Unbox the Workforce: Retention Begins When Leaders See the Whole Person
Healthcare often talks about staffing as numbers: vacancies, turnover, agency use, hours per resident day, call-ins, and overtime. Those numbers matter. But they do not tell the whole story.
Turnover remains a major issue in nursing homes. AHCA/NCAL reported that in a 2025–2026 nursing home report of 917 nursing homes and more than 111,600 employees, CNA turnover remained the highest at 42.34%, despite improving from 2024. Gallup’s 2026 workplace data found global employee engagement fell to 20% in 2025, while low engagement cost the world economy an estimated $10 trillion in lost productivity.
In healthcare, burnout is not theoretical. A JAMA Network Open study of VHA healthcare workers found burnout remained elevated in 2023 at 35.4%, compared with 30.4% in 2018; rehabilitation service employees were among groups with notable increases from 2018 to 2023.
This is where my #UnboxMe strategy becomes more than a hashtag. It becomes a leadership strategy. #UnboxMe means seeing people beyond their title, task list, credentials, or current performance struggle. It means recognizing gifts, lived experience, creativity, communication strengths, leadership potential, and personal purpose.
Truthfully, I would not be in my 23rd year with the same company in the same industry if I was not seen for ALL my talents and given a chance to explore all my professional aspirations. Can you say that?
Let AdvantageYOU HCS help your organization! We offer workforce engagement assessments, talent mapping, role-based education, leadership coaching, recognition systems, career pathways, interdisciplinary mentoring, and practical retention strategies.
Retention does not start with a pizza party. It starts when people feel seen, used well, developed, and valued.
My #UnboxMe concept is simple: people are more than their title, task list, credentials, or current role. In skilled nursing, we cannot afford to leave talent boxed up.
Leadership question: Who on your team has gifts you have not yet made room for?
P.S.: Have you ever been invited to complete a paid survey or invited to complete a consultant survey and as soon as you check the Physical Therapy box, everything that they saw that qualified you to be invited to the survey suddenly means nothing because of certain letters behind your name? I encourage everyone seeking valuable people with extensive experience to make sure you don’t shut them out by letters behind their name.
