When Skills for Care published its landmark Workforce Strategy for Adult Social Care in England in summer 2024, it laid out how policymakers can ensure a long-term supply of care staff. Just over a year on, more than half of its 56 recommendations have been taken forward. But while these steps will make a difference at a macro level, it is vital for care providers of all sizes to develop their own workforce strategies. This will ensure they can continue to deliver high-quality care as our population ages.
Whether it is innovating working patterns, supporting career progression or improving visibility among young people, providers should adopt bold and novel thinking to make care jobs more appealing. Some of these recommendations feature in a recent Browne Jacobson report, Workforce strategies for care providers. This was compiled using insights from chief executive officers at independent residential care homes and from domiciliary care providers, alongside sector-aligned charities and advisers, the NHS and Skills for Care.
These insights were gathered at a roundtable discussion and became more relevant with Government’s immigration white paper, which proposes to restrict care visas for overseas workers, who represent a significant proportion of the health and care workforce. Skills for Care data shows the number of people working in the sector rose by 92,400 between 2021/22 and 2023/24, driven by an increase in staff from outside the UK and European Economic Area. It is therefore crucial for the sector to work towards ensuring it has access to the people and skills needed to make it fit for the future. We have set out recommendations across the same three headings as Skills for Care – train, attract and retain and transform.
Developing future registered managers (RMs)
One of the most pressing challenges facing the sector is the development of RMs. The vacancy rate stands at about 10%, which is higher than other sector management positions. Additionally, turnover rates hover in the 20s percentile, and a concerning one-third are approaching retirement age within the next decade. Perhaps most telling is that a 2020 Skills for Care survey involving 800 RMs revealed that 70% had not initially planned to take on the role but took the opportunity when it presented itself. This highlights the need for more strategic succession planning.
The role has evolved from primarily focusing on governance and compliance to encompassing broader leadership responsibilities. This evolution brings several challenges, including concerns about training costs and the potential loss of trained personnel due to limited progression opportunities, as voiced by roundtable participants. There is also the delicate balance between innovation and experience, as retaining managers with longer tenures might hinder innovation, as there is an expectation the role will remain static.
Recruiting RMs presents its own difficulties. While it opens the door to desirable skills from outside the sector, particularly in leadership and commercial areas, these individuals can lack clinical, quality and caring experience. The roundtable identified several actionable strategies to address these challenges, including enhancing and promoting internal development programmes that are already well attended and contribute positively to management retention. These programmes should be continuously updated to reflect the evolving role of managers.
Many in the sector emphasise that ‘data is the currency of today’. As such, training should help RMs embrace technology and data effectively in care delivery. Equally important is ensuring inductions are comprehensive and supportive, setting RMs on a path to meet the role’s evolving expectations. This includes financial management and commercial decision-making training. For organisations willing to look beyond traditional recruitment pools, consider recruiting RMs from other regulated industries to bring in the necessary skills. Supporting organisational structures should be in place to bridge gaps in care-specific knowledge and skills.
Engaging young people in care careers
King’s Fund research highlighted that ‘social care has a problem with young people’, with only 8% of the workforce comprising 18 to 24 year olds. This presents both a challenge and an opportunity, particularly given that figures from the Office for National Statistics project a significant increase in the number of young people on the cusp of working age in Britain. The 10-14 age bracket in 2023 represented an increase of almost 140,000 people compared to the 15-19 category.
The roundtable identified several barriers preventing young people from considering care careers. There is a perception that ‘parents are not supportive of young people’s desire to join the care sector’. There is also a communication gap, as highlighted by another participant, ‘Social care does not communicate how good the job feels and the opportunity it provides to support people’s lives.’ NHS senior leaders pointed out that the ‘younger generation’s understanding of what a hospital is versus what actually happens is miles apart’, suggesting similar misconceptions exist about social care.
To overcome these barriers, participants suggested making care roles more tangible. Creating engaging, visual content outlining various social care career paths could bridge the understanding gap. Working with local schools and colleges to highlight the features and benefits of working in care could inspire interest among young people. This may involve talks, experiences and interactive sessions that bring the realities of social care to life. Understanding the younger generation’s expectations regarding work-life balance is crucial. Implementing flexible working hours and ensuring young employees’ shift patterns do not infringe too strongly on their personal lives would make the sector more attractive.
Care providers should also promote the breadth of opportunities available, with work experience to be gained everywhere, from physiotherapy and IT to gardening and reception. Crucially, organisations must recognise that young people have been operating in a digital world throughout their education and in their private lives. Embracing the digital transformation of care services, where technology is integrated into caring roles, will resonate with young people.
Transforming workplace culture and flexibility
Workplace culture has a significant impact on staff retention. Emphasising the importance of inclusion, compassion and collaboration in an organisation’s culture can improve retention and quality of care provided. Several organisations shared with us innovative approaches to flexible working that have yielded positive results.
One senior leader of Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust shared that a rostering practice has successfully integrated flexible working by implementing an ‘any hours’ initiative in which employees choose how many hours they want to work in a 12-hour period. This approach not only accommodates employee preferences but also covers business needs efficiently, as ‘Staff select shifts generated from vacant roles, so money is saved on covering vacancies with agency workers.’
Other successful initiatives include compressed working arrangements, where another care provider introduced compressed hours to cover long working days, aiming to improve work-life balance. Some providers are exploring more comprehensive support systems, with one leader considering incorporating a crèche in care homes, which could significantly ease the burden of childcare.
The key to success lies in innovating and implementing flexible working arrangements, such as ‘any hours’ and self-rostering, to provide employees with the ability to choose work patterns that best suit their needs without compromising the operational needs of the business. This requires investment in technology to facilitate dynamic arrangements, making the scheduling process more efficient and transparent. Equally important is the need to foster a community feeling within the workplace, and ensure roles are meaningful and fulfilling. This can be achieved by involving employees in decision-making processes, enabling their innovation and recognising their contributions to the organisation.
Integration opportunity
The potential for closer integration between health and social care presents both opportunities and challenges for workforce development. The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Wes Streeting, has previously stated, ‘Care workers will be better supported to take on further duties to deliver health interventions, such as blood pressure checks, meaning people can receive more routine checks and care at home without needing to travel to healthcare settings.’ This evolution suggests that collaboration can be a key factor in increasing the talent pool, with opportunities to create roles that straddle both health and care sectors.
However, significant barriers remain, including disparity in terms of work between the NHS and social care sectors. There is also a perceived lack of respect and recognition from the NHS towards social care colleagues, which hampers effective integration. Addressing these cultural and structural differences will be essential for successful workforce integration.
A path forward
Despite the absence of formal Government adoption and direct financial enhancements, such as increased pay or investment, care providers have the opportunity as private businesses to future-proof their provision with innovative workforce strategies that meet increasing demand for their services. ‘We’re all in the same boat’ was a message we have heard from the care sector. Therefore, collaborating to solve mutual challenges could be a catalyst for positive change. As one participant noted, ‘To attract amazing, we have to be amazing.’
Success will depend not just on implementing individual initiatives, but on creating a coherent strategy that addresses the interconnected challenges of training, attraction, retention and transformation. In doing so, care providers can position themselves not just to survive the current workforce crisis, but to thrive in an evolving sector that is of vital societal importance.
To read Workforce strategies for care providers, visit the Browne Jacobson website. Then, comment on this feature or join the conversation to share your thoughts.
Laura Chinyere-Ezeh is a HR consultant at Browne Jacobson. Email: [email protected] X: @brownejacobson