Survey suggests fewer promotion opportunities for social workers

Social Care organisations appear to offer more opportunities for progression, yet fewer people are climbing the career ladder within just one organisation, according to new research from recruiter Randstad Care.

A survey of 2,000 UK staff revealed that the average social care organisation contains 5.7 layers of management, compared to an average of just 4.4 across UK companies.

But Randstad Care revealed that 64% of job openings in the Social Care sector are currently filled with external talent, compared to just 42% across the UK.

Victoria Short, MD of Randstad Care, said: “Social care is a complex career and requires talented individuals with in-depth knowledge at every level. It may seem strange for a recruitment firm to red flag the trend that more social care organisations are recruiting external talent, but it’s important to have a balance of internal progression and external talent from both a continuity and quality of care provision.

“A lot of people outside the Care environment probably don’t realise how many heads of services once started in entry level, front line positions. More needs to be done to improve both perception of the varied and long-term career paths available, but care providers also need to ensure they have the career development and talent management plans in place to hang on to a significant proportion of their best people. At a time when every service is stretched, we need to ensure that people coming in are a ‘top-up’ for the skills already happily embedded.”

More layers of management in Social Care

The research analysed a diverse range of sectors – from accountancy, social work, and IT to construction, engineering and nursing – to find out the average number of layers of management in each of the main UK industries.

It found that companies in the Social Care sector had the most complex management structures, with an average of 5.7 layers of management.

The leanest management structures were in the Education (3.5), IT & Telecoms (3.5) and Nursing (3.5) sectors – each having significantly fewer layers than the UK average (4.4).

The trend for delayering

The research also revealed a wider trend for delayering management structures.

One quarter (24%) of employees say that there are fewer layers of management at their organisation than five years ago – whilst just 1 in 6 (17%) say that more layers of management have been added.

Victoria Short concludes: “Social Care is highly complex and that complexity requires a unique structure. The more layers care providers can afford, the more robust safeguarding, supervision and compliance in the sector will be – which will ultimately raise standards of care. Whilst everyone has a vested interest in a care service which runs cost effectively, ensuring there are enough rungs on the career ladder to progress the people who can propel UK care provision forward needs to be part of every care provider’s budget.”