Beyond burnout. Supporting a healthy aged care workforce

You don’t necessarily need another report to tell you aged care workers are exhausted. But ELMO’s recent Employee Sentiment Index data supports exactly this, and it’s not just concerning, it’s urgent.

So what can HR teams do when everyone’s already stretched? This isn’t a story about quick fixes. It’s about considering how you can improve your processes, thinking, awareness, and systems to start tackling this sizeable issue.

Aged cared workforce burnout isn’t just about hours

Yes, long shifts take a toll. But burnout isn’t just about time on the clock. It’s about how supported people feel when they’re on the job.

HR teams in aged care already know this. But you’re busy managing recruitment, compliance, onboarding, rostering, learning and performance. Often across disconnected systems. Always under pressure.

Meanwhile, your people are facing:

• The high stakes of resident care and health
• Constant workload pressure
• Cost of living pressure
• Emotional and physical fatigue 

The latest Employee Sentiment Index confirms it. This quarter:

• 47% felt they needed to work harder or longer to keep their job safe
• 27% considered a career change
• 43% arrived at work feeling unwell
• 35% felt they were not quite earning enough to meet their financial needs.

These challenges combine to create a sense of burnout that can feel overwhelming, but it’s not insurmountable. Organisations and HR teams can take incremental steps to improve systems and reduce burnout.

What does a sustainable workforce look like?

The opposite of a burnt out workforce is a sustainable one. A sustainable workforce isn’t just well staffed. It’s well supported. This means:

• Helping new hires feel confident from day one
• Using workforce data to spot issues early, such as expired certifications or mandatory training 
• Connecting onboarding, learning and scheduling in one place for workforce visibility

These aren’t big flashy changes. They’re smart shifts that reduce pressure and create space for care.

Start by freeing up time 

Progress doesn’t need to be perfect. It just needs to start. And when your systems work with you, not against you, the impact is immediate.

One of the best places to start? Reclaiming time from repetitive, manual tasks so you can focus on strategies, like addressing burnout. A recent Total Economic Impact™ report conducted by Forrester Consulting found that ELMO can save HR teams 2,184 hours per year on HR admin tasks. 

Simplifying processes with an HR software suite will give you the breathing room to think bigger and better support your people. Because preventing burnout starts with having the bandwidth to act.

What can you do right now?

Small HR changes can add up. Start with a few honest questions.

• Does your onboarding fully prepare new hires to deliver safe, high-quality care?  
• Are you paying attention to meaningful learning and development?
• Are you providing true flexibility and mental health support?
• Are you using data to act on early signs of burnout?
• Are you properly utilising feedback and engagement systems?

If the answer’s “not really”, that just means there’s an opportunity for you to look hard at improving these elements in your HR strategy. While it’s easy to assume nothing can change,  the truth is, even small steps forward can create real momentum in combating a strained workforce.

Speaking of interactive changes, one of the benefits of ELMO is that it’s a modular system designed to grow with you. Implementing ELMO’s Learning Management for example, can be done in a matter of days, the rest can be built over time.

The right systems can help

Burnout’s real. But it’s not inevitable.

You don’t need more pressure. You need more capability, the right systems, the right visibility and a partner who understands health and aged care HR.

That’s what ELMO’s HR software’s built for. We help you cut through the complexity so you can focus on what matters most. Your people.