Recruitment and Retention of Qualified Social Workers

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3.2 Key data for Hertfordshire Child Protection teams 3.3 2010 April October Establishment 187 187 In post 126 154 Vacancy 59 33 Agency cover 49 33 Academy in post 27 30 3.4 Hertfordshire’s proximity to London, where salaries are higher, affects recruitment/retention rates. The target caseload for a Qualified Social Worker (QSW) in a Locality Team is 12 – 15 cases. The current average caseload in Hertfordshire is up to 20 cases, and in some instances (for example where there is more than one child within a family who requires a QSW) the caseload can be higher. Turnover in Assessment Teams is higher: here the target caseload is 20 – 25 cases, but actual caseload has at times been as high as 40 – 50 in Hertfordshire. Lord Laming recommended a caseload of no more than 20 cases for an assessment QSW and 10 – 12 for a locality QSW. On average three social workers per month leave the authority. 3.5 Poor inspection results can lead to associated reputational risk. The latter can increase the recruitment problem, as good social workers are unlikely to want to work for an authority with a poor reputation. 4.0 What are the current and emerging issues for recruitment & retention of Qualified Social Workers 4.1 Exit interviews and focus groups with current staff have been used to establish what the issues are leading to staff departure. Workload, management support, excessive hours, stress management and career progression have all been highlighted. There is an issue with the focus groups as attendance could be improved. It does not hear from people with time pressures or who do not prioritise it, for whatever reason. The Group believe it is important to improve hearing the views of a crosssection of staff and would like CSF to consider ways of engaging with all staff. 4.2 Social workers use the Integrated Children System (ICS). Ofsted regarded its implementation as a strength; however QSWs view ICS as not being user friendly, extremely laborious and very repetitive. CSF has invested heavily in Superusers to assist staff. Superusers have provided invaluable support; with current financial pressures the future funding for Superusers is uncertain. 4
4.3 It is costly to employ people who subsequently have to go through disciplinary procedures, or take extensive sick leave. Ensuring that job descriptions accurately reflect the requirements of the role, and trying to assess the resilience of applicants at the interview stage can prevent later problems. 5.0 How well do HCC policies and practices enable effective recruitment and retention of Qualified Social Workers 5.1 Recent changes are improving services, reducing caseloads and improving the reputation of the authority as a place to work, but these changes will take time to filter through. A long-term approach rather than a ‘quick fix’ is needed. 5.2 A number of incentives have been introduced to attract social workers, such as a generous annual leave allowance, lease car, flexible working, employee assistance scheme, pension scheme, relocation allowance up to £6,000 5.3 The Group heard from a permanent social worker who had originally joined the authority as a temp. In her view the benefits of working for Hertfordshire included • the lease car system • Hertfordshire is a safe place to work in terms of practice • there is a good ‘gatekeeping’ system of screening referrals and being able to act in a timely fashion • the working environment is good • laptops are provided and there is always a work area available • flexible working hours and working from home are good • ICS (Integrated Children System) is ‘brilliant’ and gives good accountability • the market forces payment • her manager has an ‘open door’ policy and there is always someone to go to for advice. 5.4 The market forces payment has been used to overcome pay issues, but its effectiveness has been ‘watered down’ as workers in some teams which do not have recruitment issues have also received this payment. The Group felt that there needs to be appropriate targeting of rewards e.g. staff who take extensive sick leave currently still receive the market forces payment. 5.5 The welcome payment, moreover, requires a balance between encouraging new people but not de-motivating existing loyal staff. Members felt that more could be done to recognise excellent performance. Whilst there is a compliments system, recognition via CSF news and thanks from individual managers, at times the best workers have the most difficult cases and so do not receive due 5
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Page 11 and 12: Appendix 1 SCRUTINY REMIT: SCRUTINY
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Recruitment and Retention of Qualified Social Workers

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