Aged care operators face a number of challenges amid rising demand for their services in the next decade. The providers that will lead during this time of substantial change will be those who can attract employees, train them on the job and retain workers long-term by offering clear paths to career development and job security.

Organisations adopting and using the latest technology and innovation tools will simultaneously futureproof their businesses and the careers of their employees while, importantly, offering residents better long-term care.

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Rapidly upskill frontline workers to meet expectations

Government and community pressure in the wake of the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety has resulted in a heightened focus on the aged care sector and its workforce, from senior executives to frontline carers. The added attention and scrutiny of the industry’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic have only intensified the need for staff attraction, training and retention.

For operators in the industry, the need to attract, train, educate and retain workers is an omnipresent and familiar situation, only exacerbated by recent events. The fact that their workforce is usually widely geographically spread only adds to the difficulty in implementation.

In addition, education and training remain crucial to addressing the broader challenges facing the sector, that include constrained supply and an increasingly diverse employee demographic, with a higher percentage of migrant and mature workers in the industry.

With increasing demand for care for an ageing population, there’s a real and immediate need to implement scalable, evidence-based learning programs to empower management and senior leaders in the aged care sector to:

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Using technology to train and engage

To effectively address these challenges, aged care operators need to develop capabilities at both a frontline and management level. The challenge is to build on the capabilities of a geographically dispersed frontline and ensure they have the skills and knowledge to effectively and safely manage themselves and those in their care. It also requires empowering leaders to support the drive for diversity and inclusiveness, adaptability and resilience and to support employee career transitions from one level of leadership to the next.  

For the front line, learning tools delivered via personal devices can address training needs such as manual handling, communication and negotiation skills, dealing with challenging behaviours and understanding dementia.

Providing personalised training in bite-sized chunks and with repetition via a mobile app can help staff to confidently upskill in a few minutes each shift and within the flow of work – keeping frontline workers concentrating on care whilst receiving training several times a week.

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These personalised and scalable trainings delivered via the latest technology result in strong employee engagement.

They also provide management with data and insights so that training progress can be easily measured, knowledge and competency gaps addressed and can drive significant uplift in skills and competencies aiding significant organisational change.

This approach enables employees to engage with the learning in different ways and means solutions are well-suited to the significant challenges facing the aged care sector now, and in the future, as technology plays a more prominent role within the industry.

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