Home Instead emphasizes caring
Company wants workers to reflect that energy when they provide for seniors
Since Home Instead employees spend most of their workday at the houses of the seniors they care for, the company seizes on opportunities during office training sessions to create a caring, compassionate culture that it hopes will extend into the field.
“Our culture is centered around caring, us caring about the people who are coming to see us, our employees caring for the people they go out and see … it’s really about heart and caring, and if we legitimately care about people and care for people, then they fit the culture and the culture fits them,” owner Jim Hurley said.
Caregivers provide everything from light housekeeping services to meals to errands as well as home health care duties.
Headquarters: Schenectady
Founded: 2007
Ownership: Private
Business sector: Home health care services
Employees: 201 local
Years named a Top Workplace: 5
Hurley said it’s the little things that they focus on from the time an employee sets foot in the downtown Schenectady office that have an impact.
“We really try and make them feel comfortable right from the beginning,” Hurley said. “There’s some stuff that we need to get across to (employees), but we try and make it a little bit more fun. We try to constantly look at it and say, ‘How can we be a little bit better at this’ because they have so many options out there of places to work. We want them to be comfortable working with us.”
For example, Home Instead orders food when it holds hours-long meetings such as the new employee orientation or its training session for new employees about Alzheimer’s disease.
The business also extends its culture of caring to the wider community. Hurley said the private company raises money for Alzheimer’s research year-round and for the past few years has been among the top fundraisers for the annual Alzheimer’s Walk.