WORKFORCE
engaging and meaningful conversations around career progression and skills development. One such resource is the career conversations
toolkit. This practical resource offers a step-by-step guide to holding meaningful career conversations, helping managers structure discussions, offer constructive feedback, and align development plans with each team member’s professional aspirations. It supports leaders in fulfilling their role as mentors, providing clarity around progression and guiding staff towards long-term growth in the sector. These conversations create space for team members to take ownership of their development and, if they choose to, take decisive steps towards progression. The Pathway links directly with practical learning
and development opportunities – for example, the new Level 2 Adult Social Care Certificate Qualification. It has been a real achievement to see how the
Pathway has progressed already since 2024, and the impact it is having for the 30 Early Adopters who were supported with introducing the Pathway into their organisations as part of the first phase of implementation. We have had incredibly positive feedback from the Early Adopters, with one even seeing a 70 per cent reduction in staff turnover since adopting the Pathway. The Pathway will support with wider recognition of the social care sector and the incredibly skilled people who work in care. It will help to professionalise the care sector in a way that people can better understand what job roles in care look like and the diversity of the work being carried out by people who work in social care. This will not only help keep the incredible people
we have already working in care, but will help to attract more talented individuals to choose to build a career in care. And it is vital that we are attracting more
people to work in care. People’s support needs are changing; as a society, we are living longer but
34 THE CARE HOME INDUSTRY HANDBOOK 2026
not necessarily healthier. We need to recruit and retain more people working in care to create a sustainable workforce that can meet the needs of our communities now and in the future.
Benefits for care providers As well as the positive impact for recruitment and retention, the Care Workforce Pathway will bring many other benefits for social care employers. It will help to inform effective workforce planning by providing a trusted benchmark for skills, knowledge, and behaviours across roles, to give managers an organisational view of the skills across their workforce and the areas where development is required. Additionally, it supports performance management. By knowing which team members are aligned with the role expectations in the Pathway, managers can spot any top performers who might be ready for the next challenge, or those who might need more support. Managers can also use the Pathway to support with onboarding new staff, using the skills, knowledge, and behaviours outlined in the Pathway to set expectations for new staff and set a plan of what skills need to be developed during this time. This is important because, from our research
with care providers, we know how vital an effective induction can be in keeping staff long term, as turnover is highest in the first three months of starting a role. From new starters to experienced staff, the
Pathway will help increase staff morale and retention. From those organisations who have already adopted the Pathway staff have reported feeling more motivated to continue with their current employer.
What the Pathway looks like and how to adopt it
Upon launching, the Pathway covered four role categories which were new to care: care or support worker; supervisor or leader, and practice leader.
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