How you can use Skills for Care’s data to help with workforce planning

Skills for Care’s analysis team explain how you can use the Adult Social Care Workforce Data Set (ASC-WDS) and our annual social care report to support planning for your team and organisation.

‘The State of the adult social care sector and workforce in England’ report

Each year Skills for Care publishes a comprehensive report which looks at the adult social care sector and workforce in England, covering topics including vacancy rates, number of people working in adult social care, pay rates, turnover, demographics of the workforce, training, qualifications and more.

You can find the full report on our website. We also have interactive data visualisations for each section of the report making it easy to take in the information that’s relevant for you.

Here are some of the ways that you can use the report to help with understanding what the wider sector looks like right now, and to support planning and decision making for your team.

Vacancies

One of the biggest findings from this year’s report was that despite the demand for social care staff increasing, the number of roles with a person working in them has decreased for the first time on record (down 3% from 2020/21).

This means that the sector is facing a huge increase in vacancies (up 52% from 2020/21) and real recruitment difficulties.

For care providers, that means it’s more important than ever to think about planning for your workforce to ensure you have the people you need to deliver care and support now and in the future. This means looking at what staff you need to have to deliver the necessary care, how you’re going to recruit new staff required, and what steps you’re taking to retain your existing staff.

Staff turnover rates

We know that staff turnover presents a challenge for care providers, and that retention is a particularly important issue right now.

In the ‘State of’ report we’ve analysed the common factors which lead workers to leave their roles.

The data suggests that care workers are more likely to leave if they’re on zero-hours contracts. Turnover rates also decreased as the contracted number of hours increased- from 33.9% for staff on zero hours down to 28.1% for staff with more than 35 contracted hours.

We know that zero-hours contracts suit some workers, but it’s worth considering whether the model you use for contracting staff could help strengthen your workforce.

Our analysis also shows that people often leave their roles soon after joining. Turnover rates were 43.5% for those with less than one year of experience in role.

If turnover is a challenge in your organisation, perhaps you can review your staff induction process to help new staff settle into their roles. Could you introduce a tailored approach which includes shadowing, mentoring, buddying or peer support for younger staff or people new to the sector?

The amount of training your staff undertakes also has an impact on turnover, with data showing that turnover was lower when staff were provided with more training. The turnover rate for staff who had no training records was 41.2%, but for staff with more than 30 instances of training this dropped to 24.7%.

Planning for the future

The report highlighted the sector’s ageing workforce, with 28% of adult social care workers aged 55 and over. This is higher than the national economically active population.

Workers aged 55 and over may retire within the next ten years, and so we need to start thinking about how we’re going to sustain the workforce of the future.

If this feels reflective of your workplace, you may want to think about what kinds of gaps this might leave you with- both in terms of the number of staff you employ but also the skills and knowledge your organisation might lose.

The Adult Social Care Workforce Data Set (ASC-WDS)

The Adult Social Care Workforce Data Set (ASC-WDS) is the source of data for our annual report.

ASC-WDS is a free service which all social care providers can sign-up to. You can store your staff records in ASC-WDS which will not only allow you to contribute data to the sector but will also help you to do your own analysis.

Benchmarking

ASC-WDS includes a benchmarking feature which allows Care Quality Commission (CQC) regulated care homes and domiciliary care providers to benchmark your workplace metrics against similar providers in your area. You can see:

• average hourly pay for a care worker
• staff turnover over the last 12 months
• average number of days each worker was off sick in the last 12 months
• percentage of care-providing staff with a relevant qualification at level 2 or above.

It shows how you compare against all local providers who offer the same main service as you, those with Good or Outstanding CQC ratings, and those who have low turnover. You can use these to set goals for your organisation, or to make sure you stay competitive in your local area.

ASC-WDS users tell us that they use this intelligence to set objectives with their managers, inform pay reviews or as part of internal audits.

Use ASC-WDS to help plan learning and development

If you use the training and qualifications feature in ASC-WDS, it can help to plan your programme of learning and development. The service shows you which training categories need attention - either because training in that area has expired for multiple staff or staff are missing training which you’ve defined as mandatory for their role. It’s easy to see, at a glance, which areas of training you should plan next.

View ‘The State of the adult social care sector and workforce in England’ report.

Find out more about ASC-WDS and sign up.

Learn more about workforce planning with our #PlanningForSuccess spotlight.

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