As the crisis in recruitment in the care sector continues, more and more care homes are relying on agency staff to fill in the gaps. There can be advantages to nurturing what can be described as a ‘blended workforce’, combining the longer-term experience of permanent staff and different perspectives of people seeing with fresh eyes how things are run.

Whatever you think about the right way to balance agency and permanent staff, it is important to ensure that everyone feels welcome, comfortable and safe doing their jobs in your care home. Here are some ways to look after agency staff over the festive period and into 2025.

Organised onboarding

A great way to welcome agency staff even before they set foot in your care home is to ensure that they have all the information they need to prepare for their time with you, know about all the ‘terms and conditions’ and understand what their role is actually going to be. The only way you can do this is to be fully cognisant of all of these things yourself before you even pick up the phone to your chosen agency to ask about availability. Using a digital care management programme like Care Vision helps you spot the gaps in your own staffing, draw up agency staff rotas, understand budgets and retain records of the agency workers with whom you have previously worked. The better organised you are, the more helpful you can be to agency staff coming onboard.

First impressions count

We all make rapid judgements about situations and people, especially when encountering them for the first time. It might be a bit of a cliché, but first impressions really do count for a lot. So, if you are keen to encourage good agency staff to feel welcome and motivated to work hard, make sure you are there to greet them on their first day, show them round and partner them up with trusted staff members to show them the ropes as they settle in. Give them their own space to store their belongings, show them where the kitchen or break rooms are and allow time to answer any questions they may have. The better you treat agency staff, the more likely it will be that they will want to come back and work with you another day.

Easy, efficient operations

Agency staff operating in unfamiliar surroundings will appreciate being given as many tools as possible to make their lives easier as they find their way around. Care Vision has a number of helpful tools and features to support staff in their duties. From eMAR medication recording to fluid and nutrition monitoring; emergency call features to hospital admission support, Care Vision has everything that agency staff need to support your residents efficiently and get the associated admin done quickly so they can focus on the people they are caring for.

Offer consistency

Agency staff do not tend to have the same security as employed workers who know where their next pay cheque is coming from, and what they will be doing one week to another. Even if you are unable to offer agency staff more than a couple of days’ work at a time, keep them in the loop about what you might be able to offer in the future. Care Vision’s planning tools can help you work out what your staffing needs might be further into 2025. If you encounter agency staff who fit well into your team and work hard, you can always share information about your plans for 2025 with them in the hope that they might consider returning in the future.

Provide wellbeing assistance

We are all human and appreciate a friendly, considerate working environment. Make sure that you find time to welcome your agency staff and pass the time of day with them. However busy you and your team may be – and you will doubtless be up against it over New Year and the colder winter months – never stop treating all of your staff as individuals who will appreciate kindness and a word or two of thanks in a difficult role. Think about what other ways you can support agency staff in terms of their wellbeing and happiness at work. Include them in tea or coffee runs, introduce them to everyone in the home, from residents and families to catering and facilities teams. Show them that you care, and they will be more inclined to return.