How we planned for our new registered manager to take over

Alison Carter, Managing Director, and Kim Woodhouse, Registered Manager at No Place Like Home discuss how they planned for Kim to take over the role of registered manager ahead of the previous registered manager retiring.

The registered manager sits at the heart of any care provider. The stability of this role has a big impact on the performance of a care provider and on the happiness of the team.

When Alison Carter first set up No Place Like Home, a homecare provider specialising in elderly dementia support, with her friend Rhona in 2013 they put together a very clear plan from the outset. Alison would be the managing director while Rhona took on the role of registered manager, with Rhona planning to retire when she hit aged 60 in 2022.

With this plan in mind Alison and Rhona always had their eye out for who could take over the role of registered manager from Rhona.

Alison tells us that her and Rhona had a shared vision and values. They also complemented each other with their differences. Alison says:

Because of this good working relationship Alison and Rhona knew exactly what they’d be looking for from Rhona’s successor, and they knew they’d want to be looking for that person several years in advance of Rhona retiring. In fact, Alison says they always kept their eyes open for the right person.

Developing a new registered manager

It was in 2018 that Alison and Rhona were first introduced to Kim Woodhouse. Kim applied to join No Place Like Home, having initially heard about the service through word of mouth from an existing staff member. The organisation wasn’t actively recruiting for a new registered manager at this point, but Alison points out that staff were aware that they were always open to the right people joining the team.

At their first interview with Kim, she seemed like she could be a good fit for the team. Rhona even asked her what her shoe size was – hinting that she would be looking for someone to fill her shoes in the registered manager role in a few years’ time.

Kim initially joined the team as Personal Assistant (PA) Coordinator, but a plan was put in place quickly to start developing Kim towards the role of registered manager when Rhona retired.

Rhona started slowly stepping down from some of her responsibilities, passing these on to Kim, and Kim then stepped up into the role of deputy manager.

They then introduced a second deputy manager, allowing Kim to take over more of Rhona’s registered manager role. At this point Rhona had reduced her days which really allowed Kim to start filling in for this role. She tells us it was a very slow progression over 18 months to two years, with Kim gradually stepping up as Rhona gradually stepped down, which allowed time for Kim to become familiar with the role and to learn from Rhona.

During this time Kim was also able to take a study day once a week to complete various qualifications to support her in the role, including her Level 5 qualification. This was only possible because Rhona was still in post and so Kim didn’t have to take over the entire role right away. She says:

Alison adds:

Beyond the registered manager journey, Alison and Kim tell us that discussing future plans and aspirations is something they do at their monthly management team meetings and with each team member at their regular one-to-ones and reviews, so that they can plan for their staff and the organisation to grow together.

No Place Like Home’s successful approach to identifying and developing their new registered manager highlights the importance of continually thinking about the future of your team and organisation and making plans now to be ready for the future.

Find out more about workforce planning and succession planning with our #PlanningForSuccess spotlight.

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