Staff Recruitment, Retention, & Training Strategies For Community Human Services Organizations

Recruitment, retention, and training of direct support workers are among the most challenging issues facing community human service agencies in America. This book provides practical strategies that managers, supervisors, and administrators can use in their agencies to assess and successfully address workforce challenges. Each strategy is described with detailed instructions about how to assess the strategy, develop an intervention plan, and evaluate its effectiveness. The book offers many illustrative worksheets and guidelines that can be adapted for use by agencies. The book includes strategies that can be used to get "buy in" from affected stakeholders (e.g., direct service providers, clients) so that the strategies will work when implemented. Each chapter includes: an introduction, an outline of Target Front Line Supervisor and Direct Support Personnel skill areas, an overview of the "problem" (e.g., turnover, lack of motivation), research supporting the strategies to be presented, instructions on how to implement the strategy, a discussion of possible roadblocks to implementing the strategy and how to deal with them, a summary, further resources, and sample forms and guidelines.