(Alexandria, Va.)—Today Argentum announced a standardized approach to measuring turnover and retention. The announcement was made during the 2018 Argentum Senior Living Executive Conference in San Diego, Calif. by Brent Weil, Argentum vice president of workforce development, and Mark Woodka, OnShift CEO. This standardization serves as one of the key successes of a pilot program launched in 2017 by the Argentum workforce development committee, which aims to establish industry-wide turnover and retention benchmarks.
“Reducing employee turnover can have a wide-ranging impact in our industry,” said Weil. “By understanding and benchmarking industry retention, we ultimately hope to identify strategies that can lower recruitment and training costs, reduce overtime expenses, and help us grow our future leaders.”
The pilot program included a collection of turnover and retention data for a variety of community positions, such as those in nursing and dining services, from select Argentum member organizations. OnShift, Argentum’s partner for workforce development, and Kronos served as key partners, working with Argentum in creating tools to assist in data collection.
“Senior living providers need reliable metrics to benchmark, compare, and implement effective workforce strategies,” said Woodka. “We look forward to the continued expansion of participating organizations to help support their workforce initiatives.”
To date, data has been gathered from approximately 325 senior living communities for nearly 80,000 employees, and Argentum continues to expand the program as more companies and communities share an interest in contributing data. The data will be used to create a method of standardized reporting so industry providers can compare their turnover rates with an industry benchmark, and in turn, help pinpoint the best opportunities for improvement.
“There are some of us who for 25 or 30 years have dreamed of building a more professional industry,” said Bill Pettit, president of R.D. Merrill Company and chair of the Argentum workforce development committee. “We’ve laid the groundwork, and now all those pieces are coming together.”
Senior living provider companies seeking more information or to participate in the workforce metrics program should contact Brent Weil at [email protected] or 571-527-2630.
About Argentum
Argentum is the leading national association exclusively dedicated to supporting companies operating professionally managed, resident-centered senior living communities and the older adults and families they serve. Argentum member companies operate senior living communities offering assisted living, independent living, continuing care, and memory care services to older adults and their families. Since 1990, Argentum has advocated for choice, independence, dignity, and quality of life for all older adults. Learn more at argentum.org.
