A clear career structure and ladder needed for the care sector - Nick Bramley

It is a sector with a high turnover, where many companies don’t invest in their employees because they may leave, forming a self-fulfilling circle of uncommitted staff that needs breaking.

The money that could be spent investing in training ends up being spent on agency staff to fill the gaps, on much higher pay, but without the dedication to the company or the role.

How many of the following do you hear, or even say, on a far too regular basis? I seem to alway be recruiting; I can never seem to keep staff long enough for them to make the impact I need or want; I have little choice but to use expensive agency staff.

There is not enough money around to pay my staff more; training budgets have to come second to recruitment costs; I wish I could do more to reward my team.

If you recognise any of these, you are not alone. As a sector, the care profession seems to be in a repeating cycle of vacancy advertising, recruitment, induction, training, staff leaving, repeat.

It can be soul destroying, frustrating and very expensive. Retention and development of staff needs prioritising and a pathway creating so that care can be seen as a career not just a job. Even the NHS has a career structure and ladder, and it should be the same for care.

It goes without saying that not all care companies are like this. I have the privilege of knowing many already making the changes to improve this. The Yorkshire Care Alliance has now been formed to support and facilitate this change.

Launching this month, the charity is putting on six different workshops across the region covering all aspects of care. These include culture, workforce, CQC, insurance, legal and the care sector itself.

I will be facilitating one of these workshops at the Pavilions in Harrogate on September 26 between 10am – 11.30am, specifically focusing on all of these challenges with the workforce.

Aiming to be a highly engaging, thought-provoking session that challenges the norm around workforce recruitment, development and retention, encouraging new ideas using critical (even radical) thinking and the principle of marginal gains. It is one not to be missed.

To sign up for this or any of the six free sessions, simply go to the group page for the Yorkshire Care Alliance on LinkedIn.

From care professionals to unpaid carers, to suppliers to the care industry – they are open to you all and we need you there.

At the Yorkshire Care Alliance, we intend to shake up the care sector, break out-dated models and bring new thinking to solve old problems.

With staff being both your biggest asset and potentially your biggest challenge, these Masterclasses will give you fresh ideas and fresh energy and you could even say ‘I was there at the start of something special’.

Nick Bramley is the CEO of the IMPACTUS Group of Companies.