Care staff
How to create a positive workplace culture
Skills for Care has a strategic focus on increasing workforce capacity across social care to make sure it has the right number of people, with the right values and behaviours, working in the sector now and in the future. Here, head of workforce capacity and transformation Jim Thomas explains how creating a positive workplace culture can support retention
When planning for workforce capacity across the sector, it is vital that we not only speak about recruitment but also retention. From Skills for Care’s Size and structure of the adult social care sector and workforce in England report published in the summer, we know that the current estimate of the number of people working in the social care sector is 1.54m.1 Our forecast data also tells us that,
if the adult social care workforce grows proportionally to the projected number of people aged 65 and over in the population, the number of adult social care jobs will increase by 29 per cent (480,000 jobs) to around 2.16m jobs by 2035. This means that not only do we need
to recruit new people into the sector, but also we need to work hard to keep our new recruits and younger workforce in the sector for the long-haul. So how do we do that?
Why culture matters It only makes sense that by focusing on workplace culture we can support retention, after all by creating a good place to work it is less likely that people will leave. So, the question is - what makes a good place to work? Of course, the exact specifics will
vary by individual, but a combination of making employees feel valued; providing opportunities for learning and progression; fostering a culture of honesty and authenticity; and having a nice team of people to work alongside seems to hit the mark for most people. Not only does creating a positive workplace culture make people stick around because they like where they work but, on a deeper level, it also creates
Helping staff to develop professionally will ultimately bolster their skills and confidence, which will make them more confident, motivated, and proud in their role – all of which means they are likely to stay with you for longer
November 2021 •
www.thecarehomeenvironment.com
a sense of shared identity that makes people feel that they belong, and so promotes loyalty.
Know your workplace culture The first step to creating a positive workplace culture is to identify your current workplace culture, and decide if this is what you want it to be. Workplace culture is the character and personality of your organisation. It is made up of your organisation’s leadership, values, traditions and beliefs, and the behaviours and attitudes of the people in it. You cannot always see your workplace
culture, but you can see the impact that it has. This can be identified through the actions and behaviours of your team. Ask yourself – does your team
go above and beyond, are staff comfortable to speak up, do they look for opportunities to learn? These are all indicators of whether you are creating a
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