FREE CONSULTATION FOR HCAOA MEMBERS

What’s Really Hurting Your Home Care Hiring?

Associate member Safro Staffing is offering a free consult to review current openings and provide guidance on hiring best practices based on what’s working for agencies. Email [email protected] or call 800-716-2884 and confirm you are a member of HCAOA. 

​In home care, roles like clinical directors, administrators, sales staff, office support, clinical staff, and caregivers are all critical to growth, compliance, and quality of care. But too often, these hires are rushed—treated like quick fixes instead of strategic decisions.
And that’s where things start to fall apart.
 
Alignment First. Everything Else Follows.
 
Hiring often kicks off before there’s real clarity on what the role is, what success looks like, or who’s driving the decision. Leadership says one thing, HR another. As a result, the interviews feel disjointed, and the wrong person ends up in the role.
Get aligned upfront—on the responsibilities, the must-have skills, and what “great” looks like in the first 90 days. That’s the foundation. Skip it, and everything else gets harder.
Other Common Mistakes
 

• Only reviewing who applies. Strong candidates for clinical and leadership roles often aren’t applying. Limiting your search to inbound resumes means you’re missing better talent.
• Rushing the process. Skipping sourcing, screening, or reference checks might save time, but almost always leads to poor hires—and in some cases, bigger compliance or patient care risks.

 
In this market, the best candidates aren’t always looking—they’re working. That’s why sourcing tools, outbound outreach, and active networking matter. You need to reach passive candidates who aren’t applying but would consider the right opportunity. That takes time, the right tools, and industry knowledge.
 
A bad hire in a leadership or clinical role doesn’t just cost money. It hits morale, slows growth, and creates risk. Gallup says one bad hire can cost up to 2x their salary.
 
Better hiring starts with slowing down the front end of the process: align early, define success clearly, and build the right sourcing and screening steps.
 
If you don’t have time to do that in-house, work with someone who does.