Promoting career development

Our workforce needs ongoing development to undertake their current role more effectively and to prepare them to take on new tasks or move into their next role.

Skills for Care’s Secrets to Success report found that staff learning was one of the most important aspects for staff retention. Therefore, consider career pathways that align with your business plan and suit the various aspirations of your workforce. Flexible learning opportunities should be central to support varied career pathways.

Top tips:

• Continue to use various communication methods to engage and encourage staff to consider what they are looking for in their career. In particular, encourage managers to use induction sessions, appraisals, one-on-one meetings and reflections on past work to understand this better.
• Build relationships with training providers and health and social care career academies to build a learning and development programme aligned to your staff’s feedback and aspirations. Clearly communicate this with aligned career pathways so staff see your organisation as a long-term career opportunity. Ensure you take advantage of all external opportunities to help fund staff development. For example, the new Adult Social Care Training and Development Fund or the apprenticeship levy which can support those who pay and have unused apprenticeship funds to find and support other employers who want to receive a transfer.
• Motivate and encourage people inside and outside of social care to consider it as a career opportunity with good career development by celebrating and sharing your staff’s outstanding work and development externally. Encourage staff to become I Care Ambassadors and involve them in engaging with the local community through local recruitment fairs, recruitment drives, social media and videos to demonstrate their professional learning and development as well as recognise staff achievements.

Case studies

Useful links

Skills for Care’s Developing your Workforce

Free health and wellbeing courses from e-learning for Health and online recovery college

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