Data shows that learning and development encourages your staff to stay

We look at what our data tells us about the positive impact which learning and development has on reducing staff turnover.

Data from Skills for Care’s Adult Social Care Workforce Data Set (ASC-WDS) – a service where adult social care providers can share and store their workforce data, shows that providing regular learning and development for your staff means they’re more likely to stay with your organisation.

The latest figures from our ‘State of the adult social care sector and workforce report’ shows that turnover rates are almost 10% lower among staff who receive training compared to those who don’t.

The average turnover rate as at 2021/22 for social care workers who hadn’t received any training was 41.2%, but this dropped to 31.7% for those who had.

Continued investment in learning and development for staff reduces turnover rate even further.

ASC-WDS allows employers to store their training records for all staff. From these records, care workers who had received more training opportunities recorded in ASC-WDS had lower turnover rates.

Turnover was reduced by 9.1% for care workers who received more than 30 instances of training when compared to care workers with just one instance of training.

The significant impact which ongoing learning and development has on retention is likely due to staff who are receiving regular training feeling happier, more valued and more confident in their role.

Investing in learning and development opportunities shows your staff that you’re invested in them as an individual and you want to support them in growing and developing.

Regular training means that staff are always up-to-date with their knowledge and feel more assured and comfortable in their role, while new training opportunities also allow your team members to develop further skills and take on more and different opportunities. This means their role stays varied and interesting, and they may have the opportunity to progress into more senior roles or into specific areas of expertise.

Our ‘Secrets of success’ report also tells us that social care employers who see the lowest levels of turnover say that some of the key reasons for this include investing in learning and development, celebrating achievements and making staff feel involved and appreciated.

Providing regular learning and development for your team benefits everyone. As an organisation it helps to lower staff turnover and ensure your staff have the skills needed to provide the best level of care, while for the people in your team it helps to keep them happy, motivated and thriving in their roles. Vitally, ensuring your staff are skilled and confident in conducting their roles effectively means that the people you support will receive the best level of care.

Find information and resources to support with learning and development with our #KeepLearning spotlight.

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