What challenges is the care sector facing today?
Hana Janah: The main one is of course the shortage of talent. Despite the potential pool of candidates that the Greater Region offers, one of the barriers remains the ability to speak the Luxembourg language, for which our staff must have a B2 level. Then there's the question of qualifications and the recognition of foreign diplomas. Our sector of activity is highly regulated in this respect, which is normal and welcome, but it does pose certain recruitment and training constraints.
Jacqueline Scheer: The other major challenge concerns employee expectations, which have greatly evolved. Today, it's the meaning they give to their work that counts, or the work/life balance in particular. Our employees are looking for a corporate culture that reflects their values. That's what will make the difference, much more than salary alone. For employers, this is a real paradigm shift that Päiperléck has been able to adapt to.
In this respect, what strategy has your HR team established and deployed?
HJ: The first thing we do is to bring candidates closer to the realities of the field, by inviting them to visit us on site for a day of immersion in the company of a tutor. This gives them a chance to meet the people in charge and get a real feel for the tasks they will be doing on a daily basis. In this way, candidates can project themselves and see whether their expectations match the job vacancy in question.
For our part, we can assess their skills on the one hand, but also and above all whether the candidate's values coincide with those of the company. In the end, this is the most important thing, and will determine a fruitful collaboration.
JS: If the person is taken on, they will also benefit from personalised support during their first few months with our company. Regular interviews help them to integrate their position and develop in the best possible way.
HJ: Internal mobility is very important to us, which is why we offer our employees the opportunity to change jobs or sites. We have, for example, a waiter who became a catering manager, or a cleaner who moved into care after training. We develop our skills internally before opening up to the outside world.
JS: When an employee leaves voluntarily, we make sure to submit a questionnaire to them in which they give us their comments. This helps us to understand their decision and improve.
It is the consistency between what we say and what we actually do that creates loyalty among our employees and satisfaction among our customers.
What forms does employee training take?
HJ: Training is conducted both internally and externally, and is delivered by experts in the field, whatever the subject. We call on experts from the field to run the sessions, with particular attention paid to professional practice.
We train our staff in particular on subjects such as palliative care, Luxembourgish language courses, but also on cross-cutting themes such as employment law or an introduction to artificial intelligence. Courses are offered face-to-face, but also by videoconference, depending on the subject and organisational constraints. For your information, e-learning-type formats are currently being developed and should be available soon.
JS: Requests for training may come from the candidate or his or her line manager, usually at the end-of-year interviews but sometimes during the year. The Training team then draws up a plan for the coming year, taking into account the various requests in question.
HJ: We also make extensive use of apprenticeship schemes, which enable our employees to receive training while coming into contact with our businesses. Sometimes, some of them are taken on directly within the company at the end of their course.
Can you sketch a picture of Päiperléck, its business, its customers?
HJ: We are a Luxembourg family business, founded in 2009, specialising in personal care and assistance. Päiperléck also offers services in the field of catering, cleaning, concierge services, etc. The company has almost 1,300 employees, including around a hundred therapists (physiotherapists, occupational therapists, psychologists, speech therapists, etc.), working in 7 senior residences and 13 home care centres. Finally, our 7 day centres organise activities and outings.
JS: Our customers are mainly senior citizens, but also anyone with a specific need for care. These include pregnant women, people immobilised after an injury or convalescing, or one-off needs with no age limit (blood tests, dressing changes or other).
What values make up your employer brand?
HJ: During several in-house workshops with management teams, we identified 6 key values: Service, Profession, Respect, Trust, Pride, Evolution. These values are not the result of chance, but of structured collective work. They guide our HR policy and our day-to-day activities.
JS: One of them is particularly close to my heart and deserves to be explained: the value Profession or rather Living our profession. This means being conscientious, precise in our work, responsible, active and proactive. Our profession is definitely linked to the human and emotional dimension, so you have to love it and embody it 100%.
It is this consistency between what we say and the reality of our actions, which creates the loyalty of our employees and the satisfaction of our customers.