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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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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89% of companies will use social media networks for recruiting in 2011. Most will do some stalking on Linked In, some Facebook profiling and perhaps set up a Careers page with some social media sharing buttons. Let us show you how to go much much deeper to transform your recruitment strategy, driving down staff turnover and costs at the same time.

In response to rapidly increasing interest in sophisticated social recruiting, Ellis Jones has launched a program of workshops for company HR and Recrutiment Teams.

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