Ageless at Work - Skills for Care

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
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Ageless at Work: Change workplace cultures, development skills. Good practice report