Ever thought that organising a party could help you learn about good retention best practice?

Maybe not, but nevertheless – there are some valid lessons that apply to both.

When planning a party, you need to consider your guests.  Imagine inviting twenty women in their late forties and one young man of twenty-one.  That young man may feel a little out of place.  Particularly if all the women are a similar age to his mother!  And if he is a similar age to their children then they may find some difficulty communicating.

The same is true of a lone male joining an all-female team in a care setting.

The young man may not stay until the end of the party.

But, if you deploy top class hosting skills, make relevant introductions, and find things your guests may have in common – they are in a better position to enjoy each other’s company.  And just like at a party when you introduce guests to each other, helping new team members make connections is really important.

Good party planning involves mapping what your guests will be doing.   Often at weddings guests are served canapes and drinks while the celebrants and their families have photos taken.

For the best retention results consider; what will new starters do while you’re busy on their first day?  Have you thought about how you can make the first day as interesting as possible? If it’s boring, or they don’t know what they should be doing, or made to feel a burden, they’ll vote with their feet.

Work should be a place that gives satisfaction and fun when appropriate.  Parties should always be fun!

Most people tell their guests when a party is due to start and end.  Just like new employees are told and have agreed when their shift starts and ends.  It’s no good in either scenario changing this on the day.  If you do, you risk last minute cancellations for the party and put your new starter at risk before they even start.

Party organising, like any get together involves planning, cleaning, buying, and organising.  Not so different to making sure you’re ready for a new team member.  Do you have a uniform, is it ready, is it the right size?  There’s nothing worse than turning up to a party and finding there’s no food you can eat and just as bad starting your first day at work when you don’t have a uniform, a name badge, there aren’t enough mugs in the kitchen for you and no one knew you were starting.

For good retention and good parties – you need to plan, plan, plan!

If you’re looking for more retention tips, tricks and insights, why not come along to our next webinar on the 12th October 2023, ‘UK Care Sector Retention: Better or Worse?’. We’ll be sharing the data we have collected from thousands of exit and retentions and suggesting meaningful solutions to the biggest retention problems.