SkillSurvey Case Study: Golden Living

Many organizations have turned to SkillSurvey Reference Checks as a means to get better information regarding prospective employees. Let’s take a look at what happened when Golden Living called upon SkillSurvey for their patented reference checking process:

The Goal

It takes a special kind of person to provide skilled care along with heavy doses of compassion, empathy, and dignity for senior residents. And finding those best-fit employees takes data. That’s why Golden Living added Pre-Hire 360 to their talent selection process in late 2011. With an eye towards enhancing the lives of its residents and patients, Golden Living’s talent acquisition team added this tool to their process to help identify those candidates committed to providing quality, compassionate care to their patients and residents. Golden Living appears to have the equation down: its 61 living centers consistently rate in the top 10% of nursing home facilities in the United States.

The Challenge

Just about anyone can ‘look good on paper’; and many candidates can also interview well. But what can you really learn from talking to someone for just a few hours?

“Some candidates are professional interviewers. You can’t always tell if they really have the qualities they project in an interview,” said Shawnee Irmen, Vice President of Talent Acquisition for Golden Living.

References can verify the picture – if you can reach them. Too often, too much time is wasted trying to connect with former co-workers and supervisors. And too often, they provide little feedback of value. Also, the senior living, hospice, and therapy environments have a unique challenge: people tend to know each other.

Shawnee added, “This can be a major hurdle if a current leader or hiring manager previously worked with someone when they were still green, and are now unwilling to consider them even though they have since gained 5 to 10 years more experience.”

How SkillSurvey Helped

Data collected through Pre-Hire 360 gives Golden Living objective and complete portraits of potential employees. Candidates send references job-specific surveys that ask in-depth questions about critical behaviors that correlate with success in a particular job. The feedback is essential for identifying candidates who have the right soft skills to build rapport with patients and family members.

Golden Living relies on Pre-Hire 360 for candidate sourcing for 304 of its locations and for positions ranging from accountants, to engineer professionals, patient care and everything in-between. By relying on Pre-Hire 360’s data-driven insights, Golden Living has saved $42M over four years by making better hiring decisions.

Pre-Hire 360 also helps Golden Living’s hiring managers be more effective in their jobs.The objective data helps them make decisive and timely evaluations, and be more confident in their decisions. And the automated process shortens up lengthy and frustrating review cycles.
Pre-Hire 360 also helps Golden Living find great employees for future openings. References can opt in to the company’s database to be considered for future positions. Also, Golden Living revisits the feedback gathered and compares it to employee performance. The data helps the company identify trends and better understand the qualities that make a successful hire.

About Golden Living

Golden Living is a family of healthcare companies committed to enhancing the lives of its residents and patients. Its comprehensive approach ensures that its patients receive the most innovative and expert care possible, while its compassion and dedication keeps the focus exclusively on the individual.