How to Hire Home Health Aides (HHA) (2024)

HHAs can work in a large variety of settings — from group homes and hospices to private residences and daycare facilities — depending on their qualifications, career objectives, and individual preferences. To attract the candidate that will be the best fit for the position, consider the type of home health aide you require and the benefits that may interest them.

Some things that HHAs value include:

• Jobs that are close to home.
• Fair compensation and bonuses.
• Respect and a well-supported environment.
• Decent working hours.
• Flexibility.
• Meaningful work and job satisfaction.
• Reasonable shifts.
• Training and growth opportunities.
• Paid vacations.
• Comprehensive medical insurance.

The demand for HHAs is great, but a lack of qualified candidates can make the hiring process challenging. Whether you're hiring an HHA to look after your elderly mother or hoping to attract suitable candidates to your home healthcare agency, writing a precise description that outlines the key aspects of the job, as well as the required experience and qualifications, will help weed out unsuitable candidates.

An HHA job description template will provide much of the boilerplate information you'll need, such as responsibilities and qualifications, making your task a bit easier.

Start by posting to general job posting sites such as Indeed. These are great places to start because they get plenty of traffic and they're free.

Google for Jobs allows your posting to be seen in search results. This can greatly increase your job visibility. You can get it picked up by Google by having someone properly format it on your website, or by using a service (such as Betterteam) that creates a properly formatted jobs page for you automatically.

This will narrow your search to HHAs who might be a more suitable fit. Use a job posting site for healthcare professionals to advertise vacancies.

When you create pipelines from vocational schools, you increase your chances of attracting top candidates who are up to date with the latest practices in-home healthcare. You are also assured that anyone you hire from a trusted college will have the correct certifications and licenses and will also have passed the required background checks.

If you're hiring an HHA for a facility, asking current employees for referrals is a great way to find top talent. Create an employee referral program to motivate employees to participate in the recruiting process. Essentially, the program offers rewards for any referrals leading to hires. Make sure it is clear to your employees that the HHA they refer should have the necessary skills, qualifications, experience, work ethic, and attitude.

A quick and easy way to screen potential candidates is to send an email with a few basic questions, such as:

• How long have you worked as a home health aide?
• What kind of training have you completed in the home health aide field?
• What certifications and licensing do you have?

Because HHAs may be working closely with senior citizens, recovering patients, persons with disabilities, or children, it is important to run a thorough background check to make sure they have a clean criminal record and that the skills, experience, and qualifications on their resumes are accurate.

Telephone interviews are faster, less stressful, and more cost-effective than in-person interviews. One of the most important qualities in an HHA is personability, and a telephone interview will give you a better sense of a candidate's personality than an emailed response would. Phone interviews are especially useful when potential candidates reside in other states.

Be sure to review the screening questions and check if their responses are consistent during the telephone interview. Also, enquire about their expectations regarding salary and benefits, and find out why they left their previous job.

Possible questions to ask home health aides:

• Why did you leave your last home health aide job?
• What do you expect for salary and benefits?
• What days and/or times are you available to work?
• Are you able to work evenings?
• Are you able to respond to emergencies?
• When will you be able to start?
• Can you pass a drug test?
• Being a home health aide isn't an easy job. What are some of your coping strategies?
• What made you interested in this home health aide position?

Now that you've screened your candidates and narrowed down the applicant pool even further, it's time to meet your candidates. Make sure they're on time and that they present themselves well. If possible, have the person they'll be caring for sit in on the interview and ask questions of their own. Initial meetings can be a bit formal and tense, but it's usually a good sign if they like each other.

Once you've found the ideal HHA, you'll want to make them an offer fairly quickly, as they may have other prospects to consider. This is often best done in an informal call first, followed by a letter or email that provides the job description, salary, and benefits information.

Onboarding is a key final step in the hiring process that is not to be overlooked. Make a good first impression and get the new hire up and running fast by having a detailed and organized onboarding process.