I read about a study the other day that indicated participants who were shown a digitally aged image of themselves, were more likely to make good financial decisions around planning for retirement. This is interesting research that flagged again to me the need to be able to identify or empathise with an individual, cause or issue – in this case our future selves – in order to make appropriate and productive decisions in the present day.

For me the key element here is that of empathy.

Personally on a daily basis dealing with clients, friends and family, this is brought home. Dealing with my 7yo’s first experience of schoolyard bullying, working in a busy marketing agency where there are consistently competing demands and considering the challenges of our clients from both a personal and strategic or business perspective all require empathy – or rather these considerations are made more effective when I empathise. Even within social media empathy becomes important and can have a powerful motivating force for engagement.

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When I was at high school and university, the idea of working in aged care was never brought to my attention. The plan was to either become a leading lady on the big screen, or work in the humanitarian sector.

Today I’m a marketing and communications consultant and passionate human rights advocate. I’m also looking to get back into theatre.

But I wonder what shape my path would have taken if I had been informed about becoming a carer for those in aged care?

It’s no secret that most aged care providers across Australia are in urgent need of Division 1 nurses and personal care workers. In addition, the challenge remains to attract young people, graduates, who have a passion to work in the aged care sector.

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“I want an employer that is supportive and caring.”

“A good employer values its staff.”

Does this sound familiar to you?

Right now, Ellis Jones is conducting a series of employee focus groups for a Victorian based aged care provider.

During these focus groups, I’ve discovered that there are some fundamental emotional and functional benefits employees seek from an employer, with some important cultural twists.

Yet in the aged care sector, providing employees with a balanced and fulfilling work environment seems increasingly challenging for most providers. In fact attracting and retaining the right employees in the aged care sector has reached a critical point.

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Aged care is complex. Policy and clinical contexts keep morphing. Labor shortages persist. One fact the sector knows is, we need a genuine rethink on how to meet the challenges facing aged care providers.

Leading aged care experts such as Professor Fran McInerney from Mercy Heath are conducting ‘root and branch’ research. Recently Ellis Jones was fortunate to attend  a presentation by Professor McInerney which reported on the latest findings of her work. The presentation explored numerous issues but one dominated: the need for sophisticated, long term planning for an aged care workforce.

Workforce issues remain an ongoing issue for the aged care sector. Employing highly trained staff to meet the complex issues of older people is extremely difficult. This issue will only worsen as the demand for staff escalates. We need 20,000 extra workers over the next decade or so. Where will they come from?

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This is so cool (well, if you work in a social media agency or social recruitment it is!), I needed to share it to be enjoyed by all.

Here’s a fantastic infographic from the good people of RecruitLoop that cleverly demonstrates how recruiting has changed over the last four decades.

The introduction of technology and social media has had a massive effect on the HR industry, transforming head-hunters into community-gatherers.

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Attracting the right candidates to your organisation is the most important stage of any recruitment process, no matter the platform. It’s also the most expensive. So how can an organisation not only minimise costs while attracting the best talent, but develop a stronger employer brand? Integrating social media into your recruitment strategy is a step in the right direction.

Social media provides an organisation access to an engaged talent pool while increasing the brand awareness of an organisation with potential employees. While social media may be commonplace, there is still confusion as to how meaningful content that reflects your employee value proposition (EVP) can attract talent to an organisation. This need not be the case.

Here are ten steps to make sure your organisation is using social media effectively.

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Vocational education and training has featured heavily in the media over the last 12 months. From significant cuts to TAFE sector funding to RTO quality and performance issues and the reduction in overseas student applications the sector is suffering.

With governments cutting funding for vocational training, the onus is on providers to find cost efficiencies, understand and calculate demand, be more effective in marketing courses and improve visibility of training options online. In an environment of change and uncertainty, there is greater need to provide cost effective online communications channels to manage perceptions and reputation.

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It’s funny how quickly the corporate lexicon changes. Remember the fascination and devotion to designing ‘corporate culture’; the zealous conversion of staff to corporate values, mission and vision?

It seems the evangelists have moved on, leaving those of level head and social awareness with the task of generating open and productive communication between employees.

So, what happened?

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How an employer approaches the engagement of older employees and plans for their transition from the business is highly revealing.

Done successfully, not only does it boost productivity, protect intellectual property and minimise workers compensation costs, it actually defines the employer in the eyes of the workforce, stakeholders and customers – building and strengthening the employer brand while fostering higher levels of employee engagement.

The ageing of Australia’s population has been particularly apparent since the 1960s and is attributed to falling mortality and fertility rates combined with the effect of a baby boom generation as it moves into the older age brackets. Over the past two decades the workforce (and especially the full-time workforce) has been ageing at a rate faster than the general population. Workers in education and health are amongst the oldest workers, with fewer younger people and more older women in the workforce.

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Last year we explored the idea of the social evolution and its impact on the way we connect with new people. At some point, every company needs to consider the recruitment process. How they achieve a connection with the right applicant goes beyond traditional methods to being known to each individual network organically.

Finding candidates using social networks like Facebook and Twitter is pretty commonplace these days. It’s not unusual to see a tweet in your feed with the #job hashtag followed by “PLS RT!”. We’ve even used this method ourselves. But there’s a lot more to social recruiting than simply posting on your Facebook wall or Tweeting about the gap in your agency (also especially difficult when limited to 140 characters).

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