"Engagement with employees is important, so take the time to get to know them, recognize and reward them, value their feedback, and check in with them regularly."
Jonathan Marsh is an impassioned, compassionate man with a vision of service and community. He now stands at the forefront of a company that is changing the very course of home care services. After graduating from Florida State University, Jonathan built a career spanning sixteen years. During those years he consulted with some of the most recognizable Fortune 500 companies but also began to take stock of his personal journey. While his work had been deemed a success by industry standards, it had left him feeling empty and often at odds with his own values and personal goals.
It was during this period of re-evaluation that Jonathan began to consider his best destiny. He reflected on the life of his Grandmother, a strong and formative influence in his life. He remembers that during her life of 97 years there were times that she needed regular care in her home but had no family or resources locally to provide that. Jonathan witnessed firsthand the sheer devastation that this can bring upon families in this situation. This realization along with some deep consideration, extensive conversation, and encouragement from friends inspired Jonathan to consider a new direction.
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Table of Contents
We are thrilled to have you join us today, welcome to Valiant CEO Magazine’s exclusive interview! Let’s start off with a little introduction. Tell our readers a bit about yourself and your company.
Jonathan Marsh: My name is Jonathan Marsh and I am the owner and founder of Home Helpers of Bradenton. I am originally from Tampa, FL and am a graduate of Florida State University.
Home Helpers of Bradenton is a licensed, bonded, and insured in-home care agency serving both seniors and individuals with disabilities in Manatee County, Florida. Since its founding in 2015, Home Helpers of Bradenton‘s goal has always been simple: to serve the ever-growing community of people who wish to remain independent in the place they call home but require help in managing their everyday life. Our goal has also been to acknowledge and provide assistance that allows family members to take care of themselves and have peace of mind. What began as a simple idea – making life easier, one client and family at a time – has grown and evolved over the years.
As an entrepreneur, I value the unique positioning of small businesses to make significant impacts and connections in their local community. My business has allowed me to both create jobs and provide critical services to people that need them. In addition, my business has given me a platform that allows for opportunities that I may not have had otherwise such as sitting on multiple boards (for non-profit organizations), volunteering, being active in our local chamber of commerce, and building lasting relationships with many local business owners. In summary, my connection to my local community brings me so much joy, knowing that I am actively contributing to a greater purpose that brings growth, development, and other positive impacts to my community.
Who has been the most influential person(s) in your life and how did they impact you? How did that lead to where you are today?
Jonathan Marsh: The most influential person in my life is my father. My father has been an entrepreneur and business owner since before I was born which led to my dreams of becoming a business owner. My father has always been an excellent role model for me, having graduated medical school, opened his orthodontic practice in Tampa, FL, and has always been involved in his local community. Being around my father showed me how one can overcome many obstacles in life through perseverance, diligence, and hard work. My first job as a teenager was working for my father, which taught me a great deal about work ethic, values, and empathy.
2020 was a challenging year for all of us, particularly for businesses. How did the pandemic impact your business? Please list some of the problems that you faced, and how you handled them.
Jonathan Marsh: Being in healthcare, the COVID-19 pandemic affected my business in a myriad of ways. The impacts of the pandemic continue, even today. If I had to identify the top 3 impacts, I would categorize them as 1) Loss of clients, 2) Loss of employees, and 3) Significant challenges in staffing/hiring workers.
In terms of both the loss of clients and employees, both were largely related to fear, especially at the beginning of the pandemic. It seemed that we were all learning as much as we could about COVID-19 and were all trying to make the best decisions for our families. To help mitigate these issues and retain as many of our clients and staff as possible, we launched a campaign of communication about COVID-19 for our clients and safe. We sought both legal and healthcare-related advisement and, as a result, formulated and communicated new policies for our company surrounding guidance from the CDC and continually updated these policies as guidance changed. In addition, we aligned ourselves with the local department of health and, though we had the CDC guidelines, we contacted them related to all COVID-19 related situations/occurrences in our company in an effort to make the most sound decisions. For clients, we tried to give them as much information as possible and let them know that we would do everything in our power to help keep them safe as well as to continue to live at home. The information we gave them was not only related to COVID-19 itself but also regarding available testing and vaccination. We were and will continue to be very truthful with our clients regarding possible service disruptions that may be out of our control, as we sought to follow guidance surrounding COVID-19 exposures and subsequent testing and quarantines.
To help retain as many of our employees as possible, we provided them with as much information as possible, which included additional training on COVID-19 and protocols as well as testing, vaccines, etc. In addition, even though personal protective equipment was scarce, we purchased as much as possible as well as many other supplies to allow our employees to continue to service clients in as safe a manner as possible (e.g. masks, hand sanitizer, gloves, disinfectant cleaner, face shields, shoe covers, head coverings, and gowns). These same supplies were also offered to our clients in the event they had challenges in finding them. We also developed partnerships with other local businesses to allow our staff easy options to get tested regularly and we would ultimately set up the ability for our staff to test at our office anytime, from 9 am to 5 pm Monday to Friday. We also increased pay and bonuses paid out to our staff.
In terms of the challenges in staffing/hiring, we focused on a few things: employing a full-time recruiter, using a number of avenues/platforms in our recruiting efforts, increases in wages and expansion of benefits, improving training and development opportunities, and increasing the level of engagement with all of our staff. With their many work options available to our staff, the goal was to ensure we were providing employment opportunities where our staff are happy. Not only do we want to provide livable wages, we also want to be an employer of choice in the community.
The pandemic led to a myriad of cultural side effects, including one that was quite unexpected that is informally known as “The Great Resignation”. Did this widespread trend affect you in any way?
Jonathan Marsh: Given that our services must be provided by our employees, the great resignation had a significant impact on our business. There were times where we could not service new clients and had to refer them elsewhere. There were also other times where we had challenges continuing services for our existing clients.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 4 million Americans quit their jobs in July 2021. How do you feel about this trend? Explain.
Jonathan Marsh: As a nation, we have all been through a lot. I would imagine that many of us have come to value ourselves and our own happiness as well as our families, friends, and relationships more than ever. Many have probably done a lot of soul searching to determine what jobs may meet our current goals and mindsets. When you look at the healthcare industry specifically, many workers are simply exhausted.
This trend of workers quitting their jobs has been unfortunate for many small businesses, many of which have trouble keeping their doors open as a result. Here in Florida, I do believe that the situation is improving as we at seeing an increase in applicants at my company.
According to a study by Harvard Business Review, Employees between 30 and 45 years old have had the greatest increase in resignation rates, with an average increase of more than 20% between 2020 and 2021. That can be quite an alarming rate. What advice would you share to increase employee retention?
Jonathan Marsh: Though it may be challenging financially, do everything you can to provide livable wages and to enhance the work experience of your employees. Engagement with employees is important, so take the time to get to know them, recognize and reward them, value their feedback, and check in with them regularly.
According to a Nature Human behavior study, In 2020, 80% of US workers reported feeling that they have too many things to do and not enough time to do them – a phenomenon known as “time poverty”. What is your take on the work-life balance? Explain.
Jonathan Marsh: From a general perspective, I do believe work-life balance is important. This is essential to our happiness. As I alluded to in one of my earlier answers, for many of us our values have changed during the pandemic. Therefore, work-life balance has probably become more important to individuals, now more than ever.
A more recent survey by Joblist asked about 3,000 respondents if they’re actively thinking about leaving their job. That survey found that 73% of 2,099 respondents who answered this question on their employment plans are considering quitting. How are you preparing for the future to counter this potentially persistent problem?
Jonathan Marsh: We are preparing by constant recruiting and continuing to enhance the business. This involves really focusing on our culture, our values, wages, and engaging with our employees to ensure we are an employer of choice.
In addition, we are making changes to our business model to allow us to service more clients with fewer employees.
Thank you for all that, our readers are grateful for your insightful comments! Now, if the Great Resignation isn’t your greatest concern, what is the #1 most pressing challenge you’re trying to solve in your business right now?
Jonathan Marsh: My most pressing challenge is simply time and priorities. I have many desires in terms of changes to my business to improve the work experience of my employees. However, I do realize I cannot make all of the changes at once and, therefore, have to prioritize and then implement changes accordingly.
Before we finish things off, we do have one last question. If you had $10 Million Dollars to spend in one day, what would you spend it on?
Jonathan Marsh: Interesting question! I’m not sure if you mean in general or related to my business. If I had $10 million dollars to spend one day, I would most likely do the following:
- Ensure I and my family are taken care of. I have quite a large family at various financial levels and I want to ensure they are all in a good place financially.
- Reward my best employees. This pandemic has not been easy and I have always valued my staff. I am thankful for them all and their devotion during the pandemic.
- Invest in my community, whether that be philanthropic donations to non-profits or building something that makes a difference for my fellow community members.
Jed Morley, VIP Contributor to ValiantCEO and the host of this interview would like to thank Jonathan Marsh for taking the time to do this interview and share his knowledge and experience with our readers.
If you would like to get in touch with Jonathan Marsh or his company, you can do it through his – Facebook
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