Yes, homecare franchising can be fun! And when creating a successful franchise, fun should be part of the recipe.
Providing homecare means changing people’s lives for the better and putting smiles on faces, while motivating your team to ensure that clients are living the best life that they can. Inevitably it contains elements of fun. During my own career in the care sector, first as the owner of an award-winning care franchise and now as the chief executive of the growing Walfinch home care franchise, I’ve faced many challenges – but I have also had lots of fun.
So, the first thing to do is to recognise the role of fun in a care service. It’s the first step to bringing fun into your culture of care.
Why franchise leaders need to encourage fun
Making your team feel good makes clients feel good – and fun is a part of that, so it makes sense to encourage it.
I’m not talking about practical jokes or cruel humour here, but about providing fun to care clients – baking, singing together, gardening, jigsaws, trying to answer TV quiz questions. Of course, clients may need feeding, toileting and medications, but those are not what makes a day fun for client or carer.
Fun means clients and carers enjoying themselves. That’s why at Walfinch fun is one of our values, alongside integrity, excellence and teamwork. We know that encouraging fun in the workplace helps motivate staff, keeps clients happy and results in an overall better standard of care – plus a boost in productivity. A happy workforce is 13% more productive https:/www.ox.ac.uk/news/2019-10-24-happy-workers-are-13-more-productive.
Fun helps recruitment and retention
Who wants a dour, miserable job that demands you be serious all the time? No-one, and with the present recruitment challenges, we need to change the image of care careers to reflect the fun element.
Encourage carers to mention the fun they enjoy at work when talking to their friends and family. This will increase the chance of network-based recruitment – often the source of great candidates.
Highlight the fun aspects of a care career in vacancies. Include quotes from carers saying how much they enjoy the job. Mention specific activities, such as playing chess, talking about football, or making cakes.
In interviews ask candidates what they like to do. It’s easily spotted – they become more animated. The same goes for client assessments. As well as finding out what people need, find out what they like doing. Match carers to clients so they can do things they both enjoy – the basis of fun.
A sense of fun at work can help retain good carers. Celebrating your care team monthly with meals out or games nights, all help teambuilding and retention.
It all starts at the top
Leaders set the tone in any business, and by recognising the element of fun in care services, you can create and maintain good morale for everyone – clients, carers, management, and leaders themselves. Enjoy yourself – it delivers both fun and profit!
