What WeCare Wales has learnt from recent research about attraction, recruitment and retention
WeCare Wales Programme Manager Andrew Bell talks about what the programme has learnt from recent research that looked at challenges in attracting and recruiting social care and childcare workers in Wales.
The social care, early years and childcare sector in Wales faces a wide range of challenges. These challenges exist not only in the recruitment of the workforce, but also in public perception and awareness of what it really means to work in care.
We’ve seen media articles over the years focus on negative aspects of this critical workforce. Coupled with a general lack of understanding and awareness, this creates a significant barrier to the attraction of new workers and to existing staff feeling valued.
WeCare Wales was launched in 2019 to place a positive spotlight on care, highlighting the thousands of people who work in the sector and the positive impact they have on people’s lives every day.
Showcasing real-life case studies and promoting care careers through adverts on national television, social media, buses, billboards and other media all help to gradually change people’s views.
Over the last five years, we’ve seen a positive shift in awareness and a growing use of resources such as our website, jobs portal and key training programmes like the ‘Introduction to social care’ and ‘Introduction to childcare’.
We recently commissioned an organisation called Urban Foresight to carry out research to help us better understand the attraction and recruitment crisis in the social care and childcare sector in Wales.
The findings offer a range of areas of reflection for the work of WeCare Wales. These give a clear steer of future direction but also help validate the work that’s been done so far.
The reports and subsequent recommendations fall into four broad themes:
- attraction
- engagement
- systemic change
- development of resources.
Each theme highlights key areas of focus to help further embed and support the ongoing ambition of WeCare Wales.
Attraction
Raising awareness through promotional work is much needed and remains a key driver through ongoing campaigns to support the attraction of working in care.
An example of one of our campaigns is the creation of a Care Day at the National Eisteddfod through our sponsorship of the event.
Engagement
Engagement is crucial when considering how best to connect with potential employees and the many partners and providers within care. How effective this engagement is will have a significant impact on whether we achieve the outcomes we want.
As highlighted in the research, there are numerous audiences and partners that form a key part of the engagement that’s needed.
Partnership is key to the way WeCare Wales works and our work is advised through a stakeholder advisory group made up of a wide range of partners.
To support the connection with seven regions across Wales, we have 'regional care career connectors'. This important role makes sure national messages are connected to the different regions and also that insights and challenges facing the regions are linked back into the national work.
Systemic change
The research also highlighted a range of systemic changes that were needed to support recruitment and retention in care.
These include changes to the way decisions are made, how systems are developed, and the investment in care.
WeCare Wales’s campaign work helps to raise the awareness and profile of the care sector, bringing these issues to wider attention.
Development of resources
To support the positive shift in attraction, recruitment and retention, WeCare Wales offers a wide range of resources.
From things like the website and jobs portal, to resources to support schools and job centres, WeCare Wales works to help promote the roles and value of working in care.
These important research studies help showcase both the positive work to date but also where further investment could have a positive impact.
The underlying message throughout the studies highlights the importance of collaboration between partners and initiatives to enable the change that’s needed.
We'll continue to work with partners to determine how best to act on the report’s recommendations.
Find out more
As well as generating reports and recommendations, this work also produced two new resources for employers - an attraction, recruitment and retention guide, and a user personas toolkit. You can access the reports and resources in the 'Reports' area of the Insight Collective.
We've also published a blog by Dr Maddy Thompson, who led the research for Urban Foresight.
To find out more and get involved in the work of WeCare Wales, please visit wecare.wales.