Employee Burnout: Resilience and Recovery as Employee Retention Strategy in Residential Aged Care

This project aims to develop and implement a sustainable, multi-level capability-building initiative in the residential aged care workforce to support managers and employees in recovering from burnout, leading to reduced employee turnover and ultimately leading to improved care for residents. The program has four key components. First, it will be codesigned with stakeholders who have a deep and local understanding of the issues in the aged care sector. Second, in addition to skills training, it will include evidence-based self-reflection strategies that have been shown to enhance and sustain the effectiveness of resilience training. Third, there will be specific capability-building training in resilience leadership for village managers to identify and support employee burnout and recovery over time. Last, the program will be supplemented by embedded organizational practices to promote employee wellbeing and a healthier, more engaged and resilient workforce. This comprehensive approach incorporates factors that promote long-term sustainability of employee resilience, resilience leadership and hence reduced staff turnover. The project will improve the quality of care provided to residents, resulting in a better quality of life for both the aged care workforce and the residents they serve.

Using rigorous research methodology, employees who attended the workshops showed statistically significant improvements in depression and anxiety levels in the three months following the workshops, and those employees who engaged in self-reflection practices also showed significant improvements in depression, resilience and stress levels. Further, there were statistically significant improvements in job satisfaction and organisational commitment in employees who participated in the project. Villages that participated in the project saw substantial reductions in employee turnover compared to villages that did not participate.

These outcomes underscore the value of self-reflection as a resilience and stress management strategy in the aged care workforce and demonstrate that appropriate tailored attention on key employee issues can make a substantial difference, improve conditions for employees and the organisation, and ultimately enhance resident care.