Social work recruitment and retention

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Research on staff recruitment continued Further reading British Association of Social Workers, information regarding teaching partnerships - www.basw.co.uk/ news/article/?id=871 Some local authorities have improved recruitment by giving high-profile publicity to their flexibility as an employer (Eborall and Garmeson, 2001) and promote ‘family-friendly practices’ such as part-time, job share and term-time working. These opportunities require attentive management to ensure the needs of service user families are not compromised. Offering opportunities for secondment appears to be a positive factor in both recruitment and retention; moving role within an organisation can be a positive means of preventing emotional burnout (Chiller and Crisp, 2012). Whilst pay is very rarely cited by social workers as a reason for leaving a job, it is inevitably a factor when experienced workers move between employers (Local Government Association, 2015). Social workers (like most other employees) want ‘fair pay’ - a level of pay that accurately reflects their responsibilities and demonstrates the value attached to their work. Assessing the health of an organisation or service As we have seen, there is no single answer to recruitment and retention issues - a whole systems approach is required. The most successful organisations appear to be those who engage their staff in an open and honest dialogue and involve them in helping to explore solutions. There are a variety of selfassessment tools and approaches that will support this work. The Local Government Association (LGA) Standards for Employers Eight standards published by the Social Work Reform Board (SWRB) in 2009 and now hosted by LGA outline the support social workers should expect from employers and managers: Clear Social Work Accountability Framework Effective Workforce Planning Safe Workloads and Case Allocation Managing Risks and Resources Effective and Appropriate Supervision Continuing Professional Development Professional Registration Effective Partnerships. Further reading www.local.gov.uk/workforce/-/journal_ content/56/10180/3511605/ARTICLE To underpin development towards these standards the SWRB developed a ‘health check’ process covering five areas: Effective Workload Management (managing workloads and vacancies) Proactive Workflow Management (strong processes and effective tracking of cases) Right Tools (including IT, mobile working, access to research) Healthy Workplace (frequent and high quality supervision, accessibility of managers) Effective Service Delivery (effective feedback mechanisms). The health-check can be ‘an important barometer of workflow and barriers to effective practice…[and] an important part of an employer’s retention and recruitment strategy. ‘The SWRB recommended that the tool is not a check-list, but a mechanism to promote debate to be used at team, service and organisation level as the basis for discussion at each of these levels, ‘with a requirement in place that staff have been involved in the response at each level and a mechanism for recording areas of disagreement’ (LGA, 2014). Further reading LGA social work ‘health check’ - www.local. gov.uk/documents/10180/6188796/L14- 697+Social+work+healthcheck_06.pdf 8 Research in Practice Social work recruitment and retention
It’s important to look at the things you can do almost instantly, like an audit of printers and photocopiers; stuff that can make people’s lives much easier very quickly. You must not underestimate how important these things can be to people. We have to communicate what we can do or the reasons why we can’t do something. Early adopters of the SWRB Health check The Health and Safety Executive Tools on Stress The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) Management Standards define the characteristics of an organisation where the risk of work-related stress is managed effectively. Each of the six standards focuses on a key source of workplace stress. When poorly managed, each of these six aspects of work is associated with poor health and well-being, lowered productivity and high levels of sickness. The standards therefore provide a model of good practice and an aspirational level of achievement for organisations or services seeking to manage stress effectively. There are strong links between the HSE standards and the push/pull factors already outlined. The six standards relate to the following aspects of work: 1 Demand: Feeling able to cope with your workload. 2 Control: Having a say about the way in which you carry out your work. 3 Support: Feeling supported by managers and colleagues. 4 Relationships: Working in an environment free of bullying or intimidation. 5 Role: Having clarity over your role. 6 Change: Receiving sufficient information to manage necessary organisational change. The HSE Management Standards provide a good starting point for discussion within an organisation seeking to manage stress more effectively. Forming an accurate local picture requires collating existing data (for example on staff sickness) and staff consultation. The HSE Management Standards Indicator Tool is designed for this purpose. It comprises a set of 35 questions (based around the six standards) that can be distributed as a survey; there is also an analysis tool freely available on the HSE website. When survey responses are entered, the tool provides a summary of performance in each of the six areas and helps to identify aspects of concern. It can be used to inform and develop action plans. The tool also allows trends to be analysed over a three year time frame for services committed to monitoring the longer term impact of any actions taken. The HSE suggest that survey results be discussed in staff focus groups where solutions to issues identified can be explored. Survey returns might usefully be analysed at the level of team or role type to help develop a clearer analysis of workforce health. As support provided by managers is recognised to be a key aspect of preventing and managing stress, the HSE also produces a Line Manager Competency Indicator Tool which allows managers to reflect on their own behaviours and skills and how these have an impact on those they line manage. The tool is based around four aspects of behaviour that research indicates are important in preventing and reducing the stress of those being managed: 1 Being respectful and responsible: Managing emotions and having integrity. 2 Managing and communicating existing and future work. 3 Managing the individual within the team. 4 Reasoning/managing difficult situations. The competency indicator tool can be used as part of an online learning package which encourages managers to seek feedback from colleagues about their skills and behaviours, supports them to reflect on this feedback alongside their own responses and then takes them through material about the four key themes of manager behaviour. Further reading To access all the HSE standards/tools or for further information visit www.hse.gov.uk/stress www.rip.org.uk 9
Page 1 and 2: Strategic Briefing Social work recr
Page 3 and 4: Despite well-documented pressures,
Page 5 and 6: Push factors (factors that can resu
Page 7: The Mental Elf, a summary review of
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Page 13 and 14: Organisational factors supporting s
Page 15 and 16: Ensuring career pathways for worker
Page 17 and 18: Next steps By looking at research,
Page 19 and 20: Holmes E, Miscampbell G and Robin B

Social work recruitment and retention

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