Interview with Ruby, a home care scheduler

Here at 𝐀𝐮𝐠𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐚, we want to 𝐟𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐲.

This week, we want to showcase 𝐑𝐮𝐛𝐲 𝐁. who spent an hour talking with us about 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝𝐮𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 and how it relates to recruiting and onboarding caregivers. She is a scheduler for a home care agency in Los Angeles, California.

𝐒𝐨 𝐑𝐮𝐛𝐲, 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐫𝐮𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐧𝐛𝐨𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬?

I don’t have a huge part in recruiting and onboarding. I’m a scheduler and we meet caregivers when they’re having an interview. I try to get a feel of their flexibility & their personability to see which clients they may pair with. I also assess the overall needs for scheduling and approval of hours. I am one of the more senior schedulers.

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐢𝐧 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐫𝐮𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐧𝐛𝐨𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐭𝐨𝐝𝐚𝐲?

One of the biggest obstacles we face as schedulers is ensuring our caregivers are paired with the correct clients while staying within the caregivers requested schedule.

We have caregivers call out everyday, so we need to make sure their shift is properly covered for their client. Sadly, sometimes this results in having to contact caregivers outside of their requested schedule.

When 1 caregiver calls out, it usually results in having to change 3 other caregivers shifts to ensure they are all paired with a client they can be successful with. Sometimes this can take about an hour or 2 for 1 caregiver to be switched or replaced with another caregiver.

If there is no one available, we then turn to the lead caregivers to fill in the shift to care for our beloved senior clients.

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝𝐮𝐥𝐞?

I just hope they know where we are coming from. We all want to make sure our clients and beloved seniors are capable of aging safely at home. I can feel where caregivers get upset when we call outside of their schedule.

I personally can see where they are coming from. In my previous career, I was in the position where the people in the office had no clue what working in the field is actually like.

𝐈𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐲 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐚𝐲?

I want them to know that we really do care about them, we do our best to not over exert them. We are all trying to make sure the most vulnerable in our community can stay safe at home.

Sometimes we do rely a little too much on the good caregivers. But everyday is a new obstacle to try to find a perfect balance for both our Rockstar caregivers and our beloved clients.

𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐑𝐮𝐛𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧 𝐚 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐮𝐬! 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐮𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐲𝐞𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬!

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