Top tips on how to retain your care team

We hear from Stephen Forster, Managing Director of The Care Social Network, on how to retain your care team.

Go to any care show, meeting, debate or general discussion regarding care recruitment in the UK and you’ll typically find that recruitment and retention challenges are in the top three priorities for care providers.

But why is this? I believe it’s a problem with how organisations and people deal with each other.

I’ve worked as a care assistant and support worker in domiciliary care myself, working with young people and adults from companionship calls, to personal care, to autism and challenging behaviour. This hands-on experience is absolutely invaluable when it comes to recognising what it means to be on the front line, experiencing the day-to-day challenges, upsets, heart aches, joys and everything else in between.

The reason I started The Care Social Network was to use my experience to support other social care organisations to improve their retention efforts, helping them keep the staff that they rely on to deliver excellent care. I wanted to share some of my insight with you by outlining some of my top retention tips.

Tip 1. Internal structure and initial experience

Retention starts internally, before you’ve even posted a job or hired a member of your care team. First, it’s crucial you consider the initial experience of candidates who may want to join your organisation.

Who is the person who will be in control of your recruitment? Who will be the person or people in your team who will call people who’ve applied for positions with you? Who are the people in your team who will meet candidates face to face?

You must have people in your team who are on the same page as you when it comes to the values of your care company. You want these values reflected in your recruitment practices, ensuring your staff promote your organisation, its values and its culture from the outset.

Tip 2. Individualisation

Applicants for your care company may fall into one of many categories. Perhaps they want to work in care but have no experience. They may have experience at another provider but have fallen out of love with their current role. Maybe they just want to work in a sector that allows them to give back to their community.

Taking all of the above into consideration, we need to look at each person as an individual and focus on their personal circumstances, while ensuring fairness and consistency in our approach.

Consider how are you conducting your phone screenings with people with no experience in care, what words are you using when talking to people who doesn’t need to work but wants a role in care, how are you responding to people who are students looking for work?

All of this will impact how potential staff are likely to perceive your organisation before they join. Take care to ensure a degree of individualisation in your interactions with current and potential staff.

Tip 3 - Flexibility

Flexibility is a crucial consideration for many staff and applicants.

I’ve found one of the most common reasons people leave a care role is because of ‘a change in personal circumstances.’ I believe that in many cases this translates, ‘the company I’m working for couldn’t work with me and come to an arrangement.’

While many organisations are reluctant to allow fulltime staff become part time, change shift patterns due to scheduling complications or making significant adjustments in working conditions, it’s almost always more resource efficient than replacing members of staff.

Skills for Care have a really handy flexible working guide which you should consider checking out.

Tip 4 - Wellbeing

Working in care can be emotionally challenging and physically demanding. Burnout is an all-too-common reason cited by departing care staff.

Focusing on your staff as people, not a number, is the first step in becoming a genuinely compassionate employer.

When I was a HR manager for a domiciliary care provider, I encouraged our team to share what they were comfortable with to ensure I had visibility of stumbling blocks that many impact their wellbeing. This included everything from serious illness to the death of a family pet.

I would also focus on having a ‘wellness champion’ within your care company. Someone who is excellent with people and an approachable person. This person should have an open-door policy and set days for people to come and chat with you. Why not have a ‘tea afternoon’ every Friday between 2pm and 3pm where people can chat with you and the team about anything they want?

These are some simple steps you can take to becoming a care company who cares about their staff. You should also consider taking a look Skills for Care’s wellbeing guidance page for more useful resources.

Tip 5 - Pay

Money can be a difficult subject to broach, but it’s often one of the most important issues to current and future staff.

Pay directly impacts a care company's ability to retain staff by influencing job satisfaction, financial stability and morale. Offering competitive, fair wages is essential to keeping a committed and motivated care team who are free of the burden of financial stress.

I would advise care organisations to research competitive pay rates within their local area, as these are the organisations you are competing with. This can be as simple as checking out job boards for positions in your locality. If you find yourself paying your staff below what your competition is offering, you may want to question what would stop them from applying for these positions.

Stephen Forster

Founder and Managing Director of The Care Social Network

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