BSS064-6 Report: Home Instead Senior Care and Zero Hour Contracts

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of Home Instead Senior Care, examining its operational model, particularly its use of zero-hour contracts. It delves into the challenges of low employee retention and staff engagement within the context of strategic human resource management (SHRM). The report highlights Home Instead's service offerings, business structure, and market position, including its UK operations and financial performance. The core of the analysis focuses on the impact of zero-hour contracts on the caregiver workforce, identifying issues like high turnover rates. The report proposes solutions to enhance employee retention, such as improved remuneration, training programs, and recognition initiatives. Furthermore, it suggests measures to boost staff engagement, including communication strategies, social events, and career development opportunities. The report concludes with recommendations for Home Instead to optimize its workforce management and improve the quality of its care services.

Running head: LEADING AND MANAGING ORGANIZATIONAL RESOURCES
LEADING AND MANAGING ORGANIZATIONAL RESOURCES: AN ANALYSIS OF
HOME INSTEAD SENIOR CARE
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author’s Note:

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The report intends to undertake an analysis of the concept of zero hour contracts and the issues
related to the usage of the same by the corporations through the usage of the case study of the
corporation Home Instead Senior Care. The report begins with an introduction to the services
which are being offered by Home Instead Senior Care. Next, the concept of zero hour contracts
is being explained and also the manner in which it is being used by Home Instead Senior Care.
For instance, it is seen that the zero hour contracts used by Home Instead Senior Care are deeply
embedded within the strategic human resource management (SHRM) used by the corporations.
In this relation, it needs to be said that high turnover rate and low staff engagement are the two
major issues that Home Instead Senior Care is presently facing related to the usage of zero hour
contracts. More importantly, the report also highlights enhancement of remuneration which are
being offered by Home Instead Senior Care to its freelance workers, training and rewards and
recognitions as the ways through which the corporation can reduce its turnover rate. On the other
hand, for the resolution of the staff engagement issues the measures like making the workers
aware of the success that they can gain in the corporation, rewards, two-way communication
process, social events and others have been recommended.

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Table of Contents
1.0 Introduction................................................................................................................................3
2.0 Overview of Home Instead Senior Care....................................................................................4
3.0 Concept of Zero Hour Contracts................................................................................................5
4.0 Home Instead Senior Care and Zero Hour Contracts................................................................6
5.0 Ways through which Home Instead Senior Care can enhance its Employee Retention............7
6.0 Proposed Staff Engagement Measures for Home Instead Senior Care.....................................9
7.0 Conclusion...............................................................................................................................10
8.0 Recommendations....................................................................................................................10
References......................................................................................................................................12

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1.0 Introduction
As stated by Hudson (2019), an important method which is being presently followed by
the different corporations for the attainment of the competitive edge over their rivals or
competitors and also within the business markets of their operation is the effective usage of the
various emerging trends and also the technological developments. O’Sullivan et al. (2017) are of
the viewpoint that the impact of the recent technological advancements had not only
substantially changed the products or the services which are being offered by the different
corporations but also the business models which are being used by them as well as their
workforce planning process. More importantly, there are various corporations which rather than
having a steady or a permanent workforce are taking the help of the “Zero Work Contracts” so as
to have employees as per the workload of the corporations or for that matter as per their
convenience (Bernstein 2019). This in turn had substantially transformed the entire
employability sector and offers various benefits not only to the employers but also to the
employees as well (Bird and Brown 2018).
However, at the same time it is seen that low employee retention rate is an important
problem which the majority of the corporations using this particular staffing policy are presently
facing (Atkinson and Crozier 2019). In addition to this, it had also been seen that ineffective staff
engagement is another problem that the corporation using this particular staffing approach are
presently facing (Heyes et al. 2018). Thus, it becomes important for the corporations to resolve
these two issues so as to derive the desired benefits from the usage of the staffing policy under
discussion here. The purpose of this report is to undertake an analysis of the concept of “Zero
Work Contracts” and also suggest ways through the corporations can enhance employee

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retention and also staff engagement in the particular context of the corporation Home Instead
Senior Care.
2.0 Overview of Home Instead Senior Care
Home Instead Senior Care, established in 1994 and headquartered in Nebraska, is a
conglomeration of different franchises which focus on offering “specializing relationship-led
domiciliary care” to the aged and the elderly people (Homeinstead.com 2020). The present CEO
of the concerned corporation is Martin Jones and presently the corporation has more than 1000
franchises (Homeinstead.com 2020). The vision behind the foundation of this corporation was to
offer tailor-made care services to the enable everyone to live independently in their own
regardless of their age and also to offer the required to the different families which will enable
them to live with the elderly or the aged members of their family (Homeinstead.com 2020).
More importantly, it had been seen that the different care-givers of the concerned corporation are
selected on the basis of their qualification, expertise level, skill sets and other important
attributes so as to ensure the fact that they are being able to offer the best quality personalized
care to the aged as well as the elderly people. In this relation, it needs to be said that the services
offered by the corporation under discussion here are highly successful in the nation of UK. As a
matter of fact, at the time of its foundation, the corporation had 56 offices in UK whereas in the
year 2019 the corporation had more than 195 offices with more than 9600 care-givers who
offered care services to around 10,500 clients of the corporation (Homeinstead.com 2020).
The revenue of the concerned corporation for the year 2019 was $1 billion which is
expected to grow even further in the face of the increasing demand for personalized care for
elderly people (Homeinstead.com 2020). More importantly, the work performed by the care-

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givers of the corporation had been highly appreciated over the years and because of this the
corporation had received more than 64 Care Quality Commission ‘outstanding’ ratings across
England (Homeinstead.com 2020). The corporation was even offered the “Queen's Award for
Enterprise: Innovation (2016)” and boasts of a rating of 9.9 on a scale of 10 (Homeinstead.com
2020). These awards as well as the rating that the corporation has got clearly indicate the quality
as well as the effectiveness of the care services which are being offered by the care-givers of the
concerned corporation.
3.0 Concept of Zero Hour Contracts
Prowse, Prowse and Snook (2017) are of the viewpoint that the concept of zero hour
contracts had become extensively popular in the face of the widespread usage of the framework
of gig economy by the corporations through which the corporations seek the help of the freelance
as per their workload or workflow. Adding to this, Ravalier et al. (2019) have noted that the zero
hour contracts can be seen as a contract between the employees and the employers wherein the
employer is not obliged to provide any minimum working hours whereas the employee is not
obliged to perform accept all works which are being offered by the employer to them. More
importantly, it had been seen that this particular work arrangement provides significant benefits
to both the employers and the employees since they are under no obligations (Koumenta and
Williams 2016). For instance, the employers do not have to maintain a permanent workforce for
the completion of their work and can avail the services of the workers when they require the
same (Merkel, Ruokolainen and Holman 2019). This in turn substantially reduces the operations
cost of the corporations since they have the opportunity to save on the minimum wages that they
would have been required to pay to the workers had they maintained a permanent workforce
(Traulsen and Druedahl 2018). On the other hand, the workers also have the option to pick and

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choose the work that they want to do or find it easier to do and in many cases it had been seen
that the workers have the option to multiple jobs simultaneously without incurring any
significant penalty from the corporations or the governments (Stuckler et al. 2017). These in turn
have propelled both the corporations and also the workers to opt for the usage of this type of
work arrangement.
4.0 Home Instead Senior Care and Zero Hour Contracts
Home Instead Senior Care since its establishment had been taking the help of the zero
hour contracts and this in turn had helped the corporation to substantially reduce its operations
cost. Thus, it is seen that rather than having a steady or a permanent workforce the concerned
corporation takes the help of freelance care-givers who are willing to work as per the workload
or for that matter the convenience of the corporation. More importantly, an important factor
which had directly contributed towards to usage of zero hour contract by the corporation by the
corporation can be attributed to the shortage of skilled care-givers especially in the UK which in
the present times had emerged as the central location of its operations (Buchan and Seccombe
2018). As a matter of fact, it is seen that within the nation of UK there are more than 1.62 million
jobs related to the healthcare sector whereas only 1.52 million workers related to the concerned
industry are there presently (Alhassan and Castelli 2020). This in turn had influenced the
concerned corporation to take the help of the staffing policy under discussion here. Thus, it is
seen that when a care-giving job is booked the representatives of the concerned corporation
contact the care-givers within the vicinity of the elderly people.
Home Instead Senior Care takes the help of the framework of strategic human resource
management (SHRM) for the management of its different freelance workers. Thus, unlike the

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traditional human resource management (HRM) practices, the practices used by the HR
professionals of the concerned corporation are slightly different. The corporation through the
adequate usage of the framework of SHRM tries to identify its present and future needs related to
human resources and on the basis of the same the freelance care-givers are being contacted by
the HR professionals of the corporation (Dodd, Hooley and Burke 2019). For instance, the
candidates are firstly being recruited and in some of the cases are also being offered adequate
training so that they would be able to offer the best quality personalized care to the elderly
patients. However, these candidates do not start to work immediately for the corporation rather
they are being send the details on the elderly as and when the need for their service emerges and
their competencies, expertise, qualifications, skill sets and other important attributes are being
taken into consideration during the allocation of the patients to them. Furthermore, the individual
goals or the objectives of these freelance workers are being aligned with the overall goals or the
objectives of the concerned corporation, that is, to offer the best quality personalized care
services to the elderly patients. Furthermore, the HR professionals also try to maintain a strategic
link between the freelance care-givers and the different departments of the corporation for the
effective attainment of its different business objectives. In this relation, it needs to be said that
the effective usage of the framework of SHRM had greatly facilitated the achievement of the
strategic or the business goals of the concerned corporation while contributing towards the
success attained by the concerned corporation.
5.0 Ways through which Home Instead Senior Care can enhance its Employee Retention
Home Instead Senior Care despite the effective of the SHRM which it is presently using
is facing different issues related to the zero hour contracts policy which it follows. Two of the
most important issues in this regard are low employee retention rate and also low staff

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engagement which in turn had adversely affected the quality of the services that are being
offered by the corporation (England and Alcorn 2018). As a matter of fact, the employee
turnover rate of the concerned corporation for the year 2019 was more than 35% which is very
high and this in turn is making it very difficult for the corporation to offer care-givers to all the
patients who register to avail the services offered by it (Homeinstead.com 2020). Thus, it
becomes important for the corporation to take the help of different measures through which it
can enhance its retention rate. Some of the most important ways which the corporation can use
are listed below-
 The remunerations are being offered to them on the basis of the number of hours that
they have worked for the corporation rather than a fixed remuneration. Furthermore, the
corporation presently offers £9 an hour which actually is higher than £8.21 national living
wage (Homeinstead.com 2020). However, in order to retain its workers the corporation
needs to enhance the remuneration which it offers so to earn their satisfaction and thereby
their loyalty towards the corporation.
 Adequate training needs to be offered by the corporation to its workers which in turn
would enable them to complete their job roles effectively. This in turn would enhance
their job satisfaction and thereby reduce the turnover rate of the corporation (Mossialos
and Le Grand 2019).
 The corporation can also take the help of rewards and recognitions for enhancing the
morale of its workers. This in turn would reduce the turnover rate of the corporation by
enhancing the job satisfaction as well as the morale of its workers (Kingma 2018).

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6.0 Proposed Staff Engagement Measures for Home Instead Senior Care
Meehan, Menzies and Michaelides (2017) are of the viewpoint that staff engagement is
the degree to which the workers are passionate or committed towards the work that they perform,
their level of commitment towards the corporation and also the extra effort that they put in for
the completion of their work. Adding to this, Ravalier et al. (2017) have noted that a high level
of staff engagement is one of the most important prerequisites of a high performing organization
and the corporations with low level of staff engagement fail to attain the desired level of success.
However, in the particular context of Home Instead Senior Care it is seen that there is no
effective engagement among the different workers of the corporations, they have failed to show a
high level of commitment towards the work that they perform or towards the corporation and
also some of them fail to put in extra effort for the completion of their job roles. This in turn had
adversely affected the quality of work of the corporations and thereby its overall organizational
productivity as well. Thus, it becomes important for the corporation to take the help of different
measures or strategies which in turn would enable it to enhance its staff engagement and thereby
attain the required success. Some of the most important measures which needs to be focused in
the staff engagement plan of the corporation are listed below-
 Home Instead Senior Care can enhance its staff engagement by making its workers
aware of the success that they are likely to gain if they stay associated with the
corporation and work hard for it as well. This in turn would offer them job security,
motivate them to work harder and also help the corporation to overcome its turnover
issues as well (Cotton 2016).
 Home Instead Senior Care needs to recognize the hard work performed by its workers
and thereby offer them rewards and recognitions on the basis of the same.

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 Home Instead Senior Care needs to develop a two-way communication through which
both the freelance workers and the representatives of the corporation would be able to
communicate adequately
 Organization of different kinds of events would enable the freelance workers and the
representatives of the corporations to know each other and thereby enhance the
engagement level of its freelance workers
7.0 Conclusion
To conclude, the workforce management approaches which are being used by the
corporations had undergone a substantial amount of change in the present times. For instance,
rather than having a fixed or permanent workforce the majority of the corporations are opting for
the usage of the zero hour contracts through which they hire freelance workers as per the
workload of the corporations. This helps the corporations to significantly reduce their operations
cost and thereby enhance their profitability as well. However, low staff engagement and high
turnover rate are the two major issues that the corporations related to the usage of this workforce
approach. Thus, it becomes important for the corporations to take the help of adequate measures
for the resolution of these two issues so as to derive the required benefits from the usage of the
zero hour contracts. These aspects of zero hour contracts and the issues related to the same
become apparent from the above discussion of the same in the particular context of Home
Instead Senior Care.
8.0 Recommendations
 Home Instead Senior Care needs to enhance its staff engagement which in turn would
help it not only enhance its overall performance but also its employee turnover issue as

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well. More importantly, the effective usage of this concept will also enable the
corporation to substantially improve the morale of its workers and thereby improve the
quality of work which is being performed by it.
 Home Instead Senior Care in order to reduce its turnover rate needs to substantially
improve the remunerations which are being offered by it to its freelance workers. In the
healthcare sector of UK, it is seen that there are more healthcare jobs than there are
healthcare professionals. Thus, the choices which are available to the freelance workers
are numerous and they often tend to select the jobs on the basis of the wages. Therefore,
it is likely that the corporation would be able to reduce its high turnover rate if the
remunerations which are presently being offered by it is improved.