Care home leaders shared how they tackled recruitment and retention challenges during the Future of Care conference in London yesterday.
The panel, which was chaired by journalist and broadcaster, Sally Magnusson, consisted of Jeremy Walford, Managing Director, Middleton Hall Retirement Village, Sam Monaghan, Chief Executive, MHA Methodist Limited, Dan Hayes, Chief Executive, The Orders of St John Care Trust, Ali Rusbridge, Locality Manager – London and South East (Skills for Care), Sanjay Dhrona, Managing Director, The Close Nursing Home.
Sanjay shared how he had successfully recruited a team of nurses from Romania when recruiting for his home which is set in a rural location in an area of low unemployment. The nursing home leader said funding constraints meant he was unable to compete with salaries offered by local retailers in order to attract local workers.
Sam highlighted the “priority” MHA had given to its care home managers in recognition of them being the “core of what delivers a good service”.
The CEO highlighted MHA’s Engaging Leadership course which offers support to its care home mangers and its move to the Real Living Wage, as well as its focus on values based recruitment, which had helped lower turnover to 22%.
Dan described the level of rewards offered to carers as an “absolute scandal”, adding “pay is clearly a factor for the sector”.
The OSJCT chief said the provider used exit interview findings to help improve retention.
Turnover at the not for profit currently stands at 26% with Dan noting that first year turnover was much higher at 41%.
Jeremy said Middleton Hall, where staff turnover stands at 11%, was a member of the Living Wage Foundation and was moving towards an employee ownership structure to further incentivise its workforce.
The managing director said half the workforce of its latest development had been recruited from a non-care background through a focus on values rather than experience.
Ali said job satisfaction rather than pay was the most important recruitment and retention factor and highlighted the success of Skills for Care’s I Care Ambassador programme which targets schools and job centres. For more information, go to: https://bit.ly/2l160tv
