More than almost any other sector, the quality and engagement of care staff has a huge impact on performance. Skilled and well-motivated people make all the difference to the experience of clients and the reputation of the provider.
Compliance also becomes easier when you can rely on people to do the right thing without being micromanaged. So, when you have good staff it obviously makes sense to hang onto them. This also saves you the costs of recruiting and training new staff.
According to Skills for Care Workforce Intelligence, staff turnover in the care sector is running at nearly 31%. That adds up to a lot of cost, effort and risk. In 2018 there were over 110,000 unfilled care vacancies, up 22,000 from the previous year. Staff are getting harder to replace!
67% of those leavers went on to other jobs in the sector. That suggests that it isn’t the role or the idea of working in the care sector that causes many people to seek new opportunities. It’s something to do with where they work.
Skills for Care also conducted research to identify the main factors that promote loyalty and help to retain staff. Three of the top four factors were:
- Embedding the values of the organisation into everyday behaviours.
- Celebrating individual and organisational achievements.
- Involving colleagues in decision making.
And the top-rated factor? Investing in learning and development.
94% of employers saw a positive impact on staff retention as a result of investing in learning and development.
Training and development is recognised by employees as an investment in them and their future as well as the business. It helps to make them feel valued and is an integral part of making your care business a positive place to work. It provides opportunities to learn new skills, expand knowledge or gain further qualifications. All of which can increase morale and improve staff retention
People don’t decide to work in the care sector to get rich – they have other motivations. Which is why it’s so important to build the right culture and make them feel that they are being supported to do the best job possible and make a positive difference to people’s lives.
Redcrier offers a wide range of social care training in a variety of formats so that you can match your training to individual and organisational development needs in a flexible way.
