In the main hallway of Manor Community in Bristol, framed photographs of staff and residents line one wall, alongside a chalkboard with motivational one-liners such as: “Be the reason someone smiles today.” On the other side, in large letters, is a visual reminder of the organisation’s six values: mentoring, accountability, nurturing, organic development, respect and co-production.
“Our values shape everything we do,” says managing director Sophie Chester-Glyn. “Right from how we recruit people, all the way through to our policies, procedures and strategy. It’s more than just having it on the website – you have to demonstrate it.”
The demand for good social care workers continues to grow. Despite an estimated 1.49 million people working in the sector, there are around 122,000 vacancies at any one time. A recent report from Skills for Care suggests there will be another 580,000 job roles to fill by 2035 if the workforce grows in line with the UK’s over-65 population. The Chartered Institute of Personal Development has found the average cost of recruiting a new starter is between £2,000 and £5,000.
Those figures concern Annette Baines, programme head for recruitment and retention at Skills for Care, particularly because the adult social care sector has an estimated annual turnover rate of permanent and temporarily employed staff of 30.8%. Yet, of the 440,000 care workers who leave their jobs every year, around two thirds will stay in the sector. “So there’s something going on,” Baines says. “We can recruit, but we can’t necessarily keep [those employees]. Of those that want to change jobs, two thirds want to stay in the sector, but they don’t want to stay with that employer. Why is that?”
Baines believes this can be tackled by focusing on the values, or guiding principles, that help people deliver exceptional care and support. While these will vary by organisation, there are some common themes, she says: “Respect and dignity. How people learn and how they reflect. How they communicate. Being sensitive.”
In practical terms, a job advert and interview that centre around values will be less concerned about a candidate’s prior experience of particular tasks, and more interested in the qualities a person has. It may encourage those without professional care sector experience to apply – someone, for example who has cared for their mother, father, or a younger sibling, or who has worked in a different sector entirely.
“One employer told me one of his best recruits was an ex-hairdresser,” says Baines. “She was able to communicate, she was chatty, she could put people at ease, she showed she cared about their experience and so on. A lot of employers are set in their mindset – they think candidates must have these qualities, they must have a car, they must have three years experience. But now some are thinking differently and asking: ‘Well, actually does it matter that they’ve never worked in care before?’”
Research into the success of care sector employers [pdf] with a staff turnover less than 10% revealed many used values-based models to recruit and keep staff. Almost three quarters (72%) of surveyed employers said staff recruited for their values performed better than those hired using more traditional methods, taking fewer sick days and being more punctual. The majority of these employers had successfully targeted under-represented groups in the social care workforce, such as young people (60%), and men (48%). Almost half (49%) found that word of mouth was the most effective recruitment tool.
At Manor Community, focusing the organisation’s activities on its values has had a big impact. The home has attracted a number of new starters that have never worked in care before. Many will have a trial day before they start, to ensure everyone – including the residents – are happy. For existing staff, a scheme called Beam Me Up has boosted the number of internal promotions, and supervisions, appraisals and personal development planning are all underpinned by the six values.
Turnover is at an all-time low, of 3%, and the home won a Skills for Care Accolades award in 2019 for best employer. “We’ve had heaps of compliments like I’ve never experienced before,” says Chester-Glyn. “Working towards the values we’ve created just makes the whole organisation run a bit smoother. It’s gone from people having complaints about the management [team], or rotas not reflecting what people needed, to everyone working in harmony. And the leadership team feel accountable to their staff, as well as the people they support.”
Some may be apprehensive about turning their recruitment and retention model on its head, and Baines admits it can seem like quite a leap: “This is asking employers to be brave, take a calculated risk.” She says good employers need to be open, honest and realistic about the job, and offer a supportive induction process to employees – particularly in the first few weeks, when a lot of new recruits, historically, leave. “The employers that go the extra mile are the ones that get the results,” she adds. “Once you’ve got the right people in, and you’ve shown you’re a good organisation, they’ll stay and they’ll progress and they’ll flourish.”
Find out more about Skills for Care’s tools and resources around values-based recruitment here
