Village managers are packing up and leaving the sector – and operators will need to re-consider their hiring and training policies to ensure the future talent pool doesn’t dry up.

Last week, we ran a survey in The SOURCE asking the executives to report on their experience of burnout – and village managers were among the main group to respond.

Managers reported being overwhelmed with work and not having enough support staff to help, being constantly on call and unable to take a break, struggling to deal with demands and bullying from residents and families, and pay that does not match the workload.

As one senior manager put it:

“A village manager’s role is stressful because they are the meat in the sandwich. Most managers are undervalued and often undermined by the group manager or the organisations they work for.”

Another stated:

“The managers I know that have suffered from burnout have found themselves in a situation where they feel like they are constantly walking on eggshells trying to meet expectations and keep everyone happy. Unfortunately, residents, residents family members, the management company and the contract terms and conditions are usually at odds so meeting anyone’s expectations becomes impossible.”

And they are leaving – DCM’s independent survey of more than 300 village managers found 51% leave the sector in three years or less.

This is also reflected in the number of job ads for village managers – we counted 170 job ads for village managers and assistant village managers on SEEK this week.

We hear on the grapevine that some larger private operators are turning to their internal relief staff to fill vacancies after being unable to recruit successful candidates.

You only have to look at a recent job ad for a Village Manager to understand the demands of the role (see image above) and why many may be looking for the door.

Why is this the case? And what can the sector do to retain its village professionals?

You can find the full story in this week’s special burnout issue of SATURDAY, in your inbox at 6am, Saturday 14 August. Subscribe here to make sure you can read the full issue including this story.