Workforce effectiveness: The missing signal
- 5 days ago
- 3 min read
Leveraging aged care rostered workforces - increase minutes delivered, grow margins and avoid burnout
“You can’t improve what you don’t measure” is highly applicable to workforces in aged care. The impact of workforce inefficiencies are particularly acute in aged care. However, inefficiencies can now be avoided because they can be forecast. Providers can maximise results using Effort Management Analysis (EMA) which transforms workforce data into signals and actionable insights. EMA found around $0.5M a year was wasted per residential facility - which could have been avoided.
Administrator Amy, manager Mike, and executive Emily care deeply for their residents and workers. Among their many responsibilities, they collectively manage the workforce. However, even with the best roster tools, good results are not easy. Amy struggles with constant change and pressure to post the best roster on time. Margy is torn between budgets and sourcing workers to fill shifts. Emily struggles to monitor the workforce management system for all her facilities,. All three are also accommodating new care minute and other requirements.
They know workforce results should be better, sense it could be better but wish working harder wasn’t the solution. Too often stress and guilt take their toll. Why Rosters Fall Short
What Amy, Mary and Emily are unaware of, is that:
Workforces are optimised only when the number of workers a provider will need, have and use - are the same.
The link between roster decisions and results (minutes, $margins, wellbeing) – can be modelled.
Workforce management (WFM) is not just software, its a system, requiring policies, processes, resources - and signals to steer it.
These signals are missing from WFM, because calculated roster ‘gaps’ are insufficient.
Without these, Amy, Mike and Emily don’t have the tools they need to improve their workforce results.
Making Effectiveness Visible
EMA has changed that. Providers can now avoid inefficiencies and forecast workforce effectiveness. Providers know when, where, and why a workforce is not effective. The EMA innovation transforms workforce data into signals, enabling providers to optimise results.
EMA has quantified what many suspected: aged-care workforces have inefficiencies, – and are just 80% effective. It also shows that worker shortages are often overstated causing overtime or agency use, costing $5–$15 per resident per day – and are avoidable. Roster issues were obvious: unused workers, over-allocations, short shifting, extreme overtime and allocation biases.
From Signals to Action
EMA’s signals are actionable insights, making interventions appear self-evident. EMA empowers:
admins to self-correct rosters,
managers to decide capacity, and
executives to adjust strategies.
More shifts get filled, agency and overtime costs reduce, fatigue is avoided and rostering is fairer.
What would executive Emily think, hearing about EMA for the first time? She might say: “How’s this possible? AI? We just implemented a new roster system. Software is expensive. We have no time for change. What value would EMA bring to us?”
A Low-Risk First Step
EMA simply uses data that providers already have; it’s based on a new analytical framework that converts workforce data into effectiveness signals; its an online service that complements roster software, with no IT change. It takes only a few hours to trial; online costs are low, so if potential saving were $10 a day per resident – then ROI could be 50:1. When EMA findings have been revealed to providers – they’ve immediately launched into change initiatives across their system.
Executive Emily now has a choice:
A. Experience the ease and impact of optimising workforce results using EMA’s signals, or
B. Keep doing the same thing, without signals, wishing better results were easier.
EMA is available as a one-off snapshot, or fully implemented. The first step is to receive a free assessment of your data’s readiness and learn more about EMA’s power.
To enquire about this article email alex.james@centri.com.au
Download a Case Study in residential aged care
Want to see the workforce effectiveness data and charts from five real aged care facilities? Download Residential Aged Care Case Study Results PDF
Could EMA help you? Take Step 1 (free) to confirm your workforce's suitability. Step 2 will then reveal how effective your workforce really is -and how to fix it. Step 3 is for organisations that thrive with EMA.
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