What data can tell you about developing a #PositiveWorkplaceCulture

Monitoring workforce and sector data can provide useful insights about developing a positive workplace culture. Find out more about how you can use data to help develop a positive culture in your organisation.

This month we released our updated ‘Size and structure of the adult social care sector and workforce in England’ report. This annual report provides a comprehensive overview of the adult social care sector and workforce providing insights such as the number of people working in adult social care in England, the number of organisations, the number of vacancies and more.

We’re able to create these insights thanks to data submitted by adult social care employers to our Adult Social Care Workforce Data Set (ASC-WDS).

This year’s report has shown that the number of vacancies across the sector has decreased to 9.9%, compared to 10.6% last year. At the same time number of filled posts (roles with a person working in them) has increased by 1% since last year, having previously decreased for the first time on record. This is positive news, but we know that challenges do still exist for the sector and at 152,000 vacancies across adult social care in England the vacancy rate does remain high.

Looking at vacancy rates is a key piece of insight when it comes to analysing workplace culture, as developing a positive workplace culture is vital in retaining staff and reducing vacancies which are caused by staff leaving – rather than those related to your organisation growing and developing new roles.

By signing up for ASC-WDS you can safely record your workforce data, including starters, leavers, and current vacancies. This data is then used to produce the vacancy rates and turnover rates. From this data we can calculate vacancy rates, allowing you to benchmark your vacancy levels against other similar organisations.

As vacancy rates can be caused by a variety of factors, another key metric to look at when assessing your workplace culture is turnover. This is the rate of staff leaving your organisation.

Across the sector, our latest data released this month finds that the turnover rate is 30%. This is a 2% decrease on last year.

Within your organisation a low turnover rate means that staff are not regularly looking to move on from the organisation, which is a positive sign that they’re happy in their roles. Taking steps to develop and maintain a positive workplace culture is a key part of keeping staff happy in their roles, meaning they’re more likely to stay.

By using ASC-WDS to record your starter, leaver and vacancy figures you can also monitor your staff turnover rates and benchmark these against other organisations.

Reviewing learning and development opportunities to support your team to grow within your organisation is another key element of creating a positive workplace culture. Using ASC-WDS you can easily monitor staff training records and learning and development needs, and get prompts when training is due.

Having an ASC-WDS account also allows you to apply for funding for staff learning and development through the Workforce Development Fund.

Another key finding from this year’s report is that the starter rate (the number of people starting in social care) has increased by 2% since last year. Developing positive workplace cultures across social care is vital in encouraging more people to begin a career in social care, which is important to continue growing the sector and ensuring we have the workforce we need for now and the future.

View the full ‘Size and structure of the adult social care sector and workforce in England’ report.

Find out more about ASC-WDS and sign up.

Find more resources and information to support you with developing a #PositiveWorkplaceCulture.

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