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Lessons From Workforce Workshops

Last week Maine Health Care Association hosted a series of workshops across the state aimed improving recruitment and retention of new Mainers and other linguistic minorities for the LTC workforce.  
 
Below are some of the early and easy takeaways from the workshops: 
  • Build an environment where trust is demonstrated to junior staff by more senior staff. Sure, it's necessary for senior staff to trust more junior staff, but it's equally vital your staff trust you.  
  • Consider the ways you demonstrate to your staff that you trust and value their knowledge, skills, and abilities. An environment where everyone feels trusted and valued is an environment where people will stay long term.  
  • Consider your use of language when posting jobs. If it's important to hire new Mainers and other linguistic minorities, then it's important for your job postings to use language that conveys as much.  
  • Try asking your current new Mainer employees to give you some suggestions to change your job posting to make it more inviting to other new Mainers.  
  • Cut out industry jargon, highlight on-the-job training opportunities, and highlight your diverse workforce in your job advertisement.  
  • Be curious and show a desire to learn about your employees' culture, practices, or native language. Any of the ideas below offer a point of relational connection that breaks down walls and builds trust and respect.  
  • Be appropriately curious about employees' holiday cultural practices. 
  • Consider potluck parties and support an environment where employees can share or “teach” everyone about a native or culturally significant food. 
  • Familiarize yourself with the various holidays celebrated around the world, like Hannukah, Kawanza, Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr, Holi, Diwali, to name a few.   
 
Staff contact: ablack[at]mehca.org 

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