BeeHive Homes New Mexico hopes its employee-first business model will set it apart.

Beehive Homes New Mexico, a franchise of Boise, ID-based Beehive Homes, is addressing labor challenges with an employee-first business model in 34 assisted living communities.

That means trying to create a positive experience from an employee’s first day, with personalized onboarding, daily employee communication, and a user-friendly platform where managers and employees meet and schedule changes when necessary.

“During this time when we were understaffed, we took a hard look at the employee experience and asked ourselves, ‘Is this something we want to bring back?’ We had to ask ourselves. said Nathan Manning, owner and operator of Beehive New Mexico. McKnight’s Business Daily.

He said the inspectorate discussed what should be the onboarding and first-day experience for new employees. The company finds it helpful to let new employees spend their first day getting to know the residents, rather than burdening them with policies and procedures and assigning them to menial jobs.

“On the first day, instead of having cleaning duty and talking about policies, we tell the staff, ‘Your job today is to go to each resident and get to know them. Share with them who you are and learn more about them,'” Manning said. “That’s it, one day. Connect with all 15 people.” We want them to create, because the next day they have something to come back to.

Additionally, in line with its employee-first business model, Beehive Homes New Mexico partnered with Toronto-based BookGen this month to create an automated shift platform that allows managers to connect open and last-minute shifts with employees, giving them flexibility. To receive shifts when and where you want.

“We are constantly striving to find better systems that improve the overall employee experience for each of our employees,” Manning said. Employees added that they are responding that the new system is more user-friendly than the software the company used in the past.

“Our partnership with Bee Hive Homes New Mexico aligns with their larger strategy,” said BookGen Founder and CEO Curtis Kahn. McKnight’s Business DailyHe called the Beehive initiative an “end-to-end workforce strategy.”

The shift call platform automates the process of filling shifts and eliminates the need for the manager to make phone calls to get staff coverage, which saves time and stress on the leader, Khan said. According to BookGen, the platform reduces the administrative time required to fill shifts by up to 70 percent.

The technology allows all staff members to be notified at the same time by the app when there is a need, giving more flexibility to create their staff schedules. The platform offers flexible workers, such as retirees and ex-employees, the opportunity to join the workforce and work a few hours a week or on an as-needed basis.

“The workforce has changed. It’s completely different than it was a year ago. We needed to be more accommodating and give our employees more options,” Manning said. “We don’t want to be an employer that still does paper schedules and managers spend a lot of time filling shifts.”