Effective leadership can transform social care settings. Leaders and managers shape organisational culture by modelling behavioural standards and values they expect staff to operate by. Skilled, knowledgeable and compassionate leaders and managers create brilliantly led, innovative care organisations delivering the best possible care and support.
According to our most recent data, the recruitment and retention of managers and leaders remains a sector priority. Adult social care continues to experience high turnover among CQC-regulated managers, the rate for which currently stands at 19.4%, alongside a vacancy rate of 9.8% for 2023/24. In addition, 31% of registered managers are aged 55 and over, potentially approaching retirement within the next decade.
Creating conditions where people want to stay, including a commitment to continuous professional development at all levels of leadership and management, is crucial if we are going to build social care providers that can handle increasing future care demand.
The Workforce Strategy for Adult Social Care, which launched in July 2024, makes recommendations to develop more and better leaders. It calls on the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) to implement a social care leadership development roadmap in line with the Messenger Review’s recommendations. The strategy also calls for clear expectations for leaders and managers, as well as more leadership development for senior leaders, including directors.
Thankfully, the creation of a career pathway for managers is already underway. The Care Workforce Pathway is a set of guidance, produced by Skills for Care and DHSC, providing a universal adult social care career structure, setting out the knowledge, skills, values and behaviours expected of those looking to progress through job roles.
Having launched in January 2024, it offered guidance for four role categories initially:
- New to care.
- Care or support worker.
- Supervisor or leader.
- Practice leader.
In April 2025, these four categories were expanded to include four further role categories:
- Personal assistant.
- Enhanced care worker.
- Deputy manager.
- Registered manager.
The addition of the registered manager and deputy manager category roles are notable extensions of support for social care leaders and will provide much greater clarity around proper progression into these roles. This is particularly important given the sector’s growing need to develop the next generation of registered managers.
To support the Workforce Strategy’s focus on developing directors in adult social care organisations, both in local authorities and across provider organisations, new programmes have also recently been launched.
Skills for Care and the National Development Team for Inclusion (NDTi) partnered to redesign and update the New Directors Programme with two new cohorts:
These programmes nurture aspiring directors of social care organisations and directors of adult social services. Delivery of the programmes began in April 2025 and will run throughout the summer, with further cohorts available in the autumn. The leadership development programme will enable future leaders to become confident and capable in leading complex care organisations and services, as well as support opportunities to network amongst peers.
We are confident that, as more Workforce Strategy recommendations are implemented, we will see increasingly promising data around turnover rates and vacancy rates in these positions. Growing a resilient and capable community of leaders will be critical in ensuring that our sector continues to deliver the best care it can.
Click here to see Skills for Care’s resources for leaders and managers. Then, leave a comment on this column or join the conversation to share your thoughts.
Oonagh Smyth is Chief Executive Officer at Skills for Care.  Email: [email protected] X: @skillsforcare