Bonus Chapter: The Pain and Cost of Covering Open Shifts

In Heart, Hope & Honesty, we wrote about retention and the cost of turnover. However, we did not explore the full impact of missed shifts on organizations, which is now better addressed in our new DSP Magnet? training programs.

The cascading consequences of missed shifts are financially and emotionally draining.

Financial

The financial component is easy (but painful) to calculate by tracking the overtime of those DSPs and supervisors asked to cover open shifts. Hourly rates vary widely across the country, but let’s assume an hourly rate of $15.

At time and a half, every eight-hour shift would be $22.50 an hour or an extra $60 for the shift (7.5 x 8). While not ideal, the financial impact is manageable if it only happens a few times a month.

But we know of providers having to cover 10 or more open shifts every week. That $60 times ten times 4.33 (weeks in a month) suddenly inflates to an additional cost of about $2600!

Over a year, that’s over $31,000 in overtime costs for those extra shifts.

This calculation only accounts for the overtime for covering an extra shift. People working extra shifts will likely become eligible for overtime pay during their regular shifts later in the week, doubling the overall cost.

If supervisors with a higher hourly rate cover open shifts, the overtime costs increase.

But the pain is not limited to financial consequences.

Emotional

While crunching numbers and tracking the financial ramifications of open shifts is easy, why do we tolerate the emotional cost?

The impact is profound, painful, and far-reaching.

There’s the constant and draining battle for management, scrambling to cover open shifts, often on a moment’s notice. The domino effect impacts the entire organization.

We’ve had executive directors leave during workshops because of an unexpected call-off, and no one else is available to cover the shift.

Your best people are burning out when obligated to cover additional shifts. A DSP expecting to go home at a specific time may have to work a double or even triple shift.

It’s not just about burning out these DSPs. It also affects their families and home lives. Frequent unplanned extra shifts lead to missed appointments, increased childcare costs, and frustration when plans are disrupted.

Supervisors forced to cover direct care shifts struggle to complete their primary duties. This is frustrating and can have a ripple effect, such as the inability to provide sufficient support to the staff they manage.

Perhaps the greatest emotional toll is even harder to see—the impact on the people you support. While ISPs document each person’s status and needs, there is no substitute for the unique bond a person may share with a specific DSP.

What is the impact on their emotions? How do they feel if something they planned for or anticipated doesn’t happen because their primary DSP calls off? Are they experiencing heightened stress from being with substitute caregivers who may be understandably exhausted or frazzled?

And when overworked DSPs reach their breaking point and resign, the consequences are dire. More open shifts, heavier burdens on remaining staff, and the loss of a trusted or beloved caregiver for the individuals supported.

Why must we endure this emotional toll? Is this an unavoidable aspect of the DSP workforce crisis?

It doesn’t have to be. There is no question that DSPs merit much higher pay, but providers can’t wait for that to happen.

We’ve worked with many providers facing the current pay challenges who have achieved significant reductions in open positions or fully staffed status.

How do they do this? It’s a combination of changes they made based on our DSP Magnet? Academy training, including:

• Identifying the unique characteristics of their best direct support professionals and creating a magnetic job post based on those and focusing on what DSPs get to do vs. have to do
• Installing an anti-ghosting system so applicants and new hires show up consistently
• Creating better experiences for applicants, new hires, and even existing staff
• Having a number of initiatives to show staff appreciation, feel valued, and a true feeling of family within existing time and dollar budgets

If you wish to calculate the financial impact of your open DSP shifts, we have a free, online calculator you can use (anonymously) at:

https://www.blitzcreative.com/open-shift-dsp-cost-calculator/

Copyright ? 2024. Craig and Scott de Fasselle. All rights reserved.