From Applicants to Hires: Closing the Recruiting Execution Gap with Ascension Business Solutions
From Applicants to Hires: Closing the Recruiting Execution Gap
Augusta Webinar with Jennifer Meredith (Ascension Business Solutions)
Getting more caregiver applicants doesn’t automatically lead to more hires. For many home care agencies, the bigger opportunity is improving what happens after someone applies.
In Augusta’s latest webinar, From Applicants to Hires: Closing the Recruiting Execution Gap, Jen Waldron, Co-Founder of Augusta, sat down with Jennifer Meredith of Ascension Business Solutions (ABS) to discuss where caregiver recruiting funnels commonly break down—and how technology and consistent human follow-up can work together to turn more qualified applicants into hires.
Find the Leak Before Adding More Applicants
When hiring numbers fall short, it’s easy to assume the solution is generating more caregiver applicants. But before increasing your recruiting spend, take a closer look at your existing funnel.
How many applicants complete the application? How many qualified candidates schedule interviews? How quickly are those interviews happening? How many candidates show up—and how many ultimately get hired?
Understanding these conversion points can reveal whether your agency truly has an applicant problem or an execution problem.
For example, Augusta’s recruiting benchmarks show that agencies should be able to get approximately 96% of applicants to complete a 20-question application and about 70% of qualified applicants to immediately schedule an interview.
If candidates are consistently dropping out at one stage, adding more applicants at the top of the funnel may simply create more volume without fixing the underlying problem.
Technology Identifies Candidates. People Close the Gap.
Technology can help agencies collect applicant information, identify qualified candidates, automate scheduling, and prioritize who recruiters should contact first.
But once a strong candidate has been identified, consistent human follow-up becomes critical.
That includes screening conversations, confirming interviews, following up on missed appointments, clearly communicating next steps, and ultimately selling qualified caregivers on why they should choose your agency.
Speed matters, too. Augusta’s data shows that 56% of hires are made within four days of applying, making fast scheduling and follow-up an important part of caregiver recruiting.
The goal isn’t simply to automate more—it’s to use technology to make sure recruiters can spend their time building meaningful connections with the right candidates.
Clear Recruiting Ownership Drives Better Execution
Another major theme of the webinar was ownership.
Recruiting can easily become one responsibility among many for busy home care teams. Calls get delayed, candidates wait for answers, and decisions require approval from someone who is already juggling multiple responsibilities.
Agencies with dedicated recruiting ownership can create a more consistent process. With clear SOPs, defined hiring criteria, and the authority to move qualified applicants to the next step, recruiters can keep candidates moving instead of allowing unnecessary delays to slow down the funnel.
This is where Augusta and ABS Recruiting Optimization come together: Augusta provides the technology, automation, data, and recruiting methodology, while ABS provides trained recruiting support to consistently execute the process.
The Big Takeaway for Home Care Leaders
More applicants aren’t always the answer to caregiver recruiting challenges.
Before investing more money into generating applicant volume, look closely at what’s already happening inside your recruiting funnel. Identify where candidates are dropping off, measure performance against meaningful benchmarks, and determine whether the problem is volume, process, follow-up, or ownership.
The strongest recruiting strategy combines the right technology with consistent execution—helping home care agencies turn more applicant interest into interviews, orientations, and ultimately, caregiver hires.
Why am I getting caregiver applicants but not enough hires?
Getting applicants is only the first step in caregiver recruiting. If qualified candidates aren’t becoming hires, there may be a breakdown later in your recruiting funnel, such as slow follow-up, interview no-shows, inconsistent communication, or delays in moving candidates to the next step. Tracking conversion rates throughout the funnel can help home care agencies identify exactly where applicants are dropping off.
How can home care agencies improve caregiver applicant conversion?
Home care agencies can improve applicant conversion by simplifying the application process, quickly identifying qualified candidates, making it easy to schedule interviews, following up consistently, and clearly communicating next steps. Technology can automate repetitive tasks while recruiters focus on building relationships with qualified caregivers.
How quickly should home care agencies interview caregiver applicants?
Speed is an important part of caregiver recruiting. Augusta’s recruiting data shows that 56% of caregiver hires are made within four days of applying. Agencies should make it easy for qualified candidates to schedule interviews quickly and follow up promptly throughout the hiring process.
Do home care agencies need more caregiver applicants or better recruiting processes?
It depends on where the recruiting funnel is breaking down. If an agency has too few qualified applicants entering the funnel, it may need to improve applicant generation. If plenty of qualified caregivers are applying but few become interviews or hires, improving follow-up, scheduling, communication, or recruiting execution may have a greater impact.
What is Augusta + ABS Recruiting Optimization?
Augusta + ABS Recruiting Optimization combines Augusta’s caregiver recruiting technology, automation, data, and methodology with trained recruiting support from Ascension Business Solutions (ABS). The model is designed to help home care agencies consistently execute their recruiting processes and turn more qualified caregiver applicants into interviews, orientations, and hires.
About the Speakers
Jennifer Meredith
Business Development Coordinator, Ascension Business Solutions
Jennifer Grey Meredith is a Business Development professional with Ascension Business Solutions (ABS), where she works closely with home care leaders to identify operational gaps and build scalable support strategies that strengthen recruiting efficiency, applicant flow, scheduling, and day-to-day execution.
Through her work with agency owners, franchise leaders, and strategic partners, Jennifer helps organizations evaluate where the right virtual support can create greater consistency, reduce internal
workload, and give leadership teams more capacity to focus on growth.
As part of the ABS + Augusta model, Jennifer is helping bring together recruiting technology, process optimization, and trained virtual support to create a more efficient recruiting engine for home care organizations. The goal is to help agencies improve applicant flow, strengthen follow-up, reduce recruiting bottlenecks, and create a more consistent path from candidate interest to hire.
Jennifer is also actively involved in industry education, conferences, and strategic partnerships designed to bring practical solutions directly to home care operators. Her approach is centered on helping leaders build the right structure, delegate more effectively, and create stronger operational systems with the right people in the right roles.
Jen Waldron
Co-Founder, Augusta
I began my career as a caregiver and personally experienced “pulling a double.” This gave me firsthand insight into the challenges and opportunities for senior care.
I went on to scale some of the industry’s most impactful companies—helping grow IPCed and OnCourse Learnings’ post-acute care division to $10M+ ARR (acquired later by Relias). And, drove CareAcademy’s revenue from six figures to multi-millions as SVP of Sales and Business Development.
Now, as a co-founder of Augusta, I am tackling one of the biggest challenges in home care: caregiver recruitment. Augusta helps agencies find and interview top-tier caregivers to fuel business growth.
I’m passionate about data-driven solutions that transform caregiver hiring and retention, delivering measurable business results for home care agencies.
