The article we published from Signature Health about how they are steadily replacing their old staffing models with Matchwell got a lot of attention. Maybe that’s because everybody knows that staffing, in this industry, has been broken for a long time. And this may be the way to fix it. Skilled nurses, CNAs, and other healthcare workers are gravitating to the Matchwell platform as a flexible way to get the work they want when they want it. And senior care providers are taking notice.
It shouldn’t be surprising. The concept of flexible working presents benefits for workers and employers alike. To be clear, Matchwell is not a replacement for full-time employment. But operators need alternatives and this one’s catching fire.
Building Relationships Between Skilled Professionals and Senior Living Communities
I spoke recently with Robert Crowe, founder and CEO of Matchwell (a Senior Living Foresight partner) and Rachel Nader, Regional Manager of Partnerships. We talked about the relationships being built between skilled professionals and senior living communities, via the Matchwell platform, and why it seems to be fueling its own revolution.
Much of it is a sign of the times. We look at work differently now than we did even five years ago. The gig economy isn’t just about Uber drivers, Robert says. It’s about empowering people to have some sense of control between balancing work and life. There is an increasing number of people out there who are seeking more flexible work options and this includes healthcare workers. And Matchwell is giving it to them.
So, a little bit about the technology . . . The online platform provides a direct and easy connection between qualified, pre-vetted healthcare professionals and care providers, without a middleman. No one understands the benefits of removing the middleman better than Robert, formerly an executive at one of the nation’s largest staffing agencies. From his vantage point, he saw large pools of talent that were going untapped. It was just a question of how to reach them. And it led him to develop Matchwell, a subscription-based platform with access to a steady stream of on-demand or contract staff – providing a way to help expand companies’ workforce and eliminate expensive overtime and agency fees.
Why Are Skilled Healthcare Workers Taking Part-Time Jobs at Target and Hobby Lobby?
What’s really cool about Matchwell is how it’s creating a new work path for skilled professionals when too many of them would take part-time jobs at places like Target and Hobby Lobby to make extra cash. What a colossal waste of talent. All because they couldn’t find an alternative that fit their schedules. Rachel knows that feeling, recalling her early years as a mom with young children at home, and putting her career on hold because there was no model to fit her needs. I had the skills, I wanted to work, but with a flexible schedule. It was next to impossible to find a way to do it.
This platform now makes it possible, because people can work flexible hours in the careers they trained for, Robert tells me. Many of them are retirees or moms and dads with kids at home who need and want to work, but just need some support making it easy to connect with great organizations, he explains. By the way, clinicians don’t like to work through agencies any more than facilities do . . . now, neither party needs to.
Hungry for an Alternative To an Expensive, Ineffective Part-Time Staffing Model
Now workers can get onto a platform that recognizes their value and matches them with senior living communities hungry for an alternative to running full-time employees ragged with overtime hours and paying agencies to secure temporary workers. Temporary, by the way, is a term Robert would like to see go. With annual turnover as high as it is, many employees we consider FTE are really only with us on a temporary basis, he says. What if we looked at having a robust on-demand and long term contractor float pool as a strategic asset? That way, we could expand how we take care of our residents in a potentially more cost-effective way.
It’s Not Only Workers Calling the Shots
For Robert and the Matchwell team, flex is a key component to the future of work. And Matchwell is the conduit. Those who struggle to adapt will continue to find it hard to attract and retain the very best people. Robert says. We’re seeing organizations embrace flex successfully as a strategic tool instead of as a band-aid. Everyone wins when this happens. Employers have access to a larger workforce and employees have a little more balance with the work/life demands.
Click here to schedule a demo of the Matchwell platform and learn more about how you can tap into the flex workforce.