by Aaron Marcum, Founder and CEO of Breakaway365
Retention doesn’t scream for attention — until a 7 a.m. resignation email lights up your phone.
In home care, attrition can hit hard every year, siphoning cash, deflating morale, and worst of all, shattering the continuity families count on. I learned the hard way that the real questions leaders should be asking aren’t around why people leave. It’s what makes the right people stay.
Instead of autopsying departures, the savviest leaders study loyalty in real time. They ask: Why are our best people still here — and how do we give them more of that?
Having an answer to that is how my research in positive psychology evolved into the KEEPing Culture Model, a framework that converts please-don’t-leave cultures into why-would-I-ever-leave cultures.
Start With the “Stayers”.
Every organization has a quiet core of people who keep showing up with full hearts. They’re the aides who pick up weekend shifts without being asked, the schedulers who remember client birthdays, the nurses who mentor rookies on their lunch breaks. When you map their stories, patterns get more visible. Loyalty thrives where personal purpose meets company mission — what I call Knowledge alignment. Stayers can draw a straight line from their own “why” to the agency’s “why.”
Instead of another generic exit interview, hold a “stay interview.” Ask what energizes them, which core value they see themselves living each day, and what would make their role even more meaningful. You’ll uncover the raw material for a retention strategy that is both specific and magnetic.
Build Culture by Reinforcing What’s Working.
Once you understand the gravitational pull that keeps great people orbiting your mission, double down on it. Recognition has to be more than an annual certificate; it must be an operating rhythm that spotlights the behaviors you want cloned across the company. In my experience, Engagement accelerates when leaders pour fuel on what I term “Guiding Genius.” These are the natural talents and intrinsic interests that light employees up.
For example, one of our caregivers had a knack for storytelling. We invited her to host a five‑minute client‑moment segment during staff huddles. Suddenly, peers began sharing their wins, and the room’s emotional temperature immediately changed. That weekly ritual costs nothing, yet it continually re‑anchors the team to why the work matters. Cultures are built in those tiny, repeatable acts that highlight who you are, who they are.
Retention Is a Leadership Problem, Not a Hiring Problem.
Recruiters can keep the pipeline full, but only leaders can keep the dining room warm. Empowerment — the third pillar of the KEEPing model — means handing people real ownership before they ask for it. That starts with transparent metrics, like letting an intake coordinator see how her speedy follow‑ups boost revenue, then inviting her to improve the process. It also means protecting psychological safety. When employees trust that speaking up won’t backfire, they iterate faster and grow roots deeper.
If turnover is high, resist the reflex to blame the current labor market. Culture is the cumulative echo of every conversation leaders have (or avoid) each day. Coaching, delegation, and honest feedback are retention engines. Treat them with the same rigor you apply to compliance audits.
Make Your Staff Part of the Story.
Home‑care founders love to talk about cutting‑edge platforms, app‑based scheduling, and remote‑monitoring sensors. Clients certainly benefit from those innovations, but staff stay for something less glamorous: Partnership. They want to feel part of the organization’s story, not cogs inside it. Flatten the hierarchy where possible. Invite caregivers to quarterly strategy huddles. Give office staff veto power over new workflows that will hit their desks first.
When Knowledge, Engagement, Empowerment, and Partnership align, churn becomes the rule. I’ve watched annual turnover drop below 20% in agencies that have adopted the model. That shift doesn’t happen because we patched leaks; it happens because we raised the waterline of belonging so high that exits look like bad trade‑offs.
Retention is not damage control. Every time we learn why someone chooses to stay, we gain a blueprint for scaling humanity alongside revenue. Start tomorrow with a single stay interview, turn the insights into one new habit, and watch how quickly loyalty compounds.
Do not think of ever asking “How do we plug this hole?” again. Start strategizing around “How do we keep building a place no one wants to leave?”
