In the health and aged care industry, the approach to recruitment taken by Australia’s top employers is evolving (and we think it’s a good thing)! While skills and qualifications are still super important, many organisations are now shifting their focus and prioritising values over hard skills and technical abilities, especially in entry level roles.
This shift is inspired by one key truth: while skills can be taught, values are inherent and much more difficult to instil. That’s why you’ll want to have a long think about your values before starting out in the industry. Well, that and the fact that getting to know your values helps you better know yourself!
Skills vs. Values in Aged Care
Aged care is a truly unique environment where compassion, empathy, and respect are of the utmost importance! After all, Personal Care Assistants & Hospitality Workers aren’t just providing physical assistance; they’re also offering emotional support and companionship to some of our most vulnerable members of society.
According to Opal Aged Care, hiring individuals who align with their core values is essential for fostering a positive atmosphere for both residents and team members, so you’ll want to make sure your values align with your employers’!
Skills Can Always Be Taught!
The aged care sector requires a variety of skills, from basic personal care techniques and medication management to food safety and cooking skills. However, these skills can be learned through training programs and hands-on experience.
Many organisations (such as Opal HealthCare), have robust onboarding processes that equip new team members with the necessary technical abilities and hard skills, regardless of their previous experience. In fact, Opal HealthCare have multiple relationships with universities, colleges and training providers across Australia who help them to implement our scholarship and traineeship programs! How good is that?
Some of the training opportunities you could pursue include workshops on safe lifting techniques, nutrition, and effective communication with residents who may have cognitive impairments. As long as an aspiring employee is willing to learn, they can definitely develop the skills required to do their job effectively!
Your Values Make You Who You Are
Values, on the other hand, can be much harder to teach. They are shaped by a person’s upbringing, experiences, and intrinsic beliefs. Essentially, all the little things that make you who you are! In the context of aged care, employees must have a genuine desire to help others and an understanding of the dignity and worth of every person, regardless of their circumstances. These values will manifest in your daily interactions with residents and influence the quality of care provided, so they’re super important!
For example, employees who values patience and empathy will approach a resident’s needs with kindness and understanding, enhancing the overall experience for both the team member and resident! On the contrary, someone lacking these values may struggle to connect with residents, leading to a less compassionate care environment and creating a negative interaction with our residents.
Nail Your Aged Care Interview
During interviews for entry-level aged care roles at Opal HealthCare, such as Care Support Officer, Hospitality Service Officer and Personal Care Workers, they typically focus on assessing values through behavioural questions and situational scenarios! This means that interviewees will have a chance to show hiring managers who they really are and what they stand for!
Questions like “Can you describe a time when you had to show empathy?” or “How do you prioritize the needs of others?” can provide insight into a candidate’s intrinsic motivations and highlight what’s important to them. This focus on values helps to ensure that new hires will align with the organisation’s mission and contribute positively to the care environment, too.
Building a Values-Driven Culture
Hiring for values not only impacts individual interactions but also shapes the culture at Opal HealthCare as a whole. When teams are composed of individuals who share similar values, collaboration and communication improve, leading to better outcomes for residents and employees! If you ask us, it sounds like a pretty ideal scenario!
To sum up, Opal HealthCare and other providers in the aged care sector are becoming more and more aware of r the importance of hiring for values rather than solely for skills (especially for entry-level positions)! While skills can be taught and developed through training, the core values of empathy, compassion, and respect are fundamental to providing high-quality care. Prioritising applicants who embody these values creates a more supportive and enriching environment for both residents and team members, ultimately leading to a higher standard of care in the aged care sector.
To find out more about how you can launch an incredible career in healthcare, head over to Opal HealthCare’s dedicated employee profile today!
