Ageless at Work - Skills for Care

we help
create a
trained and
qualified
workforce
ageless at work -
changing workplace cultures, developing skills
good practice report
Hilary Stevens - September 2009

Ageless at Work:
Changing workplace cultures,
developing skills
Good Practice Report
Hilary Stevens
September 2009

CONTENTS
1. Introduction ....................................................................................................................5
Background to the report 5
Methodology 5
Structure of this report 6
2. Policy context.................................................................................................................8
Why and how is adult social care changing? 8
What are the priorities for action? 9
What is already happening to support change? 14
What progress has already been made? 16
3. Emerging good practice in supporting organisational change...............................19
What are the ‘ingredients’ for successful organisational change? 19
What works in enhancing leadership for change and improvement? 20
What works in securing workforce involvement and participation? 22
What works in engaging stakeholders? 25
What works in involving people who use services in driving culture change? 27
Implications for project activity 29
Leadership for change and improvement 29
Workforce involvement and participation 29
Stakeholder participation 29
People who use services as drivers of cultural change. 30
4. Emerging good practice in skills development of older workers...........................31
Is there an age-bias within current workforce development initiatives? 31
What works in developing skills of older workers? 35
Promoting age positive practice in training and development 35
Activities that challenge older workers’ perceptions of their ability to learn, and need for
learning 37
Promoting a culture of lifelong learning and maximising opportunities for informal
learning 39
Ensuring formal training is delivered in ways appropriate for older learners 43
Implications for project activity 45

5. Wider influences on the adult social care sector......................................................47
What has been the impact of the recession on the adult social care sector? 47
What is the age profile of the adult social care workforce? 50
What are the implications of demographic change for the sector? 51
Implications for project activity 59
6. Recommendations for project activity.......................................................................60
Overview 60
Supporting organisational change 60
Leadership for change and improvement 60
Workforce involvement and participation 61
Stakeholder participation 61
People who use services as drivers of cultural change. 61
Skills development of older learners 61
Promoting age positive practice in training and development 61
Activities that challenge older workers’ perceptions of their ability to learn and the need
for learning 62
Promoting a culture of lifelong learning and maximising opportunities for informal
learning 62
Ensuring formal training is delivered in ways appropriate for older learners 62
References 63
Ageless at Work: Change workplace cultures, development skills. Good practice report 3

Index of Tables
Table 1 Six things every adult should be able to expect from the National Care Service.................. 8
Table 2 Leadership and management: priorities for action .............................................................. 11
Table 3 Workforce remodelling: priorities for action ......................................................................... 12
Table 4 Workforce development: priorities for action ....................................................................... 13
Table 5 Selected challenges in taking forward Putting People First ................................................ 18
Table 6 What needs to be done to improve leadership for change and management..................... 20
Table 7 What needs to be done in securing workforce involvement and participation? .................. 24
Table 8 What needs to be done to involve stakeholders? ................................................................ 26
Table 9 What works in involving people who use services in driving cultural change ..................... 27
Table 10 Cultural, attitudinal and dispositional barriers to learning.................................................... 34
Table 11 Features of work that stimulate informal learning................................................................ 39
Table 12
Environmental and interactive adjustments required to create a learning atmosphere
conducive of trust and connectiveness ............................................................................... 43
Table 13 Good practice case study: Tick Tock................................................................................... 44
Table 14
Vacancies for care-related occupations and the number of registered jobseekers wanting
care-related work, South West, July 2009 .......................................................................... 49
Table 15 Trends and drivers affecting the health and social services sector..................................... 54
Table 16 Main features of the ‘integrated visions’ .............................................................................. 56
Index of Figures
Figure 1 Employees receiving job related training¹: by age and sex, 2008², United Kingdom...... 31
Figure 2 Vacancies notified to Jobcentre Plus, South West, July 2007 to July 2009 ..................... 48
Figure 3 Comparison of the age structure of the adult social care workforce, all those in
employment and the working age population, South West, 2008......................................................... 50
Figure 4 Broad age structure of the adult social care workforce by sub-region; April 2009 ......... 51
Figure 5 Projected working age population by broad age group, South West, 2007 to 2027....... 52
Figure 6 Change in number of residents by broad change group, South West, 2006 to 2031....
53
4
Ageless at Work: Change workplace cultures, development skills. Good practice report

1. INTRODUCTION
Background to the report
This report summarises published examples of good practice in supporting organisational change and
the training of older workers. More specifically, it:
identifies and describes approaches to workforce transformation and skills development of older
workers that work in the adult care sector and other contexts;
highlights opportunities for extending known good practice into new operating contexts;
describes the age profile of the adult social care workforce and considers implications of
demographic ageing for the sector; and
examines the impact of the recession on the adult social care sector.
The report is the principal output from the first phase of the ESF Innovation, Transnational and
Mainstreaming project, “Ageless at Work”, and was commissioned to inform decisions about what
activities should be funded by the project. In particular, it will ensure that the project meets articulated
needs and builds on, and extends, existing good and/or innovatory practices.
Methodology
The evidence presented in this report is, in the main, gathered from existing policy and research
documents that are in the public domain. Information sources were identified by searching the
websites of relevant public-agencies such as Skills for Care and the Department for Health, accessing
on-line research databases (and, in particular, Social Care On-line http://www.sciesocialcareonline.org.uk/
and IDOX http://iis.idoxgroup.com/infoservice/index.cfm) and following-up
recommendations from project partners. The search was largely restricted to the following key
themes:
- the drivers for, and nature of, change within the adult social care sector, including the
workforce implications of this change and activities implemented to support this;
- older workers’ participation in learning and, in particular, the factors that encourage, or
hinder, take-up;
- organisational change and the factors that support this;
- impact of the recession on the adult social care sector.
Examples of good practice in the skills development of older workers and supporting organisational
change was also sought. Project partners were asked to provide examples from their own
organisations and/or networks and contact was also made with several local, regional and national
organisations. This included organisations involved in the Skills for Life, other regional offices of Skills
for Care, the Third Age Employment Network, Age Concern Training and NIACE.
Ageless at Work: Change workplace cultures, development skills. Good practice report 5

While organisational change had been the subject of a recent and thorough investigation by the Social
Care Institute of Excellence, evidence supporting the skills development of older workers was more
patchy, although some evaluation studies had been published exploring the effectiveness of
interventions and identifying lessons learned.
The research identified a number of initiatives that had been launched fairly recently that were also
seeking to identify and disseminate good practice within the adult social care sector. These include:
an event being held by Skills for Care, with ADASS and the Joint Improvement Partnership,
examining the progress made towards implementing the adult social care workforce strategy.
This will include workshops highlighting good practice in leadership and management and
workforce remodelling 1 .
the newly formed National Skills Academy for Social Care that has been charged with identifying
gaps, transforming provision and celebrating, endorsing and promoting excellence in skills
development, learning support and training practice in social care in England. The organisation is
currently in its business planning stage 2 ; and
the social care workstream of the South West Regional Improvement and Efficiency Partnership
(RIEP) the South West RIEP was set up by authorities in June 2006 as a “hub” to drive innovation
and progress against regional priorities and to share information and knowledge in conjunction
with other public sector bodies and support agencies 3 .
It is therefore recommended that the project keeps a ‘watching brief’ on these sources in order to
identify, and respond to, the learning emerging from national good practice. This would include
resources generated by the transnational partners such as the Swedish National Board of Health and
Welfare 4 .
Structure of this report
Four substantive chapters follow this introduction:
Chapter two provides some background to the research, focussing on the rationale for, and
nature of, change needed in the adult social care sector and identifies the main sources of funding
and advice to support this change. As such, it provides an overview of the projects ‘operating
context’.
Chapter three identifies the key ingredients for successful organisational change, and provides in
more detail the principles, and enabling practices, that have proven to be beneficial in: providing
leadership for change; involving the workforce in the change process and enhancing skills more
generally, particularly those of older workers; harnessing the involvement of stakeholders; and
involving people who use services in driving culture change.
1 See http://northwest.skillsforcare.org.uk/news/news_archive/Have_you_got_good_practice_to_share.aspx for
further information. The project will be sent a copy of the post-event report later in October 2009.
2 http://www.skillsacademyforsocialcare.org.uk/
3 http://www.southwestiep.gov.uk/NR/exeres/DE5BFEAA-2701-46AA-8DA1-7B8A68A8C9D8.htm
4 http://www.socialstyrelsen.se/english
6
Ageless at Work: Change workplace cultures, development skills. Good practice report

Chapter four focuses on the skills development of older workers. It begins by exploring whether
there is an age-bias within current workforce development initiatives and then outlines evidence of
current good practice.
Chapter five assesses the impact of the recession on the adult social care sector, describes the
current age profile of the adult social care workforce and outlines the implications of demographic
change on the sector.
Chapter six concludes the report with an overview of the recommendations for project activity.
Ageless at Work: Change workplace cultures, development skills. Good practice report 7

2. POLICY CONTEXT
Why and how is adult social care changing?
The white paper Our Health, our care our say – a new direction for community services published in
January 2006 set out a new direction for health and social care (Department for Health, 2006) at the
heart of which is re-orientation of power from providers and funders to those that use social care. The
policy prescriptions articulated in the white paper have been developed in further government
communications including the ministerial concordat Putting People First: a shared vision and
commitment to the transformation of Adult Social Care (HM Government 2007), two Local Authority
Circulars Transforming Adult Social Care (Department for Health, 2009a and 2009b) and, most
recently, a Green Paper Shaping the Future of Care Together, outlining options for the funding of
adult social care and introducing for the first time, a vision for a National Care Service (2009).
The case for change is overwhelming. The current system is: financially unsustainable given
projections of future levels of demand; supply driven rather than orientated around the needs of the
individual; perceived to be unfair as eligibility and levels of public subsidy vary from local authority to
local authority; is difficult for users to navigate due to the complexity of the ‘system’ and the number of
organisations contained within it; and has been criticised for not always using taxpayers’ money
efficiently due to duplication of services (Department of Health, 2009a).
In recognition of these shortcomings and contextual challenges, the Government has identified six
things ‘every adult should expect from the National Care Service’ (Department for Health, 2009a).
These are presented in Table 1.
Table 1 Six things every adult should be able to expect from the National Care
Service
Prevention services. The right support to help you stay independent for as long as possible and
to stop your care needs getting worse.
National assessment. Wherever you are in the country, your care and support needs will be
assessed in the same way and you will have the same proportion of your care paid for.
Joined up services. All the services that you need will work together smoothly, particularly when
your needs are assessed.
Information and advice. You can understand and find your way through the care and support
system easily.
Personalised care and support. The services you use will be based on your circumstances,
need, preferences and desired outcomes.
Fair funding. Your money will be spent wisely and everyone who qualifies for support will get
some help meeting the cost of care and support needs.
Source: Department of Health(2009a)
8
Ageless at Work: Change workplace cultures, development skills. Good practice report

These ‘entitlements’ or expectations are likely to result in a number of key changes in how the system
and the workforce ‘works’. These elements were identified by Waddilove (2004) as:
Integration of the health and social care sector
Partnership working models, including Strategic Service Delivery Partnerships
Needs led services rather than institution-led services
User centrality as against the person being ‘service-ridden’ or ‘service driven’
Transparency and ease of access
Role slippage between professional groupings
Role slippage between formal and informal caring networks
Shared, or at least cross-referenced, systems of inter-professional training and workforce
development
De-professionalisation of some tasks
Adoption of some industrial models and ‘comprehensive performance assessment’.
Waddilove (2004) also identified a series of potential blocks and impediments to the construction of
new roles and new reconfigured ways of working. These include cultural barriers between
organisations and professional groupings with different systems of training, socialisation, value base,
language and ideology. Success, it is identified, will depend:
“on high level strategic analysis coupled with a commitment to learning organisation principles
and modes of learning. They also suggest that organisations will need to build in mechanisms
to address issues of shared concern, to problem solve and to plan jointly, learning from each
other’s failures and successes. This will rely on a genuine ‘no blame’ culture and may need
structural supports like action learning sets or quality circles”.
What are the priorities for action?
Reforming social care to achieve personalisation will require a huge cultural, transformational and
transactional change in all parts of the adult social care system, the scale of which ‘should not be
underestimated’ (Department for Health, 2008):
“The Government has recognised that to meet this goal, the system will need to undergo
further significant redesign in process, practice and culture to ensure people have access to
high quality information and advice, appropriate early interventions and can exercise choice
and control over the services and support they need. It will also require investment in training
and support for the workforce to enable them to meet the challenges of this new way of
working.”
Department of Health, 2009
A new strategy for the adult social care workforce Working to Put People First groups priorities for
workforce development under six ‘key themes’ (Department for Health, 2009c):
The leadership of local employers in workforce planning, whether in the public, private, or third
sectors and of Directors of Adult Social Services in the strategic workforce commissioning role;
Ageless at Work: Change workplace cultures, development skills. Good practice report 9

Ensuring the right steps are taken to promote recruitment, retention, and career pathways to
provide the many talents the workforce needs;
Workforce remodelling and commissioning to achieve service transformation; and
Workforce development so we have the right people with the right skills; all to be in conjunction
with
• more joint and integrated working between social, health care and other sectors; and
• regulation for quality in services as well as public assurance.
Examining these priorities - alongside those identified in an earlier review of the social care workforce
Options for excellence published in March 2005 (Department of Health, 2006) and the Sector Skills
Agreement (2007) – through the ‘lens’ of the objectives of the Ageless at Work project, is helpful in
identifying potential themes for project work, and route-ways for effective mainstreaming. Tables 2 to
3 identify the key themes articulated in the national workforce strategy, the Gap Analysis and Market
Testing component of the Sector Skills Agreement (Skills for Care, 2007) and the regional plan for the
South West of England with respect to the national priorities of leadership, workforce remodelling and
commissioning and workforce development.
The tables identify several potential themes of issues worthy of further consideration or exploration in
the project. These include:
The intended audience for interventions supporting organisational change invites the question, if
leadership is crucial to driving cultural change, which leaders should the project seek to support?
Should it be those within service providers, commissioners of services, leaders representing the
interests of service users, elected members or local authority staff (including Directors of Social
Care)?
The need to support leadership and management skills in certain contexts, specifically microorganisations,
SMEs and the voluntary and community sectors
The potential for activities that support the development of future adult social care leaders
amongst the sector’s existing older workforce and those that are seeking to move into adult social
care from management or leadership roles in other contexts.
The need to ensure that leaders and managers are supported by good Human Resource practice
in particular, with respect to the recruitment, development and retention of older workers, and the
creation of ‘learning cultures’.
The importance of meeting the challenge of ensuring that training and learning activities are
flexible and take on board different learning styles.
The need to ensure project activities take a whole systems view of organisational change.
Explore opportunities to alleviate basic skills shortages by widening access to mainstream
provision through Skills for Life and Train to Gain.
The need to utilise opportunities of mainstream project findings through the newly formed – and
as yet not fully operational - National Skills Academy for Social Care.
10
Ageless at Work: Change workplace cultures, development skills. Good practice report

Table 2
Leadership and management: priorities for action
Working to Put People First: The Strategy for the Adult Social
Care Workforce in England
Leadership: is crucial to driving cultural change. Projects could
focus on:
leaders within service providers;
commissioners of services
user led-organisations
Directors of Adult Social Services (DASSs)
Deputy Directors for Social Care
elected members
local authority staff
Further thoughts/observations:
Relationship with new National Skills Academy for Social Care.
It is charged with ‘identifying gaps, transforming provision and
celebrating, endorsing and promoting excellence in skill
development, learning support and training practice in social
care in England’.
Potential for mid-career version of the National Management
Trainee Scheme (being developed by the Social Care Skills
Academy)
Linkages with the NHS Leadership Academy?
Focus for next two years:
Elected members to become ‘workforce champions’?
Considering what needs to be done longer term to ‘develop
future adult social care leaders – focussing on retaining and
growing talent’
Looking at ways of helping strengthen cross-sector leadership
and commissioning skills
Looking at what we need to do to help the sectors leaders in
their strategic workforce planning roles
Sector Skills Agreement
Leadership, management and human resource practice are
among five priorities. Proposed solutions:
Develop appropriate strategies for leadership and management
practice, learning, training and qualifications.
Assist and enable the development of high quality people
management skills and leadership skills
Ensure that leaders and managers are supported by good
Human Resource (HR) practice to develop a skilled workforce
Demand –side:
Concern about lack of leadership skills in the voluntary sector.
Are older Registered Managers gaining qualifications?
Shortage of supervisory training
Gaps
Need to articulate what training and development approaches
work best (include recognition of value of action learning and
development of entrepreneurial skills
Training and development must incorporate good practice in
relation to diversity. Encourage new leaders and managers
from under represented groups.
Training and learning opportunities need to be flexible and take
on board different learning styles and need to promote active
learning cultures
Growing need to support people who use services in their role
as employers.
Need to support managers of micro-organisations, SMEs and
the voluntary and community sectors.
Capacity building among SMEs and small service providers
Leadership & manag. skills that facilitate cross-sectoral working
Promote ongoing CPD and encourage leadership, as well as
leaders
Skills for Care South West
Challenges:
Induction and training of first line managers and team leaders
using the induction criteria for new managers and developing
sector specific first line management courses and foundation
degrees.
The development of learning organisations by expanding the
learning exchange network and the publication of The Value
of Learning Handbook for SMEs.
Enhancing the role of people who use services and planning
in the region especially in defining, developing and delivery of
induction and CPD.
Key regional priorities (include):
Provide support for providers in the development of
leadership and management in line with national strategy
Ageless at Work: Change workplace cultures, development skills. Good practice report 11

Table 3 Workforce remodelling: priorities for action
Working to Put People First: The Strategy for the Adult Sector Skills Agreement
Social Care Workforce in England
The seven principles of workforce redesign:
Developing new types of working
Take a whole systems view of organisational “Key to the personalisation agenda is how we will
change
achieve a shift in value in workforce development,
Recognise how people, organisations and training and education, from professionals ‘knowing
partnerships respond differently to change best’ to them supporting and empowering people
Nurture champions, innovators and leaders who use services to be in control of their care and
Engage people in the process – acknowledge support needs.”
and value their experience
Be aware of the ways in which adults learn
Change minds and change systems
Develop workforce strategies that support
transformation and recognise the shape of the
resources available in the local community
Over next two years focus on:
Looking at how best to promote the principles of
workforce design and the participation of people
using services and their families
Reviewing recommendations of the Social Work
Taskforce
Undertaking an options appraisal to consider
how using the National Minimum Dataset for
Social Care can offer benefit to employers
Assessing whether there is a need for increasing
support to employers who are introducing new
roles and flexible responsibilities
Nature of gaps
Effective and integrated workforce planning and
development at all levels is an essential starting
point
A ‘whole service’ partnership approach: more
interaction, improved dialogue and more
strategic thinking between different parts of the
service, swapping info and problems and
developing better solutions, increased and better
communication across organisations at all levels,
in particular in middle management; regional fora
to share and transfer good practice; better
regional and national communications
More involvement by employers and people who
use services in development and evaluation of
workforce development, and in developing
workforce developers.
More joined up training within and across sectors
promoting new relationships across social care
and with other sectors; one flexible qualifications
framework.
Skills for Care South West
Challenges for the region:
The development of learning organisations by
expanding the learning exchange network and
the publication of The Value of Learning
Handbook for SMEs.
Continued development of new roles/new ways
of working, especially in hybrid roles between
health and social care
12
Ageless at Work: Change workplace cultures, development skills. Good practice report

Table 4 Workforce development: priorities for action
Working to Put People First: The Strategy for the Sector Skills Agreement
Adult Social Care Workforce in England
Priorities
Demand-side evidence
Simply the range of course available
% of care workers holding NVQ2 qualifications
Ensure that smaller employers and people who around half the NMS target
directly employ services are supported to Basic skills shortages are prevalent
understand the needs of their staff and access Supply-side evidence
appropriate workforce development and training. Too many qualifications, and confusing funding
Promote Train to Gain.
streams
Education providers need to devise, implement Shortage of verifiers and assessors
and evaluate ways of meeting the training and Costs to employer to get cover for staff away on
development needs of frontline care staff in training.
residential and home care services
Nature of gaps
Need to understand how technology can assist a
person day-to-day
Focus for next two years:
Considering how best the new Qualifications and
Credit Framework can be incorporated into
workforce development policy
Exploring what more we can do to ensure
employers across the sector can assess funding
for training.
Exploring options to ensure Personal Assistants
and others directly employed by people using
services are able to access training.
Looking at ways in which we can raise the profile
of existing talent in the social care workforce.
Taking forward recommendations of the Social
Work Taskforce to secure improvements in the
training and development of social workers.
Poor use of workforce intelligence to inform skills
development and to support systems to train and
develop a diverse workforce.
Related proposals
Deliver robust skills research and workforce
intelligence
Ensure that workers are well trained,
appropriately qualified, motivated and supported
from entry point and throughout their careers
Ensure the supply side for learning and
development meets the needs of the social care
sector
Work towards needs-driven, accessible, flexible
and coherent funding for workforce development
and qualifications
Development of the Sector Qualifications
Strategy
Skills for Care South West
Challenges for the region
Raising the rate of qualified staff to at least 80%
through ensuring that quality and cost effective
learning and assessment programmes are
available in a range of delivery modes that meet
the needs of employers
Enhancing the role of people who use services
and their carers in the workforce
Developing Skills for Life competences amongst
the workforce by raising the importance of these
skills to employers and working with learning
providers to embed these within their learning
programmes
Offering employers a comprehensive brokering
programme for learning.
Key regional priorities
Continue to work with CSCI in assisting
organisations needing support to improve their
star rating
Further develop the Learning Exchange Network
Work with providers to develop the quality and
quantity of provision.
Ageless at Work: Change workplace cultures, development skills. Good practice report 13

What is already happening to support change?
Given the scale of the challenge, a number of initiatives have been launched to support the
transformation of adult social care. This includes:
Over half a billion pounds made available as a ring-fenced Social Care Reform Grant to local
authorities over the next 3 years to fund a range of ‘process engineering, capability and capacity
building activities required to design the entire system’. This includes supporting cultural change,
raising the skills of the workforce and developing leadership skills. In the first year of the grant
‘significant progress has been made by some council’s (Department of Health, March 2009) and
the expectation is that this will accelerate and that all councils will show real progress towards the
transformation of social care in 2009/10 (see following section ‘What progress has been made?’)
This progress, as well as dissemination of good practice will be supported by the: regional
improvement and efficiency partnerships; appointment of the local government National Director
of Social Care Transformation; and the Department for Health’s Deputy Regional Directors for
Social Care and Partnerships.
The Association for Directors of Social Services recently established a personalisation
network 5 . Agenda items at the first meeting – which took place in July 2009 – included feedback
on the current state of play in the regions, transforming social care and world class commissioning
(and in particular the role of the new National Director for the Transformation of Social Care and
plans for a communication strategy). Terms of Reference will be discussed at the next meeting
(scheduled 28 August).
A new National Skills Academy for Social Care is currently in the business planning stage but
will be fully operational in autumn 2009. Its role is to “identify gaps, transform provision and
celebrate, endorse and promote excellence in skills development, learning support and training
practice in social care in England”.
The Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE) supports the transformation of social care by
identifying and transferring knowledge about good practice. It publishes briefings, knowledge
reviews and guides on topics such as personalisation, participation and workforce development
(with focus on people management and social work education) and provides learning resources
and training programmes (for managers). They are currently developing a strategy for supporting
the use of electronic communication in learning and sharing within adult social care and are
looking for good practice examples.
The Skills for Care New Types of Worker programme funds workforce development initiatives in
adult social care that help employees, their managers and whole organisations respond to the
personalisation agenda. Several mapping (Smallacombe and McHugh, 2007) and synthesis
reports (Balman, undated) were published at the end of the first three-year phase of the
5 The South West representative on the network is Annie Hudson, Director of Adult Social Services,
Bristol City Council.
14
Ageless at Work: Change workplace cultures, development skills. Good practice report

programme, highlighting lessons learned. From the perspective of supporting organisational
change and workforce development 6 , these were:
• The process of managing political and cultural change within and across organisations
requires a different set of skills, tasks and understanding than hitherto (Blantern,
undated). This suggests that those leading change need to be supported in their new
role.
• ‘Whole system’ approaches to change are likely to be more successful in achieving
sustainable change, as are ‘learning organisations’ 7 . Learning organisational strategies,
however, are at odds with the dominant model within care that relies on compliance
inspection and supervision.
• Features of successful learning organisations included: action learning sets that included
people who use services as full participants; service redesign in which traditional
hierarchies are inverted, with the service user as the main focus, influencing change and
management systems; innovative schemes using neighbourhood and community support,
time banks and service users as evaluators; and structures that bring together different
professions’ evaluation systems with a person-centred approach that centres around the
perspective of the person using the service.
• Action learning allows learners to question and reflect on ‘programmed knowledge’,
helping them to evaluate what works in practice.
• Supervisory structures need to embrace and support the role of champions, providing
mentorship opportunities or action learning set support.
• Organisational burnout in the face of rapid cultural change can lead to unproductive or
destructive patterns of behaviour. People who act as champions are particularly
vulnerable to burnout.
• There is an urgent need to address the training issues of personal assistants, community
enablers, people working in enhanced domiciliary care functions, and others whose work
blurs the boundaries between formal and informal workplaces.
The South West Joint Improvement Partnership is running a three year, adult social care,
health and well being programme offering ‘one stop’ shop support service to local authorities,
health providers and all social care partners, stakeholders and service users 8 . Of particular
relevance to this project are:
• Social Care Reform: Implementing “Putting People First” (service reconfiguration to
deliver personalised and individual services, early intervention and prevention) project.
The objective of this project is to support authorities throughout the SW to implement the
6 The training of older workers specifically, was not explored in the programme.
7 A learning organisation is one that “facilitates the learning of all its people and is able to consciously
to transform itself as a whole” (Pedlar, Burgoyne, Boydell, 1991 quoted in Waddilove, 2004)
8 For further details about the programme see:
http://www.southwestiep.gov.uk/NR/exeres/DE5BFEAA-2701-46AA-8DA1-7B8A68A8C9D8.htm
Ageless at Work: Change workplace cultures, development skills. Good practice report 15

Personalisation agenda as set out in Putting People First which will require authorities to change
their model of social care and many of the related systems and processes. The primary objective
in Year 1 is to support the engagement of key stakeholders and implementation of the cultural
change required, development of the planning process for transformation, development of a
resource allocation system, development of good practice for support planning and brokerage and
development of new approaches to commissioning. A range of support methods will be employed
- training sessions, workshops, conferences, training pack, learning sets, information sharing,
advice, consultancy/ external expertise, resource sharing, pilots and trials to develop approaches,
work with other regional workstreams. Links with regional networks are being established and a
Yahoo group created to share information between authorities. Events, courses/ training opportunities
will be advertised via the website and the biweekly newsletter and resources available to
download from the website, once developed.
• Care Service Efficiency Delivery (CSED) project – providing expertise and capacity to
help project managers within local authorities develop the business case for change,
support and provide practical assistance with implementation, as well as support for
programme management and change management.
Skills for Care is also an agent for change and development and works with adult social care
employers to set standards and qualifications to equip social care workers with the skills and
knowledge they need to deliver quality care. In the South West, Skills for Care has amongst other
things provided support and guidance to managers and staff through conferences and staged a
‘regional tour’ of information sessions, and has supported the ongoing development of Learning
Exchange Networks. It has also been working closely with the Joint Improvement Partnership and
is the lead partner for the “Ageless at Work” project.
What progress has already been made?
A recent review of current progress in relation to implementing Putting People First was published in
May 2009 by the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (ADASS) and the Local
Government Association (ADASS and LGA, 2009a). The headline findings were:
At the end of the first year of the Putting People First programme widespread general progress is
being made nationally to transform social care into a more personalised set of arrangements.
Almost all councils have dedicated programme teams, funded by the Governments reform grant,
leading wide ranging change.
16
Nearly all authorities report active engagement with provider organisations in planning for
development of a vibrant market, but most do not yet feel this engagement to be strong enough. 4
out of 5 authorities feel that the range and flexibility of provision has already improved, and over
three quarters believe that the development of preventative services in their area has significantly
impacted on outcomes. 23 authorities are confident that current local information and advice
services are widely available to everyone in their community, all councils report that these
services are being developed.
Ageless at Work: Change workplace cultures, development skills. Good practice report

On the 31st March 2009, almost 93,000 people were receiving Personal Budgets, equating to over
£681m of council expenditure. By the end of March next year it is expected this will rise to around
206,000 people. Based on current trends, this would commit nearly £1.5bn of Council funding,
and mean that more than one in five people receiving non-residential council support will have a
personal budget. The position of individual authorities varies widely. Variance is, however, less
pronounced between whole regions, and, significantly, across the country over 40% of personal
budgets now go to older people.
When asked to rank a number of categories in terms of support that is needed in their area,
support for market development was ranked highest by the largest number of respondents (46%).
This was followed by operating systems (18%) and then efficiency and effectiveness (16%).
Specifically in relation to organisational change and workforce development, the issues were:
99% of respondents (147 councils) report being linked into best-practice/personalisation networks
in their local or regional area. These networks, in rank percentage order of frequency, are:
Regional Personalisation Network 97%; In Control 79%; and In Control – Total Transformation
16%
88 (59%) had a whole system and 55 (37%) partial system change programmes in place. 119 of
these programmes (83%) included undertaking engagement with people who use services, their
carers and stakeholders.
Most respondents reported that they felt that support across partners was “strong” or “very strong”
for all partners, except for private sector/providers and consumers. The highest levels of
perceived commitment to the Putting People First agenda were in voluntary and third sector
organisations, followed by the NHS.
Local authorities are considering significant changes to their operating systems and business
processes in a range of areas. 130 (88%) were considering significant changes to initial contact
arrangements, including their referral points, call centres and initial information and advice. 141
(95%) are considering significant changes to assessment and care management arrangements.
This will affect the majority of care management staff: 69 councils stated that it will affect all such
staff and another 69 a significant proportion.
Whilst only 6 authorities (4%) reported that they have a market development and/or
commissioning strategy that fully aligns to Putting People First, 105 (71%) have one in part or in
development. Of concern is the fact that 37 authorities (25%) report they do not have such a
strategy as yet.
Only 5 councils stated that they already have in place an Integrated Local Area Workforce
Strategy (InLaws) using data and information from the NMDS. 95 planned for this to be in place in
the next twelve months and 48 in the next 2-3 years 9 .
9 A separate survey exploring Local Authorities’ progress in implementing integrated local area
workforce strategies found the barriers were: managing the complexity of bringing needs and
workforce data through engagement with difficult stakeholders; lack of an integrated Human Resources
information system for collecting workforce data; lack of good data management; conflicting priorities; lack of
Ageless at Work: Change workplace cultures, development skills. Good practice report 17

Responses to an open question about the two main challenges in taking forward Putting People First
were grouped into the following themes: capacity to manage and deliver changes; resources; raising
awareness and achieving culture change; commissioning; operating systems; and the workforce.
Specific challenges with regard to capacity to manage, achieving culture change and the workforce
are presented in Table 5. Achieving culture change was the most frequently mentioned challenge by
local authorities in the South West (ADASS and LGA, 2009b)
Table 5 Selected challenges in taking forward Putting People First
Capacity to manage and Managing concurrent changes
deliver changes
Aligning change in Adult Social Care with other local government
Raising awareness and
achieving culture change
Workforce Developing PA roles
Source: (ADASS and LGA, 2009)
change (including local government re-organisation).
Ensuring commensurate corporate change.
Integrating the change locally without buy-in from other national
departments which would be evidenced by the ability to pool
budget streams such as the Independent Living Fund and
Disabled Facilities Grants.
This covered a range of stakeholders, including the public,
departmental and corporate staff, partners and local politicians and
included achieving buy-in from them.
Skills development
Workforce planning
Closer links between national and local training providers
This chapter has reviewed the operating policy context to the “Ageless at Work” project, highlighting
the workforce implications and potential areas for project activity. It reveals that the project is
operating within a very complex environment with numerous activities at the local, regional and
national level effecting change within different parts of the adult social care system, and involving
different kinds of stakeholders. It will therefore be important that the projects sponsored by the
“Ageless at Work” project are positioned within this wider context in order ensure that they are truly
innovative, and complement rather than replicate existing measures. It is suggested that further work
is carried out to map out in more detail the specific contexts and activities that are directly relevant to
the project funded as part of this programme. The chapter has also identified several possible ‘route
ways’ that could be useful in terms of mainstreaming.
understanding and buy-in to the workforce planning processes; capacity issues; and gaining peoples’ trust to
provide information (CPEA Ltd and Ipsos MORI, 2009).
18
Ageless at Work: Change workplace cultures, development skills. Good practice report

3. EMERGING GOOD PRACTICE IN SUPPORTING
ORGANISATIONAL CHANGE
What are the ‘ingredients’ for successful organisational change?
The literature research uncovered two documents that have been published to provide social care
organisations with practical advice about how to successfully change services in order to place people
at the centre of their own care and support. The first guide, Changing social care: an inclusive
approach was published by the Social care Institute for Excellence in April 2009 (Lenham, 2009) and
is based on two related SCIE knowledge reviews which looked at the evidence from both literature
and practice:
Knowledge review 16: Improving social and health care services (Fauth and Mahdon, 2007)
Knowledge review 17: Developing social care: service users driving culture change.
According to the guide ‘together [the knowledge reviews] conclude that culture change led by the
people who use services, and underpinned by strong leadership and the full participation of the
workforce and wider stakeholders, will begin to deliver the vision of modern, inclusive social care’.
The guide draws upon detailed case studies of which the highlights are also presented here. The
case studies are from:
Willowbank (WB) - a rights-based, service user led community resource centre
Age Concern Sheffield (ACS)
Disability Wales (DW)
Children and Family Court Advisory Service (CAFCASS)
TerraBlu (TB)
The resources provides an excellent evidence-based review of the elements of organisational change
comprises, and how it can be best effected. The second guide, Achieving change in social care: a
guide to helping make change happen was developed as part of the Skills for Care New Types of
Worker, New Types of Working programme on behalf of Skills for Care (Spirit and Bell, 2009). The
guide offers managers an abundance of hints and tips in order to help them both understand the
organisational change ‘journey’, and plan and implement successful organisational change strategies.
Lenham (2009) identifies four essential components to successful organisational change:
Leadership for change and improvement
Workforce involvement and participation
Stakeholder participation
People who use services as drivers of cultural change.
Each of these components will be reviewed in turn, in each case highlighting practical strategies
supplemented where possible with case study examples.
Ageless at Work: Change workplace cultures, development skills. Good practice report 19

What works in enhancing leadership for change and improvement?
“Leadership that propels change and improvement is crucial to successful and lasting change in social
care” (Lenham, 2009). Table 6 provides practical advice on how to improve leadership for change
and management.
Table 6 What needs to be done to enhance leadership for change and
improvement
Establish a clear sense of purpose and ideology
• Be clear about where the organisation is now, and where it needs to get to and why that is
in the right direction
• Understand how any proposed change fits with the purpose behind it.
• Plan how to communicate this purpose to the workforce
Create the right conditions
• Work out what actions are needed to achieve the identified purpose
• Be accessible
Be responsive, without compromising on direction
• Make discussions and disagreements acceptable.
• It will sometimes be necessary to challenge other bodies, to maintain the direction of the
organisation
• Use stakeholders to help explore and solve challenges
Communicate
• Make sure everyone is aware of and understands the underlying purpose and ideology,
and what needs to be done to achieve it.
• Methods of communication include: meetings with individual workers; group discussions
within the workforce, including brainstorming exercises; newsletters in the pay packages
of the workforce; emails and text messages; road shows; personal telephone
conversations; group meetings and consultations and away days.
• The most appropriate method of communication will depend on the circumstances and
the people involved, so it is important to know and understand the position of all
stakeholders.
• Communication may be easier and more effective if large organisations are broken down
into smaller groups.
• Be clear about your messages, as some people will find it difficult to understand.
Engage all stakeholders
• Stakeholders can include people who use services, carers, staff, board members,
inspectors, regulators, community members and suppliers.
• For any change, know who the stakeholders are, what their position is and how this might
impact on what you need to achieve.
• Help people to see the benefits and opportunities offered by engagement. Developing
personalised services offers the people who use these services a real chance to influence
how the organisation develops and changes – make sure people using your service are
aware of this.
• People can be effectively engaged in a variety of ways, including: establishing a core
nucleus of staff and stakeholders who are enthusiastic about the changes and who can
help persuade their colleagues; working directly with staff and stakeholders through
consultation, brainstorming and one-to-one discussions; and making it clear that
inappropriate behaviour is not acceptable.
Evaluation
• Monitor performance and improvements as a way of assessing progress so far and
identifying the next steps to take.
• Ways of doing this include: creating an environment that encourages feedback and
reflection; having a central role for stakeholders and using a variety of different methods.
Source: Lenham (2009)
20
Ageless at Work: Change workplace cultures, development skills. Good practice report

Spirit and Bell (2009) covered similar territory in describing success factors in preparing for change.
These are: a clear vision; taking stock of where you are now and planning; setting realistic, achievable
and measurable objectives; resources; achieving the right balance between people, culture,
processes and culture; benchmarking and plans for continuous improvement. They also acknowledge
the importance of leadership in implementing change:
“Consideration should also be given to the importance of leadership and the roles that leaders
are likely to take-on at the start of the change journey. Competent, consistent, enthusiastic
and committed leadership is essential to achieving high quality change. Appropriate leadership
can help make the vision and objectives of change real and relevant and inspire people to
‘move’
Spirit and Bell (2009)
Examples of projects designed to support leaders through times of change include:
The SCIE Leading Practice CD programme. This programme recognises the vital role played by
first-line managers as leaders of practice in social work and social care settings and invites them
to develop their leadership and practice skills through learning together in the ‘classroom’ and in
the workplace. This includes helping first-line managers recognise the central role they have for
influencing and implementing change, at a time when new ways of working are rapidly evolving to
support the increased personalisation of service provision. The programme is endorsed by Skills
for Care as a learning programme that supports learning for ‘Leadership and Management in
Care’ National Occupational Standards and ‘Adult Social Care Manager Induction Standards’
(England).
The use of Action Learning Sets to support leaders embrace the changes needed within their
organisations and help them find new ways to develop their workforce and practices. Action
Learning Sets are based on the philosophy of Reg Revans who observed that ‘there is no learning
without action and no action without learning’ (Gulati, 2009). Action Learning Sets have been
used in the social care context in the South West and London. In the South West, participants
“have made comments about how powerful it is to have reflective space, to hear other’s
observations of their own particular challenges and to be creative in generating solutions. One
participant commented that he see the action learning set ‘as a kind of supervision’ because
he is unable to obtain any feedback on his role from his own organisation.” (Gulati, 2009).
The final report on the South West action learning sets (Gulati, 2009) makes a number of
recommendations:
• Attrition could perhaps be reduced by providing participants with better information about
what action learning sets are and what is involved before the first session. This could
involve a phone call by the facilitator and an invitation letter.
• Opportunity to build in action learning alongside a workshop programme based on Skills
for Care South West’s, The Value of Learning: Creating a Learning Organisation
guidebook (2009)
• Evaluate the effectiveness of action learning in generating organisational change in order
to demonstrate the cost-effectiveness of this method of learning, possibly benchmarking
action learning against conventional training programmes.
Ageless at Work: Change workplace cultures, development skills. Good practice report 21

Skills for Care London also trailed action learning with over 140 managers across five subregions.
They have developed a Guide (Skills for Care London, 2009) drawing on project
evaluations, delegate feedback and the response from London employers, with accompanying
case studies (McDonnell and Zutshi, undated) that illustrate how the approach has been applied
in the work environment.
What works in securing workforce involvement and participation?
Workforce involvement and participation is crucial to successful and lasting change in social care.
Table 7 introduces some of the key steps that will ensure individuals in the workforce have the
opportunity to become involved in developing the services.
Spirit and Bell (2009) also identify practical ways in which the workforce can be engaged in the
change process. In particular, they acknowledge the need to: empower, motivate and recognise
individuals’ contribution to the change process; recognise the emotional and practical needs of people
affected by the changes; ensure that people understand why change is needed, what the new ‘world
order’ will look like and what it will mean to them; secure participation, understanding and commitment
to change activities; staff training and support; recruit champions from those most positive about the
change; and evaluation and reflection to ensure the process stays on track.
Research by McNair (2008) reveals that older workers can be critical of managers responsible for
implementing change, although contrary to popular perception do not find change harder to cope with.
In a survey about older peoples’ experience of change at work over the last 10 years, almost three
quarters reported an increase in the use of computers and two-thirds had taken on more
responsibility. However, these older workers did not feel that the pace of change was making life
more difficult, with 83% disagreeing with the statement “I now find it more difficult to cope with
change”. Where they had experienced change in the workplace they were relatively positive: 90% said
they understood why changes were being made, and 80% agreed that the changes were necessary.
Three quarters felt that they had been fairly treated, and two thirds that their experience had been
valued. However, only half agreed that the change had been well managed.
The Individual Budget pilot evaluation found that most pilot sites reported difficulties in engaging and
changing practice among care managers and that there was a recognition that front-line staff, in
particular, care co-ordinators, may consider IBs a threat. The research also found a split in
respondents’ perceptions of the role of social work in IBs between those that thought it provided an
opportunity to ‘rekindle traditional social work skills and others that saw IBs as a further erosion of
social work skills (Individual Budgets Evaluation Network, 2008). In addition to this perceived
potential threat to professional roles, a pervading cynicism about new initiatives – ‘not more change!’ –
was suggested as a barrier to the success of training.
The Experience Matters programme trailed by Learning South West as part of the South West
Opportunities for Older People project provides one example of an approach to combating cynicism
among (in this case, older) workers. The project helped older and long tenured Youth Workers to
reflect on their professional practice and, in particular, to promote a greater understanding of the agerelated
barriers that prevent workers from contributing to change processes in the workplace. The
22
Ageless at Work: Change workplace cultures, development skills. Good practice report

project was set up in recognition of the fact that whilst older Youth Workers provided much needed
stability and experience, they were sometimes frustrated by their lack of progression, and were cynical
about the benefits of new initiatives which changed the structure, context and, potentially, the content
of their work. Youth Work employers frequently note that older workers in this tier of staff can act as a
significant barrier to changing how work is conducted. The project used an action learning based
approach to help participants:
Reflect on their positive achievements and experiences in youth work and in other areas of their
professional and personal life
Identify positive and negative factors in the development of their professional careers
Develop personal strategies for second half career planning
Develop peer support and challenge networks at the sub-regional level.
The programme evaluation (Stevens, H and Denbigh A, 2007) found that the sets had provided
participants with a timely opportunity to reflect on their response to organisational and culture
change within a confidential and supportive environment, providing what one participant described
as, “emotional time off”. The project generated lessons about the barriers preventing older Youth
Workers from engaging in the process of structural change currently underway in Youth Services.
The lessons are discussed fully in a final project report (Riley, undated) and are highlighted briefly
here:
“The issue is not about age. It is about valuing staff and recognising and utilising their skills and
talents.” This same feeling of the need to be recognised and complimented also came out of the
Skills for Mature workers project, also undertaken by Learning South West. It was not enough to
receive funds for training as a reward for good performance; people needed recognition, support
and follow up. The implication was that it was assumed that older people did not need this as
much, but a consistent sense of decline in confidence levels suggested, it was important to
compliment and reassure older workers.
Some of the issues for Youth Workers directly reflected the fact that they were at the end of a
decision making chain with limited opportunity to influence, something that they had in common
with many other public sector employees. Decisions determined by annual budget allocations set
by councillors are overlaid by national policy changes.
Some of the issues raised by employees could be interpreted as potentially contradictory and
perhaps characteristic of any employee criticising management: (going through major changes
and upheavals versus not enough change; too much management versus not enough),
However, the sessions had a potential revitalising effect, endorsed by the suggestion that
employers should develop the concept of ‘kick-start’ or motivational training for those staff, of any
age, who find themselves in need of a professional restart. The idea of ‘Second half career
planning’ was warmly received by project participants
Ageless at Work: Change workplace cultures, development skills. Good practice report 23

Table 7
Engage the workforce
What needs to be done in securing workforce involvement and
participation?
• Involve the workforce in developing both the overall direction of change and the specific
actions needed to achieve it. This involvement will help create a sense of ownership.
• Make sharing the responsibility more than just rhetoric – it needs to involve relinquishing
control, trusting individuals and providing support.
Establish a structure than encourages engagement.
Consider how the current structure might help or hinder the planned changes.
Make sure that whatever structure is in place genuinely supports two-way communication.
Real participation of both the workforce and the wider stakeholder group, including people who
use services, is best achieved through a more ‘horizontal’ or ‘circular’ structure.
Get the communication channels right.
• Make sure that all members of the workforce have the ability and opportunity to access
and use the chosen communication methods.
• Be aware of the range of ways to communicate, and tailor your choice according to the
message and audience. For example: meetings with each individual, group consultations
with the workforce, including brainstorming exercises, newsletters for the whole
workforce, including volunteers; emails and text messages, road shows, personal
telephone conversations, group meetings and consultations and away days.
• Check the message has been understood, and repeat if necessary.
Work with resistance
• Resistance can be helpful in the process of change and improvement.
• It can be used and handled in the following ways: to give people who disagree a platform
to air their views; as a useful process to identify potential barriers and key flaws in
improvement initiatives; as part of the process of giving people time and support to come
on board; as an opportunity to discourage inappropriate behaviour – for example, making
no attempt to become involved in the changes, or offering no reason for dissent.
• Be clear that resisting the underlying purpose of the organisation is not acceptable.
Give people support to adjust and adapt
• Work out what the planned changes mean for individual roles – can current skills be
adapted or is there a need for significant development?
• Possible methods of support include: personal coaching, role play (to try out new roles),
self-assessment and reflection, training courses, shadowing, and briefings – verbal or
written and one-to-one discussions.
• Ensure individuals receive general support, as well as that specific to their role.
Examples of this from the case studies include: listening to concerns; attending staff
meetings; being approachable – an ‘open door’ policy; compromising when appropriate
and explaining the reasoning behind decisions.
• Support individuals to make time for development activities
• Make it acceptable for individuals to admit they do not feel confident with new roles and
responsibilities
• Appreciative inquiry (AI) workshops can be useful to encourage communicate about
change.
24
Ageless at Work: Change workplace cultures, development skills. Good practice report

Case example – supplied by The Work Foundation
Organisation: UK governing body.
Context of change: the department identified low staff morale as a major impediment to performance.
This was linked to a widespread sense that the department was fragmented and that the contribution
of staff not valued.
Process: the department ran AI workshops across the organisation. AI is a method that encourages
workgroups to think about the positive elements of their organisations as a starting point for change.
Participants were invited from a randomly selected cross-section of the organisation and were
grouped into ‘change teams’. In-house facilitators were trained to lead and support the change teams
and build up capability for future change. A common methodology was used at each workshop that
allowed facilitators to draw out common themes across all teams, both specific to each business
group and cross-functional. Participatory workshops asked people to consider the following questions:
- What will success look like for us in three years’ time?
- Think of a time when you felt really good about working here. What happened to produce
those feelings? What features produced the high?
- What would it look like if we were more like our exceptional selves more of the time?
- How do we build on our strengths?
- How do we reduce barriers to change?
- What can we do here, locally, to start the journey?
- What do we need senior managers to hear and then do?
Source: Lenham (2009)
What works in engaging stakeholders?
Stakeholder involvement and participation is crucial to successful and lasting change in social care.
SCIE has published a range of guides to support the development of participation:
SCIE guide 17: The participation of adult service users, including older people, in developing
social care
SCIE guide 20: Participation – finding out what difference it makes
SCIE position paper 10: Seldom heard – developing inclusive participation in social care
Ageless at Work: Change workplace cultures, development skills. Good practice report 25

Table 8 What needs to be done to involve stakeholders?
Facilitate involvement in all aspects of change
• Ensure involvement is more than one-off consultation. Although this is a valuable start,
genuine involvement is a continuous process rather than a separate event.
• Invite and enable involvement in all stages of change, including planning and decision
making.
• Offer support, information and training to stakeholders, to enable them to become more
effective participants.
• Recognise that different people have different types of expertise and think about how the
organisation can make best use of and value this diversity.
• Acknowledge that different stakeholders may have different priorities and opinions, and
be prepared to work with any conflict.
Map your wider stakeholder groups
• Think about who your stakeholders (or customers) are, and consider how they might
assist or hinder change.
• Be aware of the different ways in which external stakeholders can be engaged. These
include: board member appointments, holding local forums and events, organising
workshops and action groups, developing networks of users and providers; appointing
them as evaluators or inspectors, appointing them as part of staff hiring committees,
developing partnerships between user-led organisations and providers.
• Consider who (people who use services, leaders and/or workers) might be best placed to
engage stakeholders. Identify a ‘champion’ who is particularly enthusiastic about
partnership working.
• Communicate your plans for change clearly and at an early stage
• Consider inviting stakeholders to identify any expertise or experience they have that could
help with the change.
Identify the right approach for your local community
• Remember there is no ‘one size fits all’ approach to stakeholder involvement.
• Be clear about the process by, and extent to which, stakeholders will be involved in
shaping improvements.
• Be creative when planning stakeholder involvement and work together to identify the most
appropriate method.
• Make sure you understand and communicate clearly the benefits of involving
stakeholders. This requires time and effort, but can help to ensure the success of any
improvement.
26
Ageless at Work: Change workplace cultures, development skills. Good practice report

What works in involving people who use services in driving culture change?
“In social care total organisational and cultural change will need to take place so that people, rather
than systems and procedures, come first”
Table 9 What works in involving people who use services in driving cultural
change
Work in partnership
• Understand and use the social model of disability to begin to establish a more equal
relationship with the people who use services.
• Recognise the importance of effective leadership and management across the
organisation. It is essential in supporting the workforce to take a partnership approach in
meeting the needs and wished of those who use services.
• Be aware of the tendency to see participation as an add-on. Adopting a whole systems
approach means that you will need to think about what changes might need to be made
to: culture; practice; structure and systems of review.
Plan carefully and consider the practicalities
• Consider how to enable participation at all stages of change, including planning, decision
making and implementation.
• Make sure that people who use services are involved at the beginning of any process of
change, before plans are drawn up and any decisions made.
• Communicate your thoughts and ideas clearly, avoiding jargon, and present any materials
in a reader-friendly and accessible format
• Make sure that practical arrangements enable involvement, including: accessible venues;
timings to suit users, financial help if users need money for transport to attend meetings,
or to meet the cost of personal assistants to support their involvement; other forms of help
users might need (e.g. carers may need replacement assistance so they can attend
meetings).
• Acknowledge that is takes time for changes to have any effect, and that this may be
frustrating.
Make involvement genuine
• Agree the proves for and scope of involvement at the start of any planned change
• Be clear about what can and cannot be expected from involvement on both sides, and
acknowledge the potential benefits to individuals
• If decisions have already been made, be open about this.
• Consider identifying champions within the organisation to encourage genuine
involvement, but make sure they share their knowledge and expertise
• Identify roles which could be undertaken by people who use services. These might
include attending meetings and developing agendas, through to monitoring and
evaluating performance.
• Make sure everyone is clear about their role. If people who use services are leading the
development of participation, be especially clear about the role of any involved
professionals.
• Ensure everyone who has been involved is kept informed about the outcome. People
often say they never hear the outcome of their involvement or of any difference made as a
result.
• Recognise that participation encompasses a wide spectrum and be honest about where
your organisation is currently. Achieving the vision for social care means that we need to
aim for a partnership, where services are shaped by customer wishes and experiences,
and people are supported to control their own lives.
• Explore the possibilities for co-production. Achieving co-production in social care required
a number of fundamental changes, including: seeing the people who use services as
experts, recognising that they have assets which can help improve services, including
Ageless at Work: Change workplace cultures, development skills. Good practice report 27

• Support and enable people to use personal budgets. These help people to shape their
own services in the most direct way.
Reward people for sharing their expertise.
• Acknowledge individuals as experts by rewarding them for their time and contribution, as
well as meeting their expenses.
• Be aware, and make your participants aware, than any payment made will impact on state
benefits.
• Include budgeting for payments in the planning stage of any change.
Be aware of under-representation
• Identify those who are rarely involved and whose voices are rarely heard.
• Be flexible and creative, and find out who can find solutions to participatory barriers.
• Steps to improve representation include: diversity training, including information on family
life; forming partnerships with local organisations that work with diverse and marginalised
groups; ensuring that service users who participate represent a wider constituency;
remembering to include groups that are not often asked or left out, such as black and
minority ethnic service users, and carers in same-sex relationships.
Offer training
• Be aware than information, support and training will be valuable for all those involved in
change. This could be arranged by contacting local user-led organisations, putting the
people who use your service in touch with each other, or commissioning training on a
specific topic.
• Providing training particularly important in enabling users to participate more effectively
and take on more responsible roles such as becoming board members. This might
include training on assertiveness, negotiation, meeting and committee procedures, and
legal rights.
Develop local relationships
• Consider what steps can be taken to develop positive relationships between providers
and the people who use services.
• Understand and acknowledge the value of user-controlled organisations, which should
increasingly develop in each locality.
• Agree lines of communication and ways to encourage discussion, consultation and
accountability
• Build on the experience of people who use services, who are practical experts, and use
their involvement to help change attitudes.
Skills for Care South West’s guidebook “The Value of Learning: Creating a Learning Organisation
(Skills for Care South West, 2009) provides ideas about how residents and people who use services
can contribute to the development of a learning organisation. This includes asking them for their
views about services on a regular basis and the use of ‘witness testimonies’ as evidence in the
compilation of NVQ portfolios.
28
Ageless at Work: Change workplace cultures, development skills. Good practice report

Implications for project activity
The good practice review has identified four potential strands of work under the organisational
change work stream. These are:
Leadership for change and improvement
Workforce involvement and participation
Stakeholder participation
People who use services as drivers of cultural change.
Leadership for change and improvement
Leadership is one of six priorities identified in Working to Put People First: The strategy for the Adult
Social Care Workforce in England (Department of Health, 2009). Potential audiences or beneficiaries
include: service providers; commissioners of services; user led organisations; Directors of Adult Social
Services; Deputy Directors of Social Care; elected members or local authority staff. Potential
activities include:
Trailing approaches to growing management and leadership talent from within the sector,
particularly from under-represented groups and/or facilitating mid-career transitions to managerial
positions from outside the sector
Development of existing ‘how to’ guides such as those published by SCIE (2009) and Spirit and
Bell (2009) either independently or as a package of one-to-one or group support (e.g. Action
Learning Sets) support to managers in the sector.
Exploration of the implications of co-production for the development of care services
Capitalising on existing linkages between “Ageless at Work” and the Social Care Reform:
Implementing “Putting People First” and CSED projects, planned as part of the South West Joint
Improvement Partnership’s Adult Social Care, Health and Well-being Programme.
Support for strategic workforce planning as this does not seem to be progressing as well as it
might.
Focused skills development for leaders in third sector organisations.
Workforce involvement and participation
Priorities under this strand could include:
Helping smaller employers and people who directly employ services to understand the training
needs of their staff and to access funding
Support for front-line care staff in residential and home care services to adjust to their new roles
(and in particular, Personal Assistants)
Stakeholder participation
Offer specific training on stakeholder engagement or embed these issued into broader leadership
development opportunities.
Ageless at Work: Change workplace cultures, development skills. Good practice report 29

People who use services as drivers of cultural change.
The piloting of innovative intergenerational projects that bring together service users and their
families, and carers of different generations to identify good practice in service delivery.
30
Ageless at Work: Change workplace cultures, development skills. Good practice report

4. EMERGING GOOD PRACTICE IN SKILLS DEVELOPMENT OF
OLDER WORKERS
Is there an age-bias within current workforce development initiatives?
“The principal feature of vocational learning in later life is depressingly familiar to anyone who has
studied adult learning. Those who have had least previous education get least continuing
education. Those whose skills and knowledge are least likely to equip them to stay employable
are the least likely to receive any training. It seems that older people and many employers still
share the two common prejudices: that ‘you can’t teach an old dog new tricks’ or that investing in
older people is a waste of money because the payback period is too short. Neither of these
widely held beliefs have any real foundation.”
Stephen McNair quoted in ‘Demographic and Older Learners’ (2005)
The simple – and perhaps not very helpful – answer to this question is that it depends on the
programme, and what is meant by age-bias. Many studies have observed that participation in jobrelated
training or indeed any kind of learning declines with age (Aldridge and Tucket, 2009). For
example, one recent national survey of employees found that 18 to 24 year olds were more than twice
as likely as those aged between 50 and state pension age to have taken part in job-related training in
the last four weeks (Figure 1). The same survey has also revealed very little progression in terms of
the highest qualifications of older people suggesting that current workforce development initiatives
have done little to raise the qualifications of adults within the existing labour force.
Figure 1
Employees receiving job related training¹: by age and sex, 2008², United
Kingdom
30
26.4
Men
Women
25
Percentages
20
15
10
15.6
19
19.8
14.6
17.2
11.9
16.6
9.2
12.9
5
0
16-17 18-24 25-34 35-49 50-59/64
¹ Employees (those in employment excluding the self-employed, unpaid family workers and those on government programmes)
who received job-related training in the four weeks prior to interview.
²Data are at Q2 (April June) and are not seasonally adjusted.
Source: Labour Force Survey, Office for National Statistics
Ageless at Work: Change workplace cultures, development skills. Good practice report 31

There is also evidence that older people are slightly under-represented in the distribution of carerelated
NVQs. For example, while almost half (47%) of Level 2 Care NVQs were awarded to people
aged 41 and over during 2004/5, people aged within this age group account for over half (53%) of
(selected) care related occupations (Eborall and Griffiths, 2008). The same is also true at the
opposite end of the skills spectrum: while three-quarters of Registered Managers are aged 40 and
over, ‘only’ two thirds (66%) of Registered Managers NVQs were awarded to people aged 41 and
over.
The same bias towards participation of younger age groups is also apparent in most forms of LSC
funded learning for adults (aged 19 and over), the only exception being for Safeguarded Adult
Learning. Over half (54%) of adults taking part in this form of learning – comprising largely
unaccredited, community and family learning – were aged 45 and over. This compares to 30% of
learners on Train to Gain and 28% of learners accessing LSC funded Further Education courses 10 .
These participation rates are well below older peoples’ share of the population eligible for these
courses (38%).
These findings suggest that while there is a degree of age bias towards younger workers in
participation on most types of workforce development programmes, it does not necessary follow that
the programmes themselves are inherently age biased in terms of design, since older people give a
variety of reasons for not taking part in training. Notwithstanding this, a number of research projects
exploring older peoples’ motivation to train and the barriers they face to taking part suggest that the
form, format, location or content of skills development initiatives can influence older peoples’ decision
about training, and that some characteristics of ‘mainstream’ provision are unattractive to some
prospective older learners. Studies, for example, have acknowledged that while preferred learning
styles inevitably vary between individuals, older workers often learn in different ways to younger
workers, with many preferring ‘hands on’ or learning on the job (Jenkinson et al., 2008), informal
learning environments and approaches and those that allow learners to study at their own pace (Ford,
2005) and one-to-one tuition rather than exams or qualifications (National Skills Forum, undated).
Since traditionally many skills development opportunities are delivered by, and often in, further
education colleges or formal classroom settings, older peoples attitudes to this environment will be an
important factor in their decisions about training. Nervousness about returning to the classroom was a
barrier to learning for around one-fifth (22 percent) of learners and one-quarter (24 percent) of nonlearners
who wanted to train (Eurostat Adult Education Survey) with negative attitudes to formal
learning settings more prevalent among those with low qualifications and/or those who had a negative
experience of learning whilst at school (Stuart and Perret, 2006). Many older workers are, however,
comfortable, or indeed prefer, to train away from the workplace, including attending college, although
this is often preferred in combination with ‘hands-on’ study.
Despite older workers’ preference to learn through practice and with workplace representing
potentially effective learning environments, employer support for this learning might not always be
forthcoming:
10 Through the Adult Responsiveness Fund.
32
Ageless at Work: Change workplace cultures, development skills. Good practice report

“[There is] little to suggest that they [older workers] will be a high priority in the distribution of
opportunities for training or support in workplaces” (Billet and van Woerkom, 2008).
A number of studies of work-related training for lower skilled staff in the NHS have highlighted the
important role played by managers (and the work organisation as a whole) in creating the conditions
for learning in the workplace (UKESC, 2009). Organisational barriers to skills development include:
- Problems negotiating time off to train, especially for front-line staff, and especially if training is
off-site;
- The danger that attempts to foster a learning environment are undermined by other changes
to the employment relationship (for example, need for flexibility which may conflict with
attempts to promote evening or weekend working);
- Unequal access due to specific views of line managers (who may for example, view investing
in training for older workers as an inefficient use of resources);
- Concerns among learners and managers regarding the value of N/SVQ-orientated training.
Mcbride et al. (2006) identified a number of barriers to skills development faced by lower skilled NHS
staff, including: managers’ conflicting priorities and limited resources to find cover for staff undertaking
skills development activities; the time and distance associated with getting to training centres
(especially in rural areas); a lack of consistent information about opportunities; and in some cases the
sense that managers had ‘rationed’ information about opportunities to favoured staff (who may, for
example, view investing in training for older workers as an inefficient use of resources). This rationing
is often based on the perception that older learners are (VT Research, 2008):
- More reluctant to train, especially if bordering on retirement
- Showing fear or insecurity and lack of understanding of the need to train
- Believing that training is unnecessary
- Finding it harder to learn new things.
One [American] study (Peterson and Wendt, 1995) found that a quarter of those aged 50 and over
who had not trained ‘had not participated in an educational activity because their employer had not
encouraged them to do so’. Given older workers lack of support - older workers need to be assertive
in seeking educational opportunities, but underlines the importance of managers in encouraging the
ongoing development of older workers (Githens, 2007).
While the appropriateness of provision, and workplace issues and employer attitudes are important,
extrinsic factors influencing older peoples’ attitudes to training, others include work and family
commitments. The most frequently reported barriers to learning tended to relate to intrinsic factors (i.e.
related to the individual’s attitudes, beliefs, knowledge and motivation), of which the most frequently
cited reasons were: a preference to spend time doing other things (43 percent), a perception that they
were too old to learn (35 percent), not being interested in learning (29 percent), insufficient knowledge
about local learning opportunities (23 percent) and nervousness about returning to the classroom (22
percent). The most common reasons for not participating in learning among those who would like to
learn include (Eurostat Adult Education Survey):
Ageless at Work: Change workplace cultures, development skills. Good practice report 33

- Training conflicted with the work schedule (44 percent)
- Respondent did not have time because of family responsibilities (42 percent)
- Training was too expensive/ respondent could not afford (37 percent)
- No training offered at the reachable distance (26 percent)
- Respondent not confident about ‘going back to something that is like school’ (24 percent)
- Lack of employer’s support (23 percent)
- Did not have the prerequisites for admittance (21 percent)
- Health or age (17 percent).
McBride’s evaluation of the NHS skills escalator project similarly identified a number of individual
barriers encountered by lower skills NHS staff, including a lack of confidence in their ability to learn;
embarrassment with low levels of literacy; apathy and a questioning of the benefits of skills
development, especially among older staff. A case study within a social care employer in the [area]
found:
“Management noted that some staff felt intimidated and would be inclined to quit than undergo
training. Thus, absenteeism rose when training sessions were scheduled. It was stated that
staff would not come in especially for training, even when paid. There was therefore a fear that
some otherwise good carers will quit. Part of the problem was also said to be a lack of basic
skills on the part of some staff. The majority just wanted a simple job, with no extra demands,
though some younger staff do see care as a potential career.” (reference unknown)
Older learners also have a different motivation to learn that younger workers: Older learners less
motivated to achieve a qualification than younger workers, rather they are more interested in
‘upgrading or updating’ skills’ – increases with age (UKCES, 2009). Older, experienced employees [in
their study] appeared to be positive about learning when it was seen to be relevant and helped them
to do their jobs better or more easily. Three quarters wanted to take part in job-related training at the
company, quarter wanted formal training. Those employees who had career or personal aspirations
beyond their current job were more likely to view opportunities to learn outside work positively than
those who were content with their position and who were not aspiring to change.
Table 10 Cultural, attitudinal and dispositional barriers to learning
Cultural Learning perceived to go against social, gender of family norms.
Attitudinal Learning perceived as something narrow, formal and assessed.
Learning institutions believed to cater exclusively for other age and social
groups
Skepticism about the relevance and value of learning
Dispositional Lack of confidence
Fear of failure and exposing weaknesses
Belief that one is too old to learn.
Source: Newton et al. (2005: 26)
34
Ageless at Work: Change workplace cultures, development skills. Good practice report

What works in developing skills of older workers?
The literature described above suggest four potential areas of activity for the “Ageless at Work”
project. These can be broadly categorised as
- measures that combat age discrimination in access to training, and promote positive attitudes
to training older workers among those that decide who gets trained;
- activities that challenge older workers’ perceptions of their ability to learn and promote the
benefits of doing so;
- measures that promote a culture of lifelong learning at the organisation level and maximise
opportunities for informal learning;
- the provision of formal training opportunities that reflect older learners’ preferences in terms of
learning styles and qualification design.
The remainder of this section will explore each of themes, drawing on published research and
evaluation studies.
Promoting age positive practice in training and development
The importance of promoting good practice in training and development in relation to diversity was
highlighted in Skills for Care’s Gap Analysis and Market Testing report (2007). While it is unlawful for
employers to use age as a criterion for distributing training opportunities research has highlighted an
unwillingness among some employers to put older workers forward for training (see previous section
on ‘Is there an age-bias within current workforce development initiatives’).
Managers and supervisors are often crucial gatekeepers for decisions that are made about access to
training and development opportunities. Training in age equality awareness, especially for managers
and supervisors, as it relates to training and development is very important and can help them make
objective decisions about access to training and development opportunities. The South West
Opportunities for Older People (SWOOP) project test three approaches that are relevant in this
regard. The first project, “Broker-Age” brought together a small group of Train to Gain brokers to
research employer attitudes to training older people 11 , and supported the group in using this
knowledge to develop a training programme to help other brokers engage with employers on this
issue. The project was successful in convincing the initially sceptical brokers that issues around age
could be helpfully integrated into conversations with employers, for example, about basic skills. The
highly participatory nature of the training programme, and the fact that is was developed and delivered
by brokers for other brokers was also felt to give the training credibility, and helped brokers remember
and apply what they learnt (Stevens and Denbigh, 2007).
The second programme used action learning sets to support personnel managers to explore the
implications of age legislation on the HR policy and practice within their own organisations. This did
not focus specifically on the training policies but highlighted a number of related issues that the
managers were grappling with at that time. This included: the need to recognise, capture and
11 Two care homes participated in this research.
Ageless at Work: Change workplace cultures, development skills. Good practice report 35

articulate the experience, knowledge, skills and attributes of their older workers for business benefit;
the recognition that major organisational change can prompt experienced employees to take early
retirement rather than ‘sweat it out’ in an uncertain environment; the need to manage the relationships
between employees of different age groups (for example, establishing whether young managers are
equipped with the skills to manage an older member of their team); the opportunity to use age as a
hook to engage people in broader thinking about equality issues; and the need for employers to help
employees establish their desired work-life balance. The project evaluation found that action learning
sets were a powerful way of supporting peer exploration and learning but were difficult to ‘sell’ to
private sector companies even when offered free of charge they were unwilling to commit to the six
days required (Stevens and Denbigh, 2007).
The third project, delivered by ACAS, brought age legislation training to a private-sector company and
was designed specifically to help participants recognise age discrimination in the workplace, outline
good practice measures in tacking age discrimination, describe the business benefits of diversity in
the workplace and to identify barriers to employing a diverse workforce. The training proved very
popular with the company’s management and, while the project was not formally evaluated by the
SWOOP team because it extended beyond the life of the European project, tentative pre-training
assessments revealed that participants had a low level of technical knowledge about age legislation
and that the full extent to which the Age Discrimination regulations affect employment were not
understood (Stevens and Denbigh, 2007). All three projects demonstrated a need to raise
awareness of the implications of not only the Age Legislation but also of age positive employment
practice more generally.
The Equality Challenge Unit (undated) offers the following guidance on age positive action with
respect to staff training and development:
Training and development should be linked to the competencies, skills and technical knowledge
required by the job. In this way, decisions on access to training and development will be driven by
the demands of the post and the employee’s future career aspirations and will not be driven by
other, possibly discriminatory, factors and will be fair and transparent.
It is important that employers do not make assumptions that staff approaching retirement will not
require training. With the introduction of the ‘right to continue working’ staff may wish to maintain
and indeed develop skills so that they have the capacity to remain in post or progress within the
organisation.
Research shows that older people in particular may be reluctant to take up training and
development opportunities. This may be, in part, due to a lack of confidence or concern about the
training methods employed. Through the performance management process there can be a
discussion about the concerns of the individual and the most appropriate training method or style,
for example, e-learning, mentoring or coaching so that the approach is tailored to the needs of the
employee.
Tools are also available to support employers in dealing with broader age management issues
(including staff development within the workplace). These include Fair Play Partnership’s “Age
Driver” self-assessment tool (http://www.fairplaypartnership.org.uk/agedriver.php) and their age
36
Ageless at Work: Change workplace cultures, development skills. Good practice report

tool box that was developed as part of the European Commission funded Fair Play for Older Workers
project. The DWP European Social Fund division has also published a good practice guide on
developing age-related programmes (ECOTEC, undated). While the primary audience is co-financing
organisations, it contains useful information on providing learning and mentoring opportunities for
older people. Skills for Care South West’s “The Value of Learning: Creating a Learning
Organisation” (Skills for Care South West, 2009) also provides managers and care home owners
with information about sources of funding and hints and tips about how to persuade reluctant learners
to ‘give it a go’. This includes providing one-to-one support, sensitively delivered NVQs (see Tick
Tock), making learning fun and informal methods.
Widening knowledge about the range of learning opportunities available amongst managers can also
increase take-up of training among other staff. For example, the Bournemouth, Dorset and Poole
Learning Hubs Project (Howe, 2009) found that bringing third sector social care organisations
together and supporting them by facilitating meetings and producing newsletters and fact sheets had
raised awareness of funding for learning and of learning opportunities leading to greater participation
in training:
“By providing [knowledge about funding and learning opportunities] the Learning Hub has
enabled the social care agencies to develop their own learning culture, and thereby have a
positive impact on the development of staff skills and the quality of service provision.”
Bournemouth, Dorset and Poole Learning Hubs Evaluation, 2009
It is not clear however whether this resulted in increased learning opportunities for older people
specifically.
A wide range of approaches therefore have been used previously to promote age positive practice in
training and development, some of which have focused specifically on skills development issues and
some have encompassed this within approaches that advocated sound age positive employment
practice more generally. This suggests a fairly broad field of potential activity for the project that could
include work with skills intermediaries (such as that approach tested by the Broker-Age project) to
ensure the needs of older learners are brought into discussions between managers and skills brokers,
the use of action learning sets for line managers to support them to adopt age positive practice and
prevent them unwittingly (or deliberately) sidelining the skills development needs of older people. This
could incorporate wider dissemination of Skills for Care South West’s The Value of Learning: Creating
a Learning Organisation report. Finally, the project could support the development and/or wider
adoption of learning hubs as a way of raising awareness of learning opportunities.
Activities that challenge older workers’ perceptions of their ability to learn, and need
for learning
The research has identified a wide range of intrinsic factors (i.e. related to the individual’s attitudes,
beliefs, knowledge and motivation) that feed into individuals’ behaviour and decision making around
learning and training (UKES, 2009). For older workers in particular, this can include beliefs about
being ‘too old’ to train, problems with basic skills and a fear of ‘going back to the classroom’. Older
people by virtue of their (usually) longer tenure in their current job may also feel that they do not need
to train, or feel that requesting training implies some deficiency in their skills. Over half (53%) of
Ageless at Work: Change workplace cultures, development skills. Good practice report 37

‘unlikely’ learners 12 aged 55 and over either do not have any barriers to learning or are just not
interested in training (Aldridge and Tuckett, 2007). That is not to say, however, that practical factors
such as time and money are not significant barriers, particularly for low-paid, low skilled workers. The
UKES review of employee demand for skills (2009) therefore suggests that:
“Effective interventions therefore need to be targeted at promoting individuals’ self-efficacy
and motivation to learn. Challenges for this agenda include the suggestion that older workers
and those that consider themselves to be fully skilled for their current occupation may be more
difficult to engage”.
Qualitative research with employers and older people in the West Midlands (2008) also found
“Resistance to training from staff who had been in a role for some time, rather than just based on
age”. Employer encouragement can be a key factor in motivating older workers to undertake training.
Other incentives and motivations identified by older workers include (VT Research, 2008)
Free, or funded by an employer or by the government (VT Research, 2008)
Other people motivated to do training
Learning a new skill
Earning a reasonable wage at the end
Felling more valued
Showing initiative to gain skills and becoming more valuable to an employer.
The ReGROW programme that was piloted in the South East region during 2006/2008 is one
example of a successful approach in engaging with older workers. It did so by providing information,
advice and guidance in the workplace and supplementing this with mentoring and training
opportunities. Employers were approached by Employer Engagement Officers, employed by the lead
contractor, A4e, and by the partner agencies. Participating employers nominated employees, who
then received an IAG interview with an adviser employed by one of the partner agencies. In the light
of this, training needs were identified, and A4e and its partners brokered appropriated training. Most
employees also received on-going mentoring from IAG staff, either face-to-face or by phone. This
was one of the largest attempts to provide guidance to older workers ever conducted.
A very large majority of employees taking part in the programme reported that they had found the IAG
helpful, enjoyable and relevant, that it improved their skills, and that the adviser understood their
needs and the options available (over 80% for each of these). When asked whether they thought that
ReGrow had made a difference to them:
Two thirds thought that the training had helped them to do their jobs better and that it had
improved their self confidence
Half said that it had increased the likelihood of their doing more learning in the future
A third said that ReGrow had increased the likelihood that they would stay in work longer
12 This includes all respondents to the 2005 NIACE Adult Learners Survey who had finished full time
education and were not ‘very likely’ to take up learning in the next three years.
38
Ageless at Work: Change workplace cultures, development skills. Good practice report

One of the most interesting findings from the perspective of “Ageless at Work”, however, is the fact
that both employers and employees had often not realised that older workers had training needs.
While funding IAG and mentoring for older employees may be beyond the scope of this project, it
does reveal a need to improve the quality of the dialogue between older workers and their managers,
specifically in relation to skills development (and probably other aspects of employment).
“Experience Matters,” another SWOOP project, provides an interesting example of how long-serving
youth workers were supported - through a period of organisational change – to examine their current
working practices, take stock of their achievements and identify the factors that were helping or
hindering their further progression. Among the messages that emerged from the action learning
approach were the fact that while funds for training were welcomed by participants as a reward for
good performance, they also felt that it was assumed that older workers did not need recognition or
support but a consistent sense of decline in confidence suggested that it was important to compliment
and reassure long-serving staff (Stevens and Denbigh, 2007).
Promoting a culture of lifelong learning and maximising opportunities for informal
learning
The extent to which, and methods by which, employers promote a ‘culture of learning’ within the
workplace may be important to the effective engagement of lower skilled workers (UKES, 2009), many
of whom will be older people. Learning culture is also likely to reflect broader issues of work
organisation and culture with motivation to learn highest for those with autonomous job roles and
where information is shared across the organisation, and there is trust between management and
staff. Immediate work environments perceived to be inventive and encouraging also have an impact
on motivation to engage in and apply knowledge and insights to the work at hand. Conversely,
subcultures perceived to emphasize rules and compliance as central features of the immediate work
environment deplete employee motivation to convey learning and knowledge to the work setting and
may diminish the localised learning environment (Egan, 2008). Nythan (2006) identified seven
features of work that stimulated opportunities for informal learning (Table 11).
Table 11 Features of work that stimulate informal learning
Variety and control of one’s work task
Tasks that require the application of group knowledge thus offering possibilities for personal
development
Opportunities for constructive feedback from managers, co-workers and customers
Time for reflection on work tasks that require deliberation and choice
Possibilities for employee participation in shaping the design of the work environment
Bottom up ‘active’ learning, as distinct from ‘passive’ formalistic top down and standardised
training
Formal participation in problem handling and developmental activities.
Source: Nyhan (2006)
Skills for Care South West has published and piloted a guidebook on creating a learning
organisation (Skills for Care South West, 2009) aimed at managers and owners in small social care
establishments in recognition that ‘developing a learning culture lies at the root of achieving
Ageless at Work: Change workplace cultures, development skills. Good practice report 39

personalisation’. The results of the pilot were not available at the time of writing. The guidebook
identified the following signs that an organisation is dedicated to continuous learning:
Everyone’s development is seen as important
Training is a key part of the business strategy
Formal or informal learning can be a vehicle for ensuring quality service delivery
There is support for vocational training and qualifications
People who use services and care workers are involved in how the organisation learns.
Studies of good practice within the NHS (UKES, 2009) point to the importance of developing a culture
where staff do not feel that they are letting down colleagues by taking time off to train; and where
there are clear links between work-based training and practical benefits in job-performance.
A study of older workers learning in 27 small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in England,
Finland and Norway (pjb Associates, 2002) found that workplace change stimulated learning but
reduced opportunities to capitalise on this because of increased work load and time pressure. As a
consequence, in some cases older workers adopted an adjusting rather than participating strategy
amidst workplace change. The study also concluded that the development of a learning organisation
requires capability, motivation and opportunities to reflect upon one’s own and company practices
‘with management setting the bottom line’. Related to this:
Awareness of SMEs as learning organisations and what that might mean in one’s own company
was relatively low among both management and employees. However, it was observed that a
transition process may be taking place as an SME moves from a traditional, stable organisation
towards a more dynamic, responsive learning organisation.
The effects of our efforts to develop SMEs towards learning organisations by externally initiated, reflexive
learning interventions were strongly dependent on management’s involvement in and commitment to
such a reflection.
The power of informal learning was also highlighted in the national evaluation of the Individual
Budgets Pilot evaluation (Individual Budgets Evaluation Network, 2008):
40
“Although most care co-ordinators and team managers had access to both formal and informal
training activities, a number of care co-ordinators reported that they had not received any
training before setting up their first IB with a service user. Others thought that the formal
training events that they had attended had not helped them to fulfil their roles with confidence.
Sometimes, the training was seen a patronising to care co-ordinators. Others thought it was
too ideological, unrealistic and did not mirror their own experiences of working with their
particular user group. A common complaint was that whilst the formal training went into the
background of IBs and the philosophy behind them, it did not go into the detail of the
processes of setting them up, leaving care co-ordinators unequipped to perform these tasks.
However, other respondents thought that these introductory sessions were ‘enlightening’ and
had opened them up to the potential of IBs. The types of training that were available varied
from site to site and included visits by the IB team or development officer to team meetings to
introduce new paperwork or to work through processes or current problems, and also team
Ageless at Work: Change workplace cultures, development skills. Good practice report

meetings initiated by team managers to share experiences and to explain particular features of
IB. This informal, hands-on training and support, offered by managers and IB teams, tended
to attract more praise than the more formal events. Other common support mechanisms,
which were generally welcomed by care co-ordinators and team managers, included: peer
support groups; the identification of champions in each team; and an IB team able and willing
to respond to queries and offer one-to-one support to care co-ordinators.
Intergenerational learning practices may also provide opportunities for the social care workforce to
learn from and support one another during the transformation process. Traditionally, intergenerational
practice has been concerned with ‘generating greater understanding and respect between
generations and building more cohesive societies’ (Thomas, 2009). More recently, however, there has
been interest in broadening the definition, including a new focus on intergenerational learning in the
workplace (DIUS, 2009). The evidence base reflects its historic origins, so there is little published
material documenting good practice in intergenerational learning in the workplace, although the
Government has made a commitment to develop new and innovative approaches to intergenerational
learning in the workplace through the Learning Revolution Transformation Fund and strengthen the
evidence base for informal adult learning activity in the workplace (DIUS, 2009).
One aspect of intergenerational practice, however, that has been extensively reviewed in the literature
is mentoring. There are also examples of good practice within the care sector and in particular from
the Tick Tock EQUAL project. This included a guidance pack containing desk-top research findings
on mentoring practices designed to help project partners design effective mentoring projects (Age
Concern Training, 2006). A second version of the Guidance Pack (Age Concern Training, 2007) was
published in 2007. This incorporated findings from action research undertaken with the Delivery
Partners and their projects in France, Finland and England, incorporating mini case studies of
‘practice in operation’. The key conclusions of the project were:
Mentoring is a powerful intervention for people aged 50 and over helping overcome barriers in
inclusion in the labour market and lifelong learning and offering a supportive environment that
nurtures a sense of self-worth and personal control. However, it can be overlooked as an
intervention option for adults outside of executive professional development or enterprise support.
Mentoring is capable of traversing international boundaries and offer benefits to transnational
partners where these alliances recognise and respond to the differing socio-economic factors,
cultures, infrastructures, language and interpretation variations influencing domestic needs and
activity.
Mentoring is particularly successful in the health and social care sector demonstrating structured
formal schemes, which have the full commitment and support of the organisation, to be effective
in the recruitment, induction and retention of older workers. It provides a vehicle with which to
undertake peer and intergenerational knowledge and skill sharing, and offers mentors a sense of
worth that increases motivation.
Mentoring can support active citizenship by older people acting a peer or intergenerational
mentors. Voluntary sector initiatives can encourage active citizenship through inclusion of older
people, who have considerable transferable skills and/or experience, as peer or intergenerational
mentors. However there are reported gaps in information on different ‘models in action’ in
Ageless at Work: Change workplace cultures, development skills. Good practice report 41

Mentoring is cited as a “fundamental” employer support mechanism especially in age
management and internal mobility strategy development but many employer support agencies fail
to recognise or use its potential.
Following from these conclusions, the project recommended that:
Mentoring should be a primary intervention within adult employability programmes and greater
emphasis should be given to this in Government initiatives and tendering specifications.
Opportunities to further develop and share good mentoring good practice across nations should
be encouraged. Initiatives must incorporate time and plans to avoid unnecessary barriers by
developing cultural awareness, foster openness and genuine sharing and value the differences
that participating countries offer.
Policy makers and practitioners should incorporate mentoring as a strategy for health and social
care people development. Further mentoring innovation, using transnational cooperation should
occur to share practice, ideas and experience to develop mentoring resources and tools for
measuring, evaluating and building on success.
Greater provision of information and guidance should be more readily available on effective
mentoring practice involving adult mentees and mentors in the voluntary sector and in the
community, covering simple guidelines, types of mentoring and care studies.
Mentoring concepts with adults and businesses should be more widely promoted and
encouraged. There needs to be more studies undertaken on the benefits and business case for
using mentoring in a range of adult-led environments.
The Tick Tock project ran a mentoring programme that aimed to enhance the skills and competencies
of older care sector workers to enable them to support new staff during their induction period (Tick
Tock, 2007). The Tick Tock project evaluation report confirms that ‘the mentoring programme has
enabled experienced staff to gain the skills necessary to support new recruits in the care sector, and
managers have also received training to support those staff who have chosen to take on that
additional role but unfortunately does not describe any learning arising from the project. More detailed
strand evaluations were carried out but is was not possible to locate a copy of this report at the time of
writing.
The good practice review has identified a number of possible approaches to promoting a culture of
lifelong learning and maximising opportunities for informal learning and there are examples of projects
and publications focussing on the care sector, already talking this issue. There would seem therefore
to be opportunities to build on and/or extend this work and to this end the “Ageless at Work”
partnership may wish to consider opportunities to:
42
Further develop “The Value of Learning: Creating a Learning Organisation” (Skills for Care South
West, 2009) resource possibly by developing a training or mentoring programme to accompany
the guidebook.
Learn from the experience of the Individual Budgets evaluation by offering care workers informal,
hands-on training and support through peer support groups rather than formal training
Ageless at Work: Change workplace cultures, development skills. Good practice report

programmes. Examples of good practice include peer support groups, the identification of
champions and the establishment of a support team capable of responding to queries and offering
one-to-one support to care co-ordinators.
Establish mentoring and intergenerational learning practices that draw upon and extend good
practice identified by the Tick Tock project, and its translational programme.
Ensuring formal training is delivered in ways appropriate for older learners
A CEDEFOP study (2004) found that learners thought that the best way to reduce barriers and
incentivise learning lay in practical measures to ensure that provision meets the individual’s needs,
through the provision of more flexible working hours and more tailored, individualised modes of study.
Key messages from the research include:
“Staff appreciated training that was not based on written work and if they could use a room where
they were working (e.g. in a care home for their studies)” Manthorpe and Moriarty, 2009
“Connecting in learning settings and building trust and confidence in educational personnel are
essential themes for older adult women learners. Discussion boards, group projects, collaborative
projects, and dialogical classroom interactions offer a framework for bonding and support” (Wolf,
2007 ). The characteristics of a learning atmosphere conducive to trust and connectiveness are
described in Table 12.
Table 12 Environmental and interactive adjustments required to create a learning
atmosphere conducive to trust and connectiveness
• A “home” or holding environment that supports differentiation, new “ahas” of personal and
professional growth.
• A learning climate that fosters inquiry and critical thinking.
• In-class and out-of-class opportunities to support wider communication and strengthen
networks or expand collaboration opportunities.
• Discussion boards, peer advisory groups, mentoring dyads to allow learners to experience
diverse interactions and furnish needed personal support.
• High emphasis on loyalty to one’s cohort (work, school, life connections). This emphasis is
needed to cement the learners’ ability to network and confront the changes of the job market.
• Reinforcement of the value of interpersonal support and interpersonal relationships. Mature
women learners often give up and disappear from the classroom; it is essential that someone
or a team follow up, collect handouts, contact the individual, share notes and so on.
• Classroom emphasis on “unconditional positive regard.” The instructor essentially models this
by diffusing potential competitive instincts and creating an environment of trust and mutual
concern.
• A shared belief in the potential of each group member to succeed.
• On-going linkages when a course or programme ends. This should include opportunities for
Ageless at Work: Change workplace cultures, development skills. Good practice report 43

• Yearly (or more frequent) support groups sponsored by the program, institution, or cohort
members.
Source: Wolf (2009)
The Experienced Employee Route project tested as part of the Tick Tock project provides an
excellent example of how ‘mainstream’ provision can be adjusted to accommodate the needs of older
learners with poor basic skill (Table 13) 13 .
Table 13 Good practice case study: Tick Tock
To address the need for more staff in the sector to hold a recognised qualification to support their level
of competence, an Experienced Employee Route qualification at NVQ level 2 has been developed
and accredited. This appeals to reluctant and/or hard to reach learners as it considerably reduces the
amount of time and paperwork required of learners to build up a portfolio of evidence. Instead, an
employee’s supervisor or manager is trained to operate as an ‘Expert Witness’ alongside a qualified
NVQ Assessor to observe, document and professionally discuss an individual care worker’s level of
competence and aid the development of any additional skills or knowledge needed to confirm
competency. This provides both the Supervisor or Manager and Care Worker with opportunities to
develop new ways of working to ensure that proper competence in a care role can be identified and
evidenced, and is particularly useful for engaging reluctant or hard to reach learners.
Source: Wessex Partnerships Ltd, 2007
Age Concern Training has delivered a variety of bespoke 50+ targeted programmes (e.g. an essential
skills initiative in the West Midlands that was cited in a voluntary sector good practice guide and
another one that aimed to encourage older learners to develop literacy skills by writing their own life
stories resulted in one older man getting his book published), however changes in funding streams
means that the majority of there 50+ learners have to be integrated into mainstream provision (Train
to Gain, LearnDirect, short course provision etc). Besides their WorkWise service which provides
bespoke job-search support to older people (the model was also tested in the South West as part of
the SWOOP project) recent examples of activity the over 50s include
A 67 year old role model in Wales who motivates younger care qualification programme
participants and has been nominated for the 2009 NIACE Adult Learners Week “ Inspire as a
learner” Award an d the Modern Apprenticeship Awards – Wales 2009.
Bite-sized training sessions offered to Walsall residents aged 50 and over as part of Adult
Learners Week in June 2009. As part of the programme learners were offered four 2 hour IT
based taster sessions which included an introduction to spreadsheets. The bite sized sessions
revealed a good deal of demand for this form of learning and as a result Age Concern Training
13 Unfortunately the detailed project evaluation report was not available at the time of writing.
44
Ageless at Work: Change workplace cultures, development skills. Good practice report

have been encouraged to submit a further funding application to build on this initiative by
incorporating job search activities.
On-line courses may also be appropriate to older learners. An American study found that
underrepresented groups were better represented in on-line courses than they were in face-to-face
courses (Swindon and Thompson, 2000). Online medium provides more privacy and safety – a
suggestion also made in qualitative study of an online professional development course. “More
research is needed to know whether online courses provide a better entry point for members of
underrepresented groups. Regardless, e-learning designers and planners should consider less
educated groups when making design decisions (e.g. reading level required, level of technical and
computer expertise needed, making less educated individuals feel safe and comfortable.”
Where skills development provision is delivered in formal educational settings, it is important that
facilities are seen as accessible and user-friendly for non-traditional learners. “Research with college
sector providers in the 1990s identified an ‘image problem’ among some non-traditional adult learners,
who viewed the college sector as defined by large, functional buildings, basic facilities and ‘crowds of
young people’” (Tremlett et al, 1995).
This aspect of the good practice review suggests that are opportunities for review existing training
courses within adult social care to establish whether they are ‘age positive’ and to support training
providers in designing and delivering courses that are attractive to older learners, at different levels of
ability. The Tick Tock project also illustrated mainstream provision can be adjusted to accommodate
the needs of those with poor basic skills and there may be opportunities for further develop this work
by integrating Skills for Life provision into the programme. There may also be opportunities to explore
the potential to use on-line courses to support the skills development of older learners.
Implications for project activity
To sum up, the good practice research suggests four potential areas of project activity in supporting
the skills development of older workers:
The first area includes activities that seek to promote age positive staff development policies and
practice to ensure that older workers are not discriminated against in the distribution of skills
development opportunities. A wide range of approaches have been used previously to some of
which have focused specifically on skills development issues and some have encompassed this
within approaches that that advocated sound age positive employment practice more generally.
This suggests a fairly broad field of potential activity for the project that could include work with
skills intermediaries (such as that approach tested by the Broker-Age project) to ensure the needs
of older learners are brought into discussions between managers and skills brokers’, the use of
action learning sets for line managers to support them adopt age positive practice and prevent
them unwittingly (or deliberately) sideline the skills development needs of older people. This could
incorporate wider dissemination of Skills for Care South West’s “The Value of Learning: Creating
a Leaning Organisation report. Finally, the project could support the development and/or wider
adoption of learning hubs as a way of raising awareness of learning opportunities.
Ageless at Work: Change workplace cultures, development skills. Good practice report 45

Secondly, the project could test new approaches in promoting the benefits of lifelong learning to
older learners generally, and more specifically, perhaps, to those that have had a negative
experience of formal education. This could involve action learning approaches, mentoring and/or
the provision of information, advice and guidance in the workplace.
Thirdly, the research suggests that there is a need to embed learning within organizational
cultures and identify and fully utilize opportunities for informal learning, an important source of
skills development opportunities for older learners. Specifically there are opportunities to: further
develop ‘The Value of Learning: Creating a Learning Organisation’ resource (Skills for Care South
West, 2009) possibly by developing a training or mentoring programme to accompany the
guidebook; to learn from the experience of the Individual Budgets evaluation by offering care
workers informal, hands-on training and support through peer support groups rather than formal
training programmes. Examples of good practice include peer support groups, the identification of
champions and the establishment of a support team capable of responding to queries and offering
one-to-one support to care co-ordinators; and to establish mentoring and intergenerational
learning practices that draw upon and extend good practice identified by the Tick Tock project,
and its translational programme.
Finally, there is a need for further work in ensuring that formal learning opportunities are age
positive in their design and delivery. This could involve formally reviewing existing provision
within adult social care to establish whether courses are ‘age positive’ and to support training
providers in designing and delivering courses that are attractive to older learners, at different
levels of ability. The Tick Tock project also illustrated mainstream provision can be adjusted to
accommodate the needs of those with poor basic skills and there may be opportunities for further
develop this work by integrating Skills for Life provision into the programme. There may also be
opportunities to explore the potential to use on-line courses to support the skills development of
older learners.
46
Ageless at Work: Change workplace cultures, development skills. Good practice report

5. WIDER INFLUENCES ON THE ADULT SOCIAL CARE SECTOR
What has been the impact of the recession on the adult social care sector?
The way official headline statistics are published makes it difficult to accurately measure the impact of
the recession on the adult social care sector since statistics are usually combined with those for other
sectors. Notwithstanding this, there are certainly signs that this broader sector has fared relatively
well during the recession:
- The health and social care sector grew by 3.3% over the last year – a greater percentage than
any other sector in the UK (ONS, 2009a)
- The even broader ‘education, health and public administration sector’ was the only sector to
report job growth over the past year, had the smallest contraction in vacancies (ONS, 2009b)
and has the lowest redundancy rate (ONS 2009c)
- Skills for Care and Development has reported that ‘overall the recession is increasing demand
for many social care services’ (Alliance, 2009)
- The number of vacancies in selected care related occupations notified to Jobcentre Plus
nationally increased by 16 percent over the past year. This is in contrast to the fall of 16
percent recorded across all occupations 14 . One in ten vacancies notified to Jobcentre Plus
nationally in July 2009 were in care related occupations.
- Nationally, the number of unfilled vacancies in care work is only slightly higher than the
number of registered jobseekers wanting to work in the sector 15 . This compares to the overall
ratio of seven jobseekers for every unfilled vacancy registered with the jobcentre.
Regional data on the impact of the recession on the care sector is restricted to information about the
number of job vacancies notified to the jobcentre and the number of jobseekers looking for care
related work. Changes in the number of vacancies for care related occupations, care assistants and
home carers and all occupations in the South West, over the last two years are illustrated in Figure 2
(the number of vacancies are indexed at 100 for July 2007). Two main observations can be drawn
from the chart. Firstly, that demand for care assistants and home carers has followed a similar trend
to that of all care-occupations which is not surprising since on average care assistants and home
carers account for four in every five care-related vacancies. The second observation is that demand
for care-related workers followed a similar trend to that of all vacancies notified to the jobcentre until
the summer 2008 – when the recession started - but has subsequently performed rather better. The
number of care-related vacancies notified to jobcentres in the region in July 2009 was 43 percent
higher than the same month two years earlier, compared to a decline of 14 percent in vacancies
across all occupations.
14 Vacancies in care-related occupations increased by more than twice the national amount (38
percent) in the South West of England over the same period.
15 In July 2009, 32,205 registered jobseekers in England were looking for care-related work, and
26,913 unfilled vacancies in care-related occupations (Jobcentre Plus data accessed from NOMIS).
Ageless at Work: Change workplace cultures, development skills. Good practice report 47

Figure 2 Vacancies notified to Jobcentre Plus, South West, July 2007 to July 2009
Care assistants and home carers Care related occupations All occupations
200
180
160
140
120
100
80
60
40
20
0
Jul-07
Aug-07
Sep-07
Oct-07
Nov-07
Dec-07
Jan-08
Feb-08
Mar-08
Apr-08
May-08
Jun-08
Jul-08
Aug-08
Sep-08
Oct-08
Nov-08
Dec-08
Jan-09
Feb-09
Mar-09
Apr-09
May-09
Jun-09
Jul-09
Source: Jobcentre Plus data accessed from Nomis
Comparing the stock of unfilled vacancies with registered jobseekers also reveals a source for
optimism since the number of vacancies only marginally exceeds those looking for this kind of work
(Table 14). The balance between jobseekers and job opportunities varies considerably across the
different types of care work, with competition highest for youth and community workers (with 6
jobseekers per vacancy) and lowest for care assistant and home carers (with less than 1 jobseeker
per vacancy). Competition for jobs as housing and welfare officers, occupational therapists, social
workers, house-parents and residential wardens and nursing auxiliaries and assistants is slightly lower
than that for all occupations.
48
Ageless at Work: Change workplace cultures, development skills. Good practice report

Table 14
Occupation
Vacancies for care-related occupations and the number of registered
jobseekers wanting care-related work, South West, July 2009
Number of
registered
jobseekers
wanting work in
each occupation
Stock of
vacancies in each
occupation
remaining unfilled
at end of the
month
Number of
jobseekers per
vacancy
Social workers 95 42 2.3
Occupational therapists 10 4 2.5
Youth and community workers 290 48 6.0
Housing and welfare officers 105 33 3.2
Nursing auxiliaries and assistants 130 89 1.5
House-parents and residential wardens 15 8 1.9
Care assistants and home carers 1,945 2,822 0.7
All care-related occupations 2,595 3,046 0.9
All occupations 94,150 19,241 4.9
Source: Jobcentre Plus data accessed using Nomis
Specific recent assessment on the impact of the recession on the early years, children’s and adult
social care sector concluded that while ‘there is a risk of short term job losses in some parts of the
sector”, “significant job opportunities exist within the sector and there are shortages of skilled workers
in some key occupations” (Walters, 2009). Following evidence gathering from industry experts, the
Migration Advisory Committee recently reported a 29-month expansion in demand for nursing,
medical and care staff (Migration Advisory Committee, 2009) that had ‘continued into the recession’
and concluded that “for the time being, however, we accept that there is currently a shortage of care
workers, including the most skilled segment, at the prevailing rate of pay in some parts of the sector.”
In their report on the impact of the economic downturn on business and skills, the Sector Skills
Councils Alliance (Walters, 2009) has observed: a general reduction in employers’ commitment to
training; widespread anecdotal evidence of reduced demand for apprentices; demand for ‘targeted,
bite-sized chunks of training’; and widespread concern that “in taking action to survive the effects of
the recession, businesses will lose valuable, sometimes irreplaceable, skills and experience”.
Suggestions of support to help businesses through the recession presented in the report includes:
Work with companies that are already training or will commit to improving the training
opportunities offered to staff, with these companies best engaged through their SSC. This will
cushion staff and business from the worst effects of the recession and help prepare for the upturn
when skilled, qualified people will be needed quickly.
Accelerate the implementation of the Qualification and Credit Framework in England such that
employers can offer modular training to employees during lay off periods.
Accelerate the recognition of in-house training, properly delivered and assessed.
Enhance the offer for older workers such as training, or even mature apprenticeships can make
up the time in work before potential redundancy.
Ageless at Work: Change workplace cultures, development skills. Good practice report 49

A recent survey by the ADASS/LGA (2009) found that the economic slowdown has meant local
authorities experiencing or anticipating:
A reduction in the supply of services as independent care homes close (by 15 percent of
authorities);
An increased demand for welfare advice services; and
A greater demand for mental health services.
In response, local authorities are: speeding up payments to suppliers in order to improve cash flows;
increasing co-operation and information sharing with other organisations, including hosting ‘credit
crunch’ seminars; and are strengthening advice and guidance services to help people avoid health
problems and becoming reliant on social care.
What is the age profile of the adult social care workforce?
The South West’s adult social care workforce is slightly older than the workforce as a whole (all those
aged 16 and over in employment), and the population of working age (that is, men aged 16 to 64 and
women aged 16 to 59). The statistics for the adult social care workforce should be treated with a
degree of caution because they do not include the entire adult social care workforce.
Figure 3
Comparison of the age structure of the adult social care workforce, all
those in employment and the working age population, South West, 2008
60
50
Adult social care All in work All working age
48
47 46
40
30
20
18
19
19
22
19
16
10
2
6
9
9
9
11
0
Under 19 20-24 25-34 35-54 55 and over
Source: Individual workers returns from; Annual Population Survey (September 2007-October 2008);
ONS 2008 mid-year population estimates
The age profile of the adult social care workforce varies across the region although many sub-regions
have a profile similar to the national average (Figure 4). The exceptions are the urban areas of
50
Ageless at Work: Change workplace cultures, development skills. Good practice report

Bournemouth, Bristol and Plymouth that have the lowest percentages of workers aged over 55
(roughly one-in-six) and the (largely) urban areas of Devon, Poole and Dorset where at least one-infour
adult social care employees are aged 55 and over.
Figure 4
Broad age structure of the adult social care workforce by sub-region;
April 2009
Under 24 25 to 54 Over 55
Bournemouth
12
71
17
Bristol
11
72
17
Plymouth
13
69
18
England
11
70
20
Wiltshire
13
67
20
Somerset
13
67
20
North Somerset
10
70
20
BANES
14
65
22
Cornwall
13
65
22
Swindon
8
70
22
Glos.
9
68
22
South West
11
67
22
Torbay
10
67
23
S. Gloucestershire
9
67
24
Dorset
14
61
25
Poole
7
66
26
Devon
9
64
27
Source: Annual Population Survey
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
What are the implications of demographic change for the sector?
Demographic change has substantial implications for the adult social care sector and has been one of
the key drivers behind the transformation agenda 16 (HM, Government, 2005 and 2008). Briefly, these
changes can be summarised as those affecting the social care workforce and those that affect the
level or nature of demand for adult social care services. Figure 5 illustrates how demographic ageing
is projected to affect population of working age in the South West.
16 Other drivers are social, technological and economic.
Ageless at Work: Change workplace cultures, development skills. Good practice report 51

Figure 5 Projected working age population by broad age group, South West, 2007
to 2027
1400
16-19 20-24 25-39 40-49 50-SPA
1200
1000
800
600
400
200
0
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
2025
2026
2027
Number of residents in each age group
Source: ONS Sub-national population projections
The chart shows that most of the growth in the working age population will be among the group aged
between 50 and state pension age (currently below 60 for women and below 65 for men). This is
largely because the state pension age for women is due to rise gradually to 65 between 2010 and
2020, meaning that more older women will be classified as of working age. Thereafter, the state
pension age of both men and women will rise to 68 by 2046. These changes mean that the share of
the working age population that is aged 50 and over will increase from 27% in 2007 to 33% in 2027. In
1987 – twenty years ago – it was 22%. The prospect of one-in-three of the working age population
aged 50 and over is already a reality in West Somerset and some parts of Cornwall, Devon and
Dorset. Furthermore these ‘older’ areas are projected to age faster than younger ones – such as
Exeter and Bristol – increasing the difference between the two. This means that the age structure of
the labour pool will vary significantly depending on the location of the business, requiring locationspecific
strategies to fully utilise the labour and skills available to the business. The number of young
labour market entrants will not change significantly over the next twenty years and will account for a
falling share of the working age population. Given that there will be a great deal of competition to
recruit from this relatively small pool of labour market entrants, the adult care sector will need to
explore other sources of labour – including currently under-represented groups such as men, those of
state pension age, women returning to the labour market following absence, and migrant workers.
Demographic change will also impact on the level and nature of demand for services. This is because
the number of people in the age groups who are the heaviest users of adult social care will increase
substantially. This expansion is illustrated in Figure 6. This shows that the number of residents aged
80 and over will double over the next 25 years, and those aged 60 to 79 will increase by almost half.
In contrast, the population aged under 60 is only expected to increase moderately (by 12%).
52
Ageless at Work: Change workplace cultures, development skills. Good practice report

Figure 6
Change in number of residents by broad change group, South West,
2006 to 2031
250
0-14 15-59 60-79 80+
200
150
100
50
0
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
2025
2026
Index=100
2027
2028
2029
2030
2031
Source: GAD population projections
In addition to rising numbers of elderly people – demand for adult social care is also likely to increase
because on average, people are spending increased years in poor health. For example, in 1981 the
expected time men lived in poor health was 6.5 years. By 2004 this had risen to 8.6 years. Women
can expect to live longer in poor health than men. In 2004, the expected time women lived in poor
health was 10.7 years. The broader trends and drivers affecting the health and social sector –
including those associated with demography and society – are summarised in Table 15.
Ageless at Work: Change workplace cultures, development skills. Good practice report 53

Table 15 Trends and drivers affecting the health and social services sector
Area
Trends and developments
Demographic Ageing
and
Increasing long-term care expenditure
societal change Implications for recruitment to health and social services jobs
• acute shortages of doctors, nurses and social workers
• increase in the age-profile of the professional workforce
• increasing recruitment of migrant workers in the healthcare sector
• initiatives to activate the latent workforce
• delaying the age of retirement
Downward trend of co-residence of older people, upward trend in older people living
alone
• declining female care-giving, rising female employment rates
• reduction in informal care, more demand on professional care
Rising
Increasing expectations of people to receive the health services they require at an
expectations affordable price
and
Patients better informed about healthcare services, e.g. through Internet
consumerism Patients less deferential to healthcare professionals
Health
informatics
and
telemedicine
New medical
technologies
Increasing costs
of
health and
social
services
provision
• Increase in the number and influence of organised patient groups
Changing patterns of patient-physician relationships
Existence of ‘virtual’ cyber physician
Changes in health organisations and the working relationships of health personnel
• development of seamless electronic patient records
• clinicians will access information and decision–support at the point of care
Telemedicine
• improvements in the speed and cost of health services
• increase in quality of patient care
• new medical techniques, e.g. ‘telesurgery’
Security concerns for health information and data
New actors to manage data and information flow, e.g. health informatics specialists
Genomics
• prediction of the effectiveness and side effects of drug therapies
• open new markets for diagnostic testing and preventive medicines
• follow-up treatments and support services, e.g. lifestyle counselling
Biotechnologies
• biomaterials and tissue generation, biosensors and bioinformatics
Nanotechnologies and robotics
• monitoring repair, construction and control of human biological systems at the
molecular level, using engineered nano-devices
Increase in healthcare expenditures at a rate of around 3 per cent per year on
average across the EU
Growth in healthcare demand – challenge of limiting expenditures without reducing
the quality of services and their accessibility
Improving the information available on the cost of treatment of different ailments, to
ensure that the cost factor is included in determining and rationalising healthcare
services
Introducing market mechanisms as a means of increasing efficiency
Reducing expenditure on pharmaceuticals
• encouraging the use of generic drugs
• restricting or prohibiting the use of expensive branded pharmaceuticals
Shift to a primary care focus, underpinned by a belief that health and social services
need to be more responsive to local needs and that better coordination can be
achieved between needs and resources at this micro-level
Increasing the development of home-based services to support older people in
their own homes rather than through institutionalised care
Source: Health and social services - visions for the future
© European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions, 2004
54
Ageless at Work: Change workplace cultures, development skills. Good practice report

The nature of the implications of demographic, technological and societal change for the adult social
care have been identified by several ‘foresight’ studies. In the UK these included the Wanless Review
of the UK NHS (HM Treasury, 2002) and the earlier Madingley Scenarios (Ling,1998). These UK
studies were reviewed alongside international studies and combined into a series of ‘integrated
scenarios’ by the European Foundation of the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (2004).
The scenario based approach recognises that, whilst the broad nature of the impact of demographic
and other changes can be readily identified, forecasting the scale and precise nature of change is
more difficult because of uncertainties surrounding assumptions around, for example, the nature of
technological change and societal attitudes to health promotion and self-care (Table 16). Briefly, for
adult social care the most relevance components of the vision:
Uncertainties around how many additional years of life expectancy gained will be spent in poor
health;
Societal attitudes to the elderly and the extent to which they are viewed as a resource or a
burden;
Concerned about the sustainability public expenditure on adult social care
The extent to which prevention and self-care get embedded within the social care system
Rising expectations about the nature and quality of care
The nature of technological advances and how readily they are adopted by staff and service users
The extent to which the demand and supply for adult social care workers are aligned.
Ageless at Work: Change workplace cultures, development skills. Good practice report 55

Table 16
Health status of
the population
Lifestyles and
values
Health and social
care funding
regimes
Prevention and
self-care
Main features of the ‘integrated visions’
Indicator Best ‘guesstimate’ Problem plagued Visionary Implications for project
Life expectancy increases by 4
years, with half this increase
spent in good health. Health
divides widen slightly as the more
expensive treatments are
available only to those who can
afford them
Individualism and personal
consumption are more
pronounced than today. Lifestyle
drugs are extensively used.
Expert knowledge is treated with
some scepticism. The elderly are
seen as a resource, reflecting in
part the influence of ‘grey power’.
Dependency ratios deteriorate as
expected, but are manageable.
Healthcare costs grow slightly
faster than GDP. Substantial
marketisation of provision occurs
within budgetary frameworks set
by the State and other funders.
Level of copayments increases
leading to some self-rationing and
contributing to health divides.
Health promotion and prevention
have some impact, with many
people taking greater
responsibility for their own
wellbeing. But the poorer sections
of society largely ignore the
message, exacerbating health
divides.
Life expectancy increases by 2
years, with this increase spent
mostly in ill health. Health divides
increase markedly as health
systems are unable to cope with
the pressures of an ageing
society.
Rampant individualism and
consumption extend to health and
social care, creating distortions in
the welfare system. Life-style
drugs are used by those who can
afford them. Expert knowledge is
treated with disdain. The elderly
are viewed as a burden on society
and are regularly vilified in the
youth oriented media.
Dependency ratios deteriorate
markedly leading to large
cutbacks in health and social care
provision. Still, healthcare costs
rise considerably faster than GDP
growth. This leads to considerable
tension between funders, e.g. the
State, and providers. Private
insurance and co payments
increase significantly, contributing
to health and social divides.
Health promotion and prevention
initiatives are largely ignored, with
people expecting health funders
to provide ‘technological
fixes’ to their healthcare
problems. Only those who can
afford to pay benefit from such
fixes.
Life expectancy increases by 10
years, with more than half this
time spent in good health. Health
divides are slightly reduced, as
prevention programmes and new
therapies benefit all, especially
the poor.
Whilst consumption is high,
greater local activism breeds a
stronger sense of community.
Lifestyle drugs are used, but most
people prefer to follow the
‘Natural Plan to Wellness’. Expert
knowledge is treated with
a healthy dose of scepticism, but
people widely marvel at the
benefits they enjoy from new
technological developments. The
elderly are seen as an important
resource.
Dependency ratios remain stable
as more women and the elderly
take up employment. ‘Wellness’
costs grow significantly but only
slightly outstrip GDP growth.
Funders introduce a series of
intelligent incentives to encourage
self-care. Level of copayments
increases leading to some selfrationing
– these contribute to
health divides, but are offset by
self-care initiatives.
Self-care and prevention are
cornerstones of the health and
social care system. All sections
of society take greater
responsibility for their own
wellbeing, aided by communityrun
initiatives. These lessen
health divides.
Life expectancy is not likely to
increase substantially over the
during of the project. Increases in
the number of years spent in poor
health could potentially raise
demand for adult social care.
Again, changes likely to be small
over the lifetime of the project.
Potential to support social workers
and other affected occupations
explore their new roles.
Possible and as yet, undefined,
potential risk to adult social care
budgets and project budgets as a
result of public spending cuts.
Potential to involve clients in the
design of learning opportunities.
56
Ageless at Work: Change workplace cultures, development skills. Good practice report

Table 16
Growing and
changing
demand on
services
Main features of the ‘integrated visions’ (continued)
Indicator Best ‘guesstimate’ Problem plagued Visionary Implications for project
The welfare system slowly adapts
to new and emerging health and
care demands, using its
resources more efficiently.
Health and social care
consumerism manifest
themselves as active patient
groups and better informed
individuals who demand and
receive, at least in part, new sorts
of treatments.
The welfare system fails to
respond to emerging health and
care demands, resulting in
perpetual crisis and resource
wastage. Non-standard therapies
are rationed, partly on an age
basis. Increasingly militant patient
groups are politically active – their
varied success works against the
formulation of a coordinated
health and social care strategy.
The welfare system expands and
integrates new ‘wellness’
functions, covering things like
exercise and diet. Enabled by
cheap computing and
telecommunications, more
demands can be met and
services are better integrated.
Patient groups form productive
partnerships with service funders
and providers.
If funding is cut and demand
continues to increase this will put
increasing pressure on adult care
social providers, and could make
it more difficult for them to
participate in the project.
Widespread use
of ICT
Genomics and
biotechnology
ICT are extensively used in
clinical settings, providing
decision-support and enabling
remote diagnostics. Health and
social care performance
monitoring leads to more
evidence-based interventions,
creating savings. Data security
and privacy are guaranteed.
Widespread access to medical
knowledge aids groups to
constructively participate in their
health and social care.
Genetic testing and
pharmacogenetics are
widespread. Biosensors are used
widely in clinical settings and for
self and remote health monitoring.
Tissue engineering is still in its
infancy.
ICT are used across the welfare
system but do not lead to the
seamless delivery of services as
hoped, due to institutional
barriers. Performance
monitoring is hindered by the
system’s fragmentation. Data
protection rules are in place but
difficult to monitor. Widespread
access to medical knowledge aids
patient groups to confront service
funders and providers in
conflicts for more resources.
Results of genetic testing lead to
discrimination. Benefits of
pharmacogenetics are confined to
those who can afford them, as are
self-administered biosensors
and tissue engineering.
ICT are extensively used in
clinical settings, providing
decision-support and enabling
remote diagnostics. Health and
social care performance
monitoring leads to more
evidence-based interventions,
creating savings. The focus on
self-care and prevention
popularise planned care
programs, which also benefit from
widespread access to information.
Data security and privacy are
guaranteed
Genetic testing and
pharmacogenetics are
widespread. Biosensors are used
widely in clinical settings and for
self and remote wellness
monitoring. Tissue engineering
adds to extended life expectancy.
Potential to explore the use of ICT
both in terms of project level
communication and in the delivery
of project programmes.
Could have training implications
for social care staff.
Ageless at Work: Change workplace cultures, development skills. Good practice report 57

Table 16
Main features of the ‘integrated visions’ (continued)
Indicator Best ‘guesstimate’ Problem plagued Visionary Implications for project
Primary and
community care
Employment
organisation and
workforce skills
Improved integration of health and
social care, with less time spent in
hospital. Institutions are
networked, in part through ICT,
with traditional hospital care
delivered in primary care centres
by specialists. Social services are
revamped with more people than
present using them.
The supply of and demand for
health and social care
professionals are roughly
aligned, aided by migration and
the use of new technologies. Care
becomes further professionalised.
The workforce has a good mix of
skills and is comfortable with
using new technologies.
The welfare system is
fragmented and conflict-ridden.
Institutions are ‘patched-up’ but
remain inefficient and unsuitable
for the new situation. The
promises of primary and
community care are largely
unfulfilled, and many procedures
and care are still carried out in
hospitals. Those who can afford
it opt out and go private.
Health and social care
professionals are in chronic short
supply as more attractive
employment opportunities attract
young talent. Difficulties exist in
developing the necessary skills of
an ageing workforce, so that
the full potential of new
developments are not taken up.
The system’s fragmentation also
sees uneven supply of certain
skills.
Full integration of health and
social care, with less time spent in
hospital. Existing institutions are
revamped and new players
enter the scene. ICT and other
new technologies revolutionise
health and social care. Many
more people than present use
social services, given their
central role in community care.
The supply of and demand for
health and social care
professionals are aligned, aided
by migration and the use of new
technologies. Care becomes
further professionalised but also
automated through the use of
smart robots and remote
networked sensors. The
workforce has a good mix of skills
and is comfortable with using new
technologies.
Potential to pilot projects that
involve both health and social
care partners.
Opportunities to test out new
approaches to addressing skills
gaps in particular around basic
skills and new ways of working.
58
Ageless at Work: Change workplace cultures, development skills. Good practice report

Implications for project activity
This section has drawn upon the existing publications and official statistics to identify some of the
contextual factors that potentially could affect the design and delivery of the “Ageless at Work” project.
As far as it is possible to ascertain from official sources the wider health and social care sector has
fared relatively well during the current recession. Output, employment and vacancies have all
increased in contrast to that of other sectors and the number of jobseekers registered with the
Jobcentre broadly balances with the number of vacancies registered with the same agency. Uniquely
among care-related occupations there are more vacancies for care assistants and home carers than
jobseekers looking for these positions. This suggests employers carrying these vacancies are
experiencing recruitment difficulties – even during a recession. There is also evidence of a reduction
in employers committed to training and a preference among those that are training for ‘bite-sized
chunks of training’. At the same time there is also evidence that in making people redundant
businesses will lose valuable and often irreplaceable skills and experience. These findings suggest
that it may be difficult for the project partnership to engage with employers on skills development
initiatives especially in the private sector unless they can convince them that participation will improve
their business, and/or help them to retain key members of staff. It may also be difficult to ‘sell’ actionlearning
style (i.e. intensive) staff development opportunities at this time.
The demographic analysis suggests that employers in some parts of the region – for example in West
Somerset and Bristol, are operating in local labour markers that have different age profiles. This may
mean that employers in areas that have older age profiles, will be easier to engage with on ageissues.
A number of studies have also attempted to identify the main factors that are likely to influence the
scale and nature of demand for adult social care services over the next twenty years. These are
obviously long term trends that are unlikely to substantially increase in importance during the duration
of the “Ageless at Work” project. Notwithstanding this, the factors identified provide useful context to
the project of which the most relevant are:
Uncertainties around how many additional years of life expectancy gained will be spent in poor
health;
Societal attitudes to the elderly and the extent to which they are viewed as a resource or a
burden;
Concerns about the sustainability of public expenditure on adult social care
The extent to which prevention and self-care get embedded within the social care system
Rising expectations about the nature and quality of care
The nature of technological advances and how readily they are adopted by staff and service users
The extent to which the demand and supply for adult social care workers are aligned.
Ageless at Work: Change workplace cultures, development skills. Good practice report 59

6. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR PROJECT ACTIVITY
Overview
The good practice review has identified four potential strands of work under each of the project
themes: organisational change and the skills development of older workers. These are:
Supporting organisational change:
Leadership for change and improvement
Workforce involvement and participation
Stakeholder participation
People who use services as drivers of cultural change.
Skills development of older learners:
Age positive staff development policies and practice
Promotion of the benefits of learning to older learners
Lifelong learning culture and informal learning
Age positive design and delivery of formal learning opportunities
Supporting organisational change
Leadership for change and improvement
Leadership is one of six priorities identified in Working to Put People First: The strategy for the Adult
Social Care Workforce in England (Department of Health, 2009). Potential audiences or beneficiaries
include: service providers; commissioners of services; user led organisations; Directors of Adult Social
Services; Deputy Directors of Social Care; elected members or local authority staff. Potential
activities include:
Trailing approaches to growing management and leadership talent from within the sector,
particularly from under-represented groups and/or facilitating mid-career transitions to managerial
positions from outside the sector
Development of existing ‘how to’ guides such as those published by SCIE (2009) and Spirit and
Bell (2009) either independently or as a package of one-to-one or group support (e.g. Action
Learning Sets) support to managers in the sector.
Exploration of the implications of co-production for the development of care services
Capitalising on existing linkages between “Ageless at Work” and the Social Care Reform:
Implementing “Putting People First” and CSED projects, planned as part of the South West Joint
Improvement Partnership’s Adult Social Care, Health and Well-being Programme.
Support for strategic workforce planning as this does not seem to be progressing as well as it
might.
Focused skills development for leaders in third sector organisations.
60
Ageless at Work: Change workplace cultures, development skills. Good practice report

Workforce involvement and participation
Priories under this strand could include:
Helping smaller employers and people who directly employ services to understand the training
needs of their staff and to access funding
Support for front-line care staff in residential and home care services to adjust to their new roles
(and in particular, Personal Assistants)
Stakeholder participation
Offer specific training on stakeholder engagement or embed these issues into broader leadership
development opportunities.
People who use services as drivers of cultural change.
The piloting of innovative intergenerational projects that bring together service users and their
families, and carers of different generations to identify good practice in service delivery.
Skills development of older learners
The good practice research suggests four potential areas of project activity in supporting the skills
development of older workers. These can be broadly categorised as
measures that combat age discrimination in access to training, and promote positive attitudes to
training older workers among those that decide who gets trained;
activities that challenge older workers’ perceptions of their ability to learn and promote the benefits
of doing so;
measures that promote a culture of lifelong learning at the organisation level and maximise
opportunities for informal learning;
the provision of formal training opportunities that reflect older learners’ preferences in terms of
learning styles and qualification design.
More specifically, these could involve the following activities:
Promoting age positive practice in training and development
Work with skills intermediaries (such as that approach tested by the Broker-Age project) to ensure
the needs of older learners are brought into discussions between managers and skills brokers’.
The use of action learning sets for line managers to support them in adopting age positive practice
and prevent them unwittingly (or deliberately) sidelining the skills development needs of older
people. This could incorporate wider dissemination of Skills for Care South West’s “The Value of
Learning: Creating a Learning Organisation report. This should incorporate training to help
managers identify and motivate reluctant learners.
Extend the Learning Exchange Networks to widen knowledge about training opportunities and
sources of funding.
Ageless at Work: Change workplace cultures, development skills. Good practice report 61

Activities that challenge older workers’ perceptions of their ability to learn and the
need for learning
Action learning approaches, learning promotions, the use of champions, mentoring and/or the
provision of information, advice and guidance in the workplace (possibly linked to nextsteps) in
order to promote the benefits of lifelong learning to older learners generally, and more specifically,
perhaps, to those that have had a negative experience of formal education.
Personal development programmes (akin to Experience Matters) to allow long-serving staff to
reflect on their achievements and reinvigorate their careers.
Promoting a culture of lifelong learning and maximising opportunities for informal
learning
Further develop the Creating a Learning Organisation (Skills for Care South West, 2009) resource
possibly by developing a training or mentoring programme for line-mangers to accompany the
guidebook.
Learn from the experience of the Individual Budgets evaluation by offering care workers informal,
hands-on training and support through peer support groups rather than formal training
programmes. Examples of good practice include peer support groups, the identification of
champions and the establishment of a support team capable of responding to queries and offering
one-to-one support to care co-ordinators.
Establish mentoring and intergenerational learning practices that draw upon and extend good
practice identified by the Tick Tock project, and its transnational programme.
Ensuring formal training is delivered in ways appropriate for older learners
Work with further education providers to ensure that training provision is ‘ageless’ and has robust
learning feedback and evaluation strategies.
Adaptation of the evidence building process for NVQ assessment reducing the amount of
paperwork and time involved building on the experienced employee route to NVQ level 2 piloted
by the Tick Tock project. This could include opportunities to embed Skills for Life provision within
the qualification.
Enhancement of basic skills provision possibly using ICT and home-learning methods.
62
Ageless at Work: Change workplace cultures, development skills. Good practice report

References
ADASS and LGA (2009a) Putting People First: Measuring Progress
http://www.adass.org.uk/images/stories/PPF%20Measuring%20Progress%207%20May%20NA.pdf
ADASS and LGA (2009b) Putting People First: Measuring Progress in the South West
http://www.adass.org.uk/images/stories/PPF%20Progress%20SW%20FINAL%20for%20website%202
.pdf
ADASS and LGA (2009c) Budget Survey: Press release
http://www.adass.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=477:budgetsurvey&catid=121:press-releases-2009&Itemid=149
Aldridge, F. and Tuckett, A. (2007) What older people learn: They whys and wherefores of older
people learning. NIACE. Leicester
Aldridge F. and Tuckett, A (2009) Narrowing participation: The NIACE survey on adult participation in
Learning 2009. Leicester
Billet, S. and van Woerkom, M. Older workers and learning through work: the need for agency and
critical reflection. In Tikkanen, T. and Nyham, B. (eds) Promoting lifelong learning for older workers:
an international overview. Luxembourg: CEDEFOP, 2006
http://www.cedefop.europa.eu/etv/Upload/Information_resources/Bookshop/443/3045_en.pdf
Billet, S. and van Woerkom, M. (2008) Personal epistemologies and older workers. International
Journal of Lifelong Education, Vol. 27, No. 3, 333-348
http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/section?content=a793395889&fulltext=713240928
Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (2009) The Learning Revolution
http://www.dius.gov.uk/skills/engaging_learners/informal_adult_learning/~/media/publications/L/learnin
g_revolution
Equality Challenge Unit (undated) Age Discrimination Legislation 2006 Guidance Note 5 Staff
Development and Training – an ECU Publication http://www.ecu.ac.uk/publications/files/agediscrimination-staff-development-and-training.pdf/view
Department of Health(2009a) Social Care Bulletin Green Paper special issue
http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Bulletins/Socialcarebulletin/Browsable/DH_103537
Department of Health(2009b) Transforming Adult Social Care. Local authority circular
http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Lettersandcirculars/LocalAuthorityCirculars/DH_095
719
Department of Health(April 2009c) Working to Put People First: The strategy for the Adult Social Care
Workforce in England
http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/DH_0
98481
Ageless at Work: Change workplace cultures, development skills. Good practice report 63

ECOTEC (Undated) European Social Fund: Equality and Diversity Good Practice Guide – Age.
Department for Work and Pensions European Social Fund Division
http://www.equal.ecotec.co.uk/resources/equalopps/502761_ESF_GP_Age_v4.pdf
Egan (2008) The relevance of Organisational Subculture for Motivation to Transfer Learning. Human
Resource Development Quarterly. Vol. 19, No. 4
European Monitoring Centre on Change (2004) Health and social services – vision for the future.
European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions
http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/emcc/publications/2004/sf_hss_2.pdf
Ford, G (2005) Am I Still Needed?: Guidance and learning for Older Adults. Centre for Guidance
Studies, University of Derby
Gulati, A. (2009) Personalisation and Transformation Action Learning Sets in the South West: Final
Report. In Perspective
HM Government (2005) Opportunity Age: Meeting the challenges of ageing in the 21 st century.
London
HM Government (2008) The change for change: Why England needs a new care and support system.
London.
http://www.dh.gov.uk/prod_consum_dh/groups/dh_digitalassets/@dh/@en/documents/digitalasset/dh
_085263.pdf
HM Government (2009) Shaping the future of Care Together. London.
http://www.dh.gov.uk/prod_consum_dh/groups/dh_digitalassets/documents/digitalasset/dh_102732.pd
f
Howe, K. (2009) Evaluation report of Bournemouth, Dorset and Poole Learning Hubs Project. Skills
for Care
Individual Budgets Evaluation Network (2008) Evaluation of the Individual Budgets Pilot Programme.
SPRU, University of York
http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/DH_0
89505
Learning and Skills Council (2008) South West Regional Skills Action Plan 2008-2011
Lenham, J. (2009) Changing Social Care: an inclusive approach. Social Care Institute for Excellence
Guide. London http://www.scie.org.uk/publications/guides/guide29/files/guide29.pdf
Ling, T., The Madingley Scenarios, NHS Confederation, London, 1998.
McDonnell, F and Zutshi, H (undated) Action Learning Set Case Studies: Volume I and II. Skills for
Care London http://london.skillsforcare.org.uk/nmsruntime/saveasdialog.aspx?lID=552&sID=11
McNair, S. (2008) Strengthening the older workforce: an evaluation of the ReGrow Project in the
South East Region. http://www.mya4e.com/MyA4e/files/f6/f64c412b-8c11-46a3-82f4-
a0f5b6b31b86.pdf
64
Ageless at Work: Change workplace cultures, development skills. Good practice report

Manthorpe, J. and Moriarty, J. (2009) Older workers in social care: undervalued and over-looked? In
Crivon, A. and Manthorpe, J. (eds) Older workers in Europe. Open University Press
Migration Advisory Committee (2009) Skills Shortage Sensible First review of the recommended
shortage occupation lists for the UK and Scotland: Spring 2009
http://www.skillsforcareanddevelopment.org.uk/files/sfcad/macreport2009%281%29.pdf
National Skills Forum (undated) Adult Training: Focus and Funding in the Context of Changing UK
Demographics. City and Guilds
Newton, B. Hurstfield, J. Miller, L and Bates, P. (2005) Training a mixed-aged workforce: practical tips
and guidance, Age Partnership Group, Department for Work and Pensions http://www.employmentstudies.co.uk/pubs/summary.php?id=apg5&style=print
Nyhan, B. New Policy thinking on the relationship between age, work and learning in Tikkanen, T.
and Nyham, B. (eds) Promoting lifelong learning for older workers: an international overview.
Luxembourg: CEDEFOP, 2006
http://www.cedefop.europa.eu/etv/Upload/Information_resources/Bookshop/443/3045_en.pdf
Office for National Statistics (2009a) Quarterly national accounts:1 st quarter 2009
http://www.statistics.gov.uk/pdfdir/qna0609.pdf
Office for National Statistics (2009b) Labour market statistics: August 2009
http://www.statistics.gov.uk/pdfdir/lmsuk0809.pdf
Office for National Statistics (2009c) Labour Force Survey Redundancy Tables
http://www.statistics.gov.uk/STATBASE/Product.asp?vlnk=9474
pjb Associates (2002) Working Life Changes and Training of Older Workers: Briefing paper 21.
http://www.pjb.co.uk/npl/bp21.htm
Riley, G. (undated) Experience Matters Final Project Report
Skills for Care (2007) Sector Skills Agreement for the Adult Social Care Sector in England. Stage 3
report: Gap Analysis and Market Testing
Skills for Care London (2009) Learning to transform services – a guide to action learning
http://london.skillsforcare.org.uk/nmsruntime/saveasdialog.aspx?lID=547&sID=11
Skills for Care South West (2009) The Value of Learning: Creating a Learning Organisation
Smallacombe, D. and McHugh, M. (2007) New Types of Worker Project: South West region final
report. Phoenix Re-solutions
Spirit, M and Bell, C (2009) Achieving change in social care: A guide to helping make change happen.
Education and Business Development Limited.
Stevens, H. and Denbigh, A. (2007) South West Opportunities for Older People: Employers’
Evaluation Final Report
Thomas, M. (2009) Think Community: An exploration of the links between intergenerational practice
and informal adult learning. NIACE http://shop.niace.org.uk/thinkcommunity.html
Ageless at Work: Change workplace cultures, development skills. Good practice report 65

Tick Tock (2007) Tick Tock: An EQUAL funded project promoting employability and learning for odler
people
Walters, S. (2009) The impact of the economic downturn on business and skills in England. Alliance
Sector Skills Councils http://www.seein.co.uk/downloads/Alliance%20Impact%20of%20the%20Economic%20Downturn.pdf
Wanless, D. (2002) Securing our Future Health: Taking a Long-term View. Final Report. HM Treasury.
http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/consult_wanless_final.htm
Wessex Partnerships Limited (2007) Evaluation of activity undertaken by the EQUAL funded Tick
Tock project. Learning and Skills Council Berkshire http://www.equalworks.com/resources/contentfiles/5590.pdf
WM Enterprise and Employment Research Institute (2009) Employee Demand for Skills: A Review of
Evidence and Policy. UK Commission for Employment and Skills
http://www.ukces.org.uk/upload/pdf/Evidence_Report_3_3.pdf
Wolf, M. (2009) Older adult women learners in transition, New Directions for Adult and Continuing
Education, Volume 2009, Issue 122, p 53-62
http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/122457616/abstract?CRETRY=1&SRETRY=0
VT Research (2008) Labour Market and Training Experiences of Older Workers in the West Midlands.
West Midlands Learning and Skills Council
http://readingroom.lsc.gov.uk/lsc/WestMidlands/Labour_market_research_wm.pdf
66
Ageless at Work: Change workplace cultures, development skills. Good practice report