8 Steps to Improving Employee Retention in Senior Living

Staffing shortages continue to challenge senior living communities across the country, and the numbers back it up. According to our 2025 State of the Senior Living Industry Report, staffing and retention rank as the second biggest concern for operators, just behind maintaining profitable occupancy.

Burnout, turnover, and shifting workforce expectations don’t just disrupt hiring. They affect care consistency, resident satisfaction, and your financial performance. Addressing these issues isn’t optional; it’s critical to the long-term health of your operations.

That’s why it’s essential to focus on strategies that build a stronger, more engaged team and create the kind of workplace employees want to stay for the long term.

1. Offer Competitive Pay and Benefits

Low pay remains one of the biggest reasons caregivers leave the senior living field. In fact, a new survey from Kare finds that nearly one-third of senior living caregivers plan to leave the profession altogether due to inadequate compensation.

While cutting wages might seem like a short-term cost-saving measure, it often leads to higher long-term expenses. The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) estimates that replacing a health care employee can cost 1.5 to 2.5 times their annual salary once you factor in recruitment, onboarding, training, and lost productivity.

Offering competitive wages and strong benefits is not only a recruitment tactic, but it’s also a strategic move to retain talent and stabilize your workforce. Beyond base pay, consider offering:

• Robust health insurance
• Retirement plans with employer-matching
• Generous paid time off
• Childcare assistance 
• Tuition reimbursement

2. Prevent Burnout

The pandemic exposed a hard truth in senior living: Burnout was a problem. And now it’s only worsened. Survey data from the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Washington Post paint a stark picture with over half of senior living employees reporting feelings of burnout.

Sadly, this isn’t just a relic of the pandemic. More recent findings from KARE indicate that burnout continues to plague the industry with 16% of current senior living caregivers planning to leave the profession. 

The impact of burnout includes:

• Increased absenteeism
• Decreased productivity
• Higher error rates in care
• Greater employee turnover

Burnout is also contagious. Say Tim, a caregiver, starts falling behind on tasks due to burnout. Patty picks up the slack, and then LeeAnn picks up Tim’s shift the next day. Now they’re stretched thin too. Without intervention, the whole team begins to feel the strain, and burnout spreads.

To reduce burnout and keep your team energized:

• Optimize staffing levels and prioritize work-life balance in scheduling: The right software can provide a resource management tool to assess caregiver workloads, keeping them evenly distributed and ensuring no one feels overworked. Implement predictable and fair scheduling practices that respect employees’ personal time.
• Encourage regular PTO: Promote a culture where taking time off is expected and supported.
• Invest in mental health and well-being resources: Offer employee assistance programs (EAPs), stress relief resources, or mindfulness training. UpRise Health reports an $8 return for every dollar invested in an EAP.
• Train managers to spot early signs: Equip leaders to recognize and respond to burnout before it escalates.
• Regularly gather feedback: Use surveys or check-ins to monitor stress levels and inform scheduling or staffing decisions.

3. Offer Career Advancement Opportunities

Retaining great employees requires investing in their long-term growth. When senior living communities provide clear opportunities for career advancement, they foster loyalty, reduce turnover, and strengthen the quality of resident care.

Without a path forward, employees are likely to look elsewhere. In fact, one-third of respondents in a Nectar HR survey said they searched for a new job in the past six months because they saw no room for growth in their current role.

Career advancement opportunities can include:

• In-house training programs
• Tuition reimbursement or professional development stipends
• Mentorship opportunities
• Clear leadership and management pathways
• Cross-training opportunities
• Partnerships with local educational institutions

Even offering just a few of these can go a long way toward building a more motivated, capable, and committed team — one that stays with your community and delivers better care every day.

4. Reduce Time on Administrative Duties With Software

Most senior living professionals choose this work because they care deeply about people, not paperwork. But too often, staff are pulled away from residents to complete time-consuming administrative tasks, draining job satisfaction and straining care quality.

Every hour spent on manual documentation is an hour not spent at the bedside. That’s not just a care issue; it’s a business one.

Modern software, including eMAR, care, and engagement tools, can ease this burden by streamlining documentation and automating routine workflows. With the right technology and AI capabilities, your team can spend less time on data entry and more time on meaningful resident interactions.

Benefits include:

• Increased staff satisfaction
• Reduced burnout among staff
• Enhanced care accuracy
• Decreased errors
• Streamlined operations
• Stronger financial performance

5. Recognize and Reward Hard Work

Employee recognition isn’t just a nice-to-have — it’s a strategic must. Consistent, meaningful recognition helps foster engagement, loyalty, and long-term retention. When employees feel seen and appreciated, they’re more likely to stay and contribute at a higher level.

Recent data from Nectar HR shows just how powerful recognition can be:

• 4 in 5 employees feel more motivated to succeed when recognized for their efforts.
• Over 75% say they’d be more productive with more frequent recognition.
• 7 in 10 are less likely to leave if they regularly feel appreciated at work.

Recognition signals value, and when your team feels valued, they’re more committed to your community’s mission and success.

Formal ways to recognize hard work include:

• Employee of the Month initiatives
• Quarterly awards for outstanding service
• Celebrations of work anniversaries with meaningful tokens
• Peer-to-peer recognition programs
• Performance-based or incentive programs

And don’t underestimate the power of informal recognition. A thoughtful thank-you note, public praise during a team meeting, or a small gift card can go a long way in reinforcing positive morale.

Even asking for — and acting on — employee feedback reinforces that their voices matter. When team members feel heard and respected, their connection to your community and commitment to your goals only deepens.

6. Promote Work-Life Balance and Well-Being

Working in senior living is deeply meaningful — but also physically and emotionally demanding. Acknowledging both sides of that reality is essential to creating a supportive environment where staff feel empowered to stay.

Joint research from the CPJ College of Higher Studies and School of Law and the Doon Institute of Management and Research consistently shows that employees with better work-life balance report higher satisfaction and are less likely to leave their roles.

7. Improve Hiring and Onboarding

Strong hiring and onboarding practices lay the foundation for long-term retention. When senior living communities invest in streamlined recruitment and thoughtful training, they build teams that are more engaged, more prepared, and more likely to stay.

To improve your hiring process:

• Craft compelling, realistic job descriptions that highlight both the rewards and challenges of working in your community.
• Make it easy to apply with a user-friendly online application.
• Streamline the interview process and communicate timelines clearly to respect candidates’ time.
• Encourage employee referrals and involve current team members in interviews when possible.
• Showcase your culture through staff testimonials and communicate your commitment to residents and employees.
• Offer competitive compensation and benefits to attract qualified, motivated candidates.

To improve your onboarding process:

• Create a structured onboarding program that extends beyond the first week with multiple check-ins over the first few months.
• Assign a mentor or buddy. Randstad research shows this can reduce turnover by nearly 50%.
• Provide thorough training on responsibilities, care protocols, safety, and any relevant technology.
• Schedule regular one-on-one check-ins to offer support and collect feedback.
• Introduce new hires to residents and families to build early connections.
• Set clear performance expectations and review goals to ensure alignment from day one.

8. Empower Employees

Employee engagement goes hand in hand with empowerment, and one of the most effective ways to build it is by giving staff more control over their daily work. Research from Effectory shows that engagement increases by 66% when employees feel a strong sense of control over their work. That kind of empowerment translates to better performance, lower turnover, and a stronger culture.

To empower your employees:

• Give employees autonomy to make decisions within their areas of expertise.
• Foster open communication and promote transparency at every level.
• Offer meaningful opportunities for skill development and career growth.
• Actively seek employee input and implement ideas when possible.
• Recognize and reward initiative to reinforce a culture of innovation.
• Create cross-functional teams to broaden perspectives and strengthen collaboration and accountability.

The Aline Solution for Improving Employee Retention

There’s no single fix for senior living’s staffing crisis, but the right technology can make a meaningful difference. Aline helps communities monitor staffing patterns, optimize workloads, and improve the day-to-day experience for team members.

In a competitive labor market, employees have options. Make sure your community stands out for the right reasons.

See how Aline can support your retention goals and elevate performance — schedule your personalized demo today.