It’s easy to look at jobs in our sector and assume there are clear career pathways that are accessible to all. Afterall, we know that a caregiver can start as a nursing assistant, advance to a medication aide, then an LPN, an RN, and on. Yet those pathways may not be as widely understood, accessible, or realistic as we think.

Caregiving professionals need opportunities to learn new skills and advance their careers. Without clear opportunities for advancement, staff are more likely to seek out a new job (“Growing a Strong Direct Care Workforce,” Scales, 2018).

Research also shows that women and minorities tend to have more barriers to finding mentors, fewer professional network resources, and fewer skill building experiences to advance their careers. Because the caregiving workforce is primarily made up of women and minorities, caregivers may need extra support from employers to progress in their careers.

Career advancement may come in the form of career ladders (promotion into a new job title), or lattices (advancing expertise within a single position). Ladders and lattices need to be formal and systemic – providing a structured and equitable opportunity for all staff to advance and to meet their personal career goals. On top of that, personal relationships and motivation are key in encouraging staff to achieve their career goals.

LeadingAge members have a real opportunity to facilitate pathways to advancement in your team, and to grow a strong, engaged, and expertly trained workforce.

Develop Opportunities to Advance

Career lattices: Employers can build internal training processes that upskill and advance the caregiving professional’s scope of expertise within a given role, as not all team members want to climb a career ladder. As stated in “Feeling Valued Because They Are Valued,” (Stone and Bryant, 2021), “creating meaningful career lattices requires that employers develop competency-based job descriptions for these roles and that educational institutions create appropriate training programs and match that training to the skill sets of the employee.” Career lattices could include badges or micro-credentials in:

• Mentorship
• A condition-specific certification, such as a specialty in dementia, Parkinson’s disease, adjustment disorders, or palliative care
• Advanced infection prevention certification
• Culinary
• Activities
• Quality improvement
• Special projects or opportunities to lead an initiative

Providers may even consider cross training staff or allowing staff to access training for badges that are ‘outside’ of their job description to create a more holistic and universal team. For example, a culinary team member may be interested in a dementia care badge, or a housekeeper may be interested in a mentorship credential.

Career ladders: Career ladders are more formal advancements that result in a new role, title, degree, or certification. It’s important that staff know what the pathway looks like within your organization and what education is required to get there. Because providers have a variety of organizational structures, staff may not know what opportunities are in front of them.

Organizations may consider partnering with local community colleges or online training providers to offer a curated set of courses, reduced tuition, or even a registered apprenticeship program to facilitate advancement. This allows staff to receive required degrees or credentials to pursue a promotion and positions the employer to grow their own leaders.

Consider ladders within each department:

• Clinical: Example: Nursing assistant or home health aide, advanced nursing assistant, medication aide, nursing[RS1] , nursing leadership, director of clinical services
• Social Work: Example: Nursing assistant or home health aide, resident services coordinator, social work assistant, social worker, director of social services
• Culinary: Example: Dishwasher, prep cook, cook, sous chef, chef, executive chef, director of culinary
• Environmental services: Example: Certifications in HVAC, electrical, elevators, kitchen systems, carpentry, pool maintenance, environmental services leadership, director of environmental services

Similar pathways can be developed in any department, such as human resources, marketing, finance, therapy, activities, or administration. Knowing staff as individuals and taking a hands-on approach with career development will build confidence, create meaningful connections at work, provide support and mentorship, and retain quality staff.

Funding Sources

Organizations around the country have developed advancement opportunities for staff, but one of the most common questions is: Who pays for this? There are several components to consider, including the training content or curriculum development, the operations or facilitation of the training, and the wage increase tied to the advancement. It’s likely that partnerships, grants, and provider-investment will all be required to advance a career ladder or lattice concept. Grant opportunities that may assist in developing career advancement opportunities include:

• Civil Money Penalty Reinvestment Program
• Health Professions Opportunity Grants
• Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act
• Department of Labor – Apprenticeship
• Local foundations
• Local university or community college partnerships

LeadingAge is here to support!

As a member of LeadingAge, providers have access to a variety of resources to build the skills of team members. We encourage members to review the opportunities below as you consider upskilling staff and developing ladders and lattices within your own organization.

Learning Hub: The Learning Hub offers a variety of opportunities to learn about a wide range of topics. Content ranges from Quick Casts that are just a few minutes in length to in-depth webinars, and are offered at a variety of price points. Quick casts are highly efficient ways to engage professional caregivers in expanding their knowledge.

Nurse LEAD: Nurse LEAD is a free leadership enrichment program to help nurses become more effective leaders, coaches, and mentors.

Leaders of Color Network: The LeadingAge Leaders of Color (LoC) Network is a professional networking group for senior, mid-level, and emerging leaders of color employed by LeadingAge member organizations. The network is designed to support and facilitate career advancement in the field of aging services. It serves as a sounding board for members to share challenges and success stories related to negative work-related issues around race and racism, and as a forum for members to exchange resources and ideas and to hear experts discuss topics reflecting the expressed needs and interests of people of color within our field.

Larry Minnix Leadership Academy: Leadership Academy is a year-long program to advance emerging leaders in aging services.