HR Voluntary Sector Forum Retention in the Voluntary

HR Voluntary Sector Forum Retention in the Voluntary Sector Victoria Knox 2 nd May 2019

Background ü Perceived challenges in Social Care ü Anecdotal information ü 2016 Benchmarking report – ranges in retention up to 35% ü 2016 Scottish Government Report - 79% experienced difficulty, either regularly or occasionally, in retaining care or support workers ü Some of the main factors: ü Competition from other sectors / Pay & conditions ü Antisocial hours / Workload ü Registration / qualification ü Management & leadership ü Training & development ü Retention Pilot January 2017

Project Scope April 2017 – March 2018 ü Benchmarking ü Track reasons ü Track movements ü Develop processes ü Analysis of information ü Consideration of retention strategies ü Consider longitudinal study

Benefits üUse as a best practice example Collaborative working üConsistency across the sector üImproved reporting to Board/Mgt Teams üUse of data as a sector üGeneration of accurate data as opposed to anecdotal data

The Pilot ü 8 voluntary sector organisations = total w/f 7, 500 approx. ü CCPS / Strathclyde University ü Standardised exit interview template ü Mapped to Scottish Government report ü Agreed to include relief/sessional staff ü Conducted a 6 month review

Key Findings Leavers ü 66% female ü Highest proportion from the East of Scotland (29%) ü Majority (36%) 3+ years service ü Lowest proportion (9%) 0 -3 months service ü 26% left the sector ü 55% FT, 32% PT, 8% Relief ü 84% enjoyed their job – only 7% did not ü 73% enjoyed working for their org – only 13% did not ü 60% would consider re-employment

Key Findings Relationship measures ü 79% believe managers communicate and follow policy and practice ü 59% stated that managers respond to issues promptly But ü Relational issues exist ü inconsistencies in the treatment of staff, approachability, trustworthiness and ability to listen characterised negative evaluations of line managers and supervisor performance

Key findings + “Working with service users and other staff and stakeholders. Great sense of job satisfaction, sense of making a difference. Role of liaison worker and speak out as I felt I was empowering service users. ” “Genuine sense that the work we do is valuable and effective. Direct work with service users. ” “Being able to make a difference to people's lives. Using focused work to effect change. ”

Key findings “No longer "person centred" more "money centred“ “Volume of work can impact on job satisfaction” “I felt I was not supported & none of the issues have ever been resolved” “Difficult to strike a balance between support and office workload often felt pulled between the two roles”

Top Reasons for Leaving ü Other – retirement, change of career, end of contract, lack of support, other responsibilities - such as education and personal circumstances ü Working hours. ü Lack of career progression. ü Salary ü Relationship with line manager ü Lack of job satisfaction ü Morale within the team

Recommendations ü Reforms to job design: reasonable hours for front-line in terms of pattern and length of shifts ü Evaluation of career paths and opportunities for progression ü Importance of supervision ü Develop supervisors and line managers in areas such as communication, coaching and team building ü Awareness of the balance of Managers’ scope of work and responsibility against having adequate people management time ü Voice of the worker: needs to be heard! ü Policy forum to develop guidance on good practise. ü Continue to collate data and analyse

Thank You ü Ian Cunningham, Joanna Butler and Dora Scholarios - Department of Work, Employment and Organisation, University of Strathclyde ü Participating Organisations ü CCPS

Questions ?