Research counters ‘dead end job’ stereotypes

A Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU) study commissioned by Skills for Care has challenged the stereotypical view of employment in adult social care as necessarily low status, low skill and poorly rewarded.

The study of front line care workers in the social care sector in England, looked in particular at what helps to attract and retain staff.

Recruitment and retention are huge issues for employers especially as it costs around £3,000 to induct a new worker.

In interviews with care home managers and staff, researchers at MMU Business School found employers were ambitious about standards for supervision, appraisal, qualifications and training.

And workers demonstrated substantially higher levels of satisfaction with the way they are managed, compared to British employees in general*.

Far from being in ‘dead-end’ jobs, care workers can obtain qualifications and achieve job progression, and although pay and expectations of pay are not high, care workers are have strong vocational motivation.

“They are proud of their role, want to help others and deliver high quality care and believe their job is not one anyone can do,” said the researchers.

Researchers also found a high level of agreement between managers and employees that the employment relationship was very good.

Workers were frequently given responsibility and autonomy in their role, which was important in establishing a good employment relationship with managers. As a result, there was to be a high degree of employee loyalty to the establishment.

Problems in the employment relationship appear where good management practice is absent and where change is badly handled, often through poor communication and imposing change without discussion.

Lead researcher Rosemary Lucas, Professor of Employment Relations at MMU, said: “Our study sends strong signals that employment regulation at sector level can be highly effective and enable managers to develop a clear and actionable approach to HR that leads to a good employment relationship.

“Nevertheless, there is a case for a review of government funding levels to address issues of pay and staff shortages and thereby ameliorate the problems of work intensification and reduced quality of care.”

Co-researcher Carol Atkinson, who now works at the University of Bradford, said: “The results of the study were somewhat surprising to us as we had not expected to find such high levels of employee satisfaction. The importance of sound management and HR practice to effective employee and organisational performance are clear to see.”

“Recruitment and retention remain huge issues for employers especially when you consider it costs around £3,000 to induce a new worker so this study of frontline establishments will really help the sector understand how we can best recruit and retain key staff,” says Skills for Care CEO Andrea Rowe.

“As the Sector Skills Council responsible for making sure we deliver a well-trained workforce it is particularly pleasing that practical qualifications are seen by employers and employees alike as a key tool for making sure adult social care employers retain staff within their organisation.”