How Home Instead’s national office COVID-19 taskforce prepared for the pandemic

Ruth Brown, director of business development stated that the taskforce was formed in March to ensure that its franchise network had access to the latest information and advice relating to the pandemic

Never before has being part of a national and international business been so important. During this crisis, Home Instead Senior Care was able to share knowledge, learnings and best practices with its franchisees from not only a UK perspective but globally too.

“Assuring the wellbeing of our franchisees and their teams sits at the heart of what we do at the national office and thank goodness for our wellbeing framework which was put in place last year in recognition of the fact that they are on the frontlines looking after not only their clients but their caregivers too,” said Ruth Brown, director of business development.

In terms of the pandemic, the national office COVID-19 taskforce was formed back in March to ensure the business was able to share the latest information and advice relating to the pandemic with its franchise network. Even before then, from January, the national office was updating the network each week.

Franchisees have benefited from a tremendous amount of additional support including FAQs that were updated as and when government advice changed. Home Instead worked closely with its banking partners to ensure franchisees had access to the latest advice, and also delivered a series of webinars relating to government business support, in particular, CBILS and furloughing.

Owners also had support relating to dealing with media enquiries, and a marketing campaign to assist with caregiver recruitment was put in place including a repeat of its brand ad TV campaign.

PPE has been a challenge for the whole sector and Home Instead procured it for offices via the national office, as well as supported franchise owners to access what they needed at a local level.

“So, we have shared lots of information, but we’ve mixed it up with motivational and inspirational messaging too, from the 60-strong team at the national office which has included video messages of thanks from our CEO, Martin Jones,” continued Brown. “We’ve also had celebrity support who have shared video messages for our teams which has been lovely.”

As with many businesses, Home Instead has found new ways of working and caring. Its network has come together to find ways to continue to provide exceptional care for its clients.

“Caregivers have gone above and beyond and our franchise teams have displayed resilience, creativity and innovation in their approach to ensure Home Instead clients are still receiving quality care. A huge thank you to all our teams for everything they are doing. We will come out of this stronger. Stay safe,” said Brown.