Last week, I was participating in a Zoom mixer with Associate members of the California Alliance of Child and Family Services. While discussing the challenges of hiring employees, one of those attending indicated that recruiting and retaining employees will take a hit in the next year. He mentioned “The Great Resignation” as a major factor with employees.
Not having heard of the term, I decided to do some research. And what I discovered should make leaders very concerned. The Great Resignation is now a term to describe the impending aftermath of the pandemic. Here’s an article from Forbes that goes into further depth.
How does the Great Resignation affect the behavioral health field? According to an article from Microsoft, 40% of the global workforce is considering leaving the employer in the next year. Why? Since 2020, employees working from home or laid off from jobs began to re-evaluate their lives. They looked at their work, the stress of traffic, documentation, long hours, and lack of support from leadership. These individuals found that, although making less money, their lives were more enriched while being away from the pressure cooker of working with clients. Subsequently, they will be making decisions about future employment with little loyalty to their current job site. Values such as job and personal development, along with opportunities for advancement, will keep employees at their desks, be it at the office or the WFA (Work from Anywhere) desk.
The behavioral health field has a long reputation for high turnover of employees even before the Great Resignation. For all the reasons mentioned above, employees wanted a place where their work had meaning, and they were valued for their achievements. To keep employees at their job, leaders need to take a look at the following:
1. Employee goals. What do individuals want from their job? Security, learning, the chance to make a difference with clients. In the past these were true, but now leaders must look at how employees will change their goals. Location, less stress, flexibility will even be more important. But most employees want to advance, either in position, degree, licensure, or recognition. And loyalty is at the bottom of the list. Companies that want to keep their employees need to listen and find initiatives to help employees. Consider that a Gallup poll of millennials and Gen Z found 87 percent “highly value” growth and development opportunities. Sadly, just 39 percent of young employees felt that they had “learned something new on the job in the past month.” Giving them a path to achieve these opportunities will make them want to stay.
2. Training. Employees who aren’t learning or feel overwhelmed by clients tend to leave organizations. This is why giving employees clinical training, knowledge, and the skills to help them with their clients creates value for them in their work. The more they feel they’re helping, the more engaged they become with work and feel a sense of success. Nothing is more satisfying to a clinical worker than having clients stay in treatment and see results.
3. Change the emphasis on documentation and productivity. Although this seems counterintuitive to agency survival, these demands will lead employees to avoid returning to work. Behavioral health professionals come to the field to help people, not feel like they’re constantly having to justify their billing and what they do on paper. Employees feel the pressure of performance, and with the pandemic, more will say, “Why am I doing this?” Companies that focus more on the mission of healing will keep employees.
Praxes offers behavioral health solutions in consulting, training, and treatment intervention software. For more information about our services, please contact us.
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PRAXES is a nationwide behavioral health software, consulting, and training company. No one in the behavioral health industry has a better reputation, and if you give us the chance, we’ll show you why! At PRAXES, our services improve the efficiency and structure of behavioral health agencies serving children and families nationwide. PRAXES brings over 45 years of administrative and clinical expertise. With more than 100 client companies nationwide, we offer the expertise to advance the quality of behavioral health services. We accomplish these goals through our new clinical decision software, our training of best practices, and helping companies meet regulatory standards. At PRAXES, we believe in being creative and fostering new ways to serve children and their families. Our vision is to empower the families our agencies serve with skills that not only improve their functioning, but help them to thrive in their everyday lives. When you give us the chance, you’ll be connected directly to our friendly staff, so you can expect immediate attention to your inquiry. So, don’t wait, call now!
Dan Thorne has unique perspectives on the field of mental health. As a clinician, he has had over 40 years of experience working with clients in the Southern California area. After obtaining his Bachelor’s degree from the University of California at Irvine, he worked with children in the Orange County Juvenile Hall. Here he honed his earliest techniques on at-risk children. After that, he obtained his Master’s degree in Counseling from California State University, Fullerton.
In the 1990’s, Dan turned his attention to the clinical and administrative side of behavioral health organizations. For three years, he was the Assistant Administrator of Starting Point, a chemical dependency facility in Costa Mesa, CA. In 2001, he took an opportunity to be the Director of Harbor View Community Services Center in Long Beach. When he arrived, the Center had only 80 clients and 13 staff. When he left, there were over 400 clients and 75 staff. Dan created several programs through their contract with the Los Angeles County Departments of Mental Health and Child and Family Services. Under his guidance, Harbor View became one of the leading providers of children’s services in Los Angeles County.
While improving the results of the client’s parents at the Center, Dan reflected on his experiences as a parent. His children themselves had special needs such as mental and intellectual challenges, and Dan knew the toll it takes on the parent. In order to help the child, the parent has to be healthy. From this concept, he created his parenting program. After years of refining it, teaching it to his staff at the Center, and then taking the results and comments from these efforts, he became the developer of the current PRAXES program. It is a culmination of Dan’s personal trials and tribulations as a parent along with empirical results and research of over 40 parenting programs.
Our vision at PRAXES is to advance the strength of parents and caregivers of children with special needs (mental health, intellectual, or physical) through education, support, and empowerment. Thus, they can live healthy and functional lives while caring for the child.
Apogee is a clinical decision software designed to help behavioral health practitioners with their treatment and patient engagement. It provides evidence-based and research-based components. Not only do they consist of elements from such practices as Cognitive Behavior Therapy, Seeking Safety, Dialectical Behavior Therapy, Motivational Interviewing, Functional Behavior Analysis, but also the Intensive Models for Parents, Youth, and Children.
PRAXES has over 30 years of accreditation experience. We know what it takes to get your organization accredited. Whether it’s Joint Commission, CARF, or COA, our team can provide an evaluation of your current status and review the standards which need improvements. We will assist you with the policies, documentation, and training required to be accredited.
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