At a time when home care providers are grappling with historic turnover and staffing shortages, Caretech has shown what’s possible when you center strategy around connection. Headquartered in Omaha, Caretech serves families across Nebraska, Iowa, and Wyoming — largely rural markets where caregiver recruitment and retention have long been uphill battles.

Instead of chasing quick fixes, Caretech made a bold move: it leaned into its caregivers’ “why” — their desire for purpose, connection, and impact. The team deployed CoachUp Care to reimagine workforce engagement with a human-first approach, automating how they communicate, recognize, and build community with caregivers.

The results have been transformative:
 

• 97% employee engagement
• 29% net workforce growth
• 5+ referral hires / month.
• 15% of employees seeking more hours—unlocking new capacity
  

“We’ve served rural communities for over 25 years. We tried Facebook groups and town halls, but it was always a challenge to truly engage caregivers. CoachUp Care helped us change that.” — Kerin Zuger, Chief Operating Officer, Caretech

The Challenge: Fragmented Tools, Disconnected Teams

Caretech’s team of nearly 400 caregivers was stretched across three states. Like many in the industry, they relied on one-way communication tools, inconsistent onboarding experiences, and time-consuming manual processes. Despite years of effort, leaders couldn’t crack the code on building a connected, motivated, and scalable workforce.

What Caretech needed was more than another tool — it needed a unified workforce strategy rooted in connection and simplicity.


The Strategy: A Human-Centered Engagement Platform

Caretech implemented CoachUp Care as the heart of its caregiver engagement strategy — and aligned its broader tech stack around it. With a focus on recognition, communication, and culture-building, the company moved from transactional touchpoints to meaningful interactions at scale.


Key Features Deployed:

• Referral Engine: Caregivers could now refer friends directly from their phones, creating a self-sustaining recruitment channel.
• Automated Recognition: Birthdays, anniversaries, extra shifts, and kudos were instantly celebrated with redeemable points.
• Social Feed & Comms Hub: A central place for caregivers to share wins, read announcements, and feel part of a larger mission — no Facebook required.
• Engagement Surveys & Schedule Pulse: Helped leaders spot untapped capacity, revealing caregivers wanting more hours not visible in the scheduling system.

“We started seeing names pop up asking for more hours — folks we didn’t realize were open to helping. That’s capacity we never saw in our old systems.” - Kerin Zuger

The Results: Connection = Growth

Caretech’s commitment to culture translated into real business outcomes in just eight months:


Metric                                                     Result

Employee Engagement                        97%
Net Workforce Growth                         29.24%
Referrals Hired                                       5+/Month
% Employees Open To More Hours   15%


Through the right technology and strong operations, Caretech uncovered new capacity, reduced hiring costs, and created a happier, more loyal team.

“CoachUp Care is a fantastic community to go to for support from other Caretech caregivers.  There we can receive various trainings, resources, and information.  It helps empower us as caregivers. There are many offerings for other ways for us to participate too. I truly love the Move program, as we can set our goals and have other fellow caregivers encourage us to keep working at obtaining them. While we can encourage them also to reach their goals. It truly is a wonderful site as we can offer each other true encouragement as a great big caregiving family! Plus get the reward of earning points! A true win win!” - Deborah Sraetker, Caregiver


Strategic Insights for CEOs

• Culture Isn’t Fluffy — It’s the Growth Lever: Engaged teams grow faster and stay longer.
• Technology Should Deepen Connection, Not Distract from It: Caretech’s success proves that automation can humanize, not depersonalize, the caregiver experience.
• Retention is Your Recruitment Strategy: Fewer people leaving means less pressure to hire. Add in caregiver referrals, and you’re building workforce from within.
• Empower Your People, Discover New Capacity: Employees want to connect  — you just need the right system to hear them.

Final Word: When You Build for People, Business Follows

Caretech’s transformation is proof that the future of home care starts with people, not platforms. By aligning technology with caregiver values, Caretech didn’t just grow its workforce — it built a community.