Author: rhondawithers

Worth the wait?

Some things can’t be unseen.

On a recent mystery shopping visit, we waited 20 minutes past our scheduled appointment time for the customer liaison officer to greet us.

During this time, we observed a lack of responsiveness to the residents by facility staff.

The tour was generic and transactional and it only provided information about the facility. It did not focus on what we were actually looking for.

When potential care recipients are looking for a RAC facility, they are not just looking for information about the facility and a friendly tour guide. They are wondering if this is the right facility for their loved one.

Our team of experienced industry professionals are skilled at capturing information and facility insights and providing detailed reports that highlight relevant information for the client rather than an opinion of a generalist mystery shopper based on their interaction with facility staff.

If you want to find out what your potential customers are experiencing when they arrive at your facility, please head to http://www.thehdrgroup.com

#marketing #customerexperience #branding #mysteryshopping

Let’s talk Recruitment Agency Experiences

I have spoken with many candidates & colleagues in the Aged Care Sector over the past 15 years about their recruitment ‘Stories’.

I recently spoke with a highly experienced Professional that had applied for a Senior position with a well known Aged Care Organisation through a large recruitment agency.

Her story, though not uncommon, is disappointing.

3 weeks after applying for the role, she was contacted by the agency & they only divulged the name of the organisation.No other detail. No PD. The recruiter didn’t know what AHPRA registration was (I kid you not).

2 weeks later, she was contacted again by the agency & they advised her that she had been presented to the organisation & she had been shortlisted. My colleague had not given her permission to be represented by this agency & she hadn’t been interviewed by them.

My colleague contacted the organisation & advised them of her experience. They were shocked. They were shocked because they knew that the fee that they would paying for this appointment was over $20K.

Do you know how recruitment agencies are representing your brand in the marketplace?

There are currently 12 Residential Aged Care Facilities (RACF) in Australia with sanctions & 160 with notices of non-compliance. One of these homes only meets 10 out of the required 44 standards.  The majority of these homes are in NSW.

The major reasons for sanctions & non-compliances being imposed are HR, Clinical Care, Behaviour & Skin. I also noticed that there is a significant number of RACF’s with non-compliances in standard 3.6 Privacy & Dignity.

I read these reports to see why facilities are not meeting this fundamental basic human rights. The results were quite shocking.

Consistently homes were found not to respect & recognise the care recipient’s privacy, dignity & confidentiality. Care recipients & representatives are not satisfied with the mechanisms in place to adequately address & resolve concerns. Call bell times impact on the dignity of care recipients & there are no systems to ensure privacy are dignity is respected in accordance with the individuals needs.

Don’t get me started about the visible faeces on linen and clothes.

I would love to hear your thoughts on what measures you to take to ensure the privacy, dignity & confidentiality of all residents is recognised and respected.

#humanrights #dignity #agedcare #residentialcare

Let’s talk about Fridges.

Yes, that’s right…I am curious to hear your thoughts on this!

Through my customer experience auditing (mystery shopping), I have received very conflicting information from residential aged care facilities about residents ‘right’ to have bar fridge in their own room.

The conflicting advice consists of:

• Bar Fridges are provided by the facility for all residents in their own room

• Residents are welcome to bring in their own bar fridge for their room

• No Fridges are allowed in the resident rooms – Accreditation dictates that the resident fridges will require temperature monitoring and recording 3 times a day.

Really???

If the fridge has been checked (tested and tagged), is it fair to say that residents are able to have a small bar fridge in their room (their home) if they desire?

Or do fridges in resident rooms bring an unacceptable level of risk to the facility?

#customerexperience #agedcare #residentialagedcare #consumerchoice #consumerdirectedcare #cdc #accreditation

First Impressions.

During a recent on-site audit, an admissions officer responsible only for filling beds, advised me that residents are ‘selected’ and deemed acceptable (through their own rigorous process).

I would have to wait to be advised if the new resident application had been successful.

There were no questions about what the resident was looking for.

This ‘sales’ approach was very cold & to be honest ‘a bit rich’ as the facility resembled an old school institution. Barbed wire on the fencing made the facility feel more like a prison than someone’s home.

A tour of the facility highlighted that it was in desperate need of general maintenance, a good clean and refurbishment.

The facility was also noisy & none of the staff said hello to me throughout the tour.

The corridors were cluttered with equipment & rubbish bags. Large groups of residents were noted to be unattended in the various activity areas.

The garden & courtyard maintenance were appalling. Would you like to know what a customer’s first impression of your facility is?

Let’s have a chat about a customised customer experience audit for your organisation to see what your potential customers first impression of your facility is.

#customerexperience #agedcare #residentialagedcare

Let’s talk about barbed wire

I visited an aged care facility recently and it was heavily gated and had barbed wire across the top of the fencing.

I found it confronting.

Would you consider placing your loved one in a facility with barbed wire?

I would love to hear your thoughts!

It’s time to see what your potential consumers are really thinking! Did you know that an unsatisfied customer will do more damage to your brand by telling other people about it rather than complain to you about it…..

In an ever increasing competitive aged & community care market, potential care recipients & their families not only want the right aged care facility or community care support package, they are also demanding superior customer service.

Customer Experience audits help providers understand the experience the potential care recipients & their families receive when they are making new enquiries.

These audits are an effective and reliable way to measure the experience that your potential new customers encounter.

Finding out what service potential care recipients receive from your local competition will also go a long way to help you evaluate your own customer service standards.

The HDR Group offers a wide variety of customised customer expectation auditing experiences. You will see your organisation through a consumer’s eye.

Our Difference: We are industry specific & we are passionate about customer service excellence.

The people we employ as customers experience auditors have sector experience & knowledge.

Very wise words from Peter Schultz (Motivational Speaker and Businessman)