system help a facility’s staff members get their paychecks on time and with accuracy. The HR & payroll software will use the time and attendance data (when staff members punch in and out of their shifts), attribute that data to each employee and based on their hourly rate of pay, run the data through payroll to ensure the employees are paid accurately and on time.

The HR & payroll functions of a workforce management system benefit a facility’s quality of care because it’s the end of the line, at the end of a pay period for employees to get paid, and everyone wants to make sure they’re compensated for the work they put in.

So while residents may not be directly thinking about your facility’s workforce management software they indirectly are interested because of its impact on your facility’s ability to offer quality care.

Posted By: Nick Venturella – Insperity

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