Effective workforce planning systems
Successful organisations view the workforce as their most important asset. A diverse, skilled, stable and motivated workforce is essential for effective social work services.
Supporting the workforce
'The Independent Review of Children’s Social Care’ highlights important workforce qualities. This includes support, confidence, trust, and the right skills to help children.
The United Kingdom social work and social care sector lacks skilled workers. This problem is worsened by socio-political issues. In areas with too few staff, social workers have lower wellbeing. They also have higher burnout. Turnover is very costly for organisations, encompassing expenses related to separation, temporary replacement, recruitment, and induction. They are also more likely to consider leaving.
Improving staff wellbeing reduces turnover
A recent review revealed that social workers typically spend only eight years in the profession, compared to 25 years for doctors and 15 years for nurses. High vacancy rates lead to ongoing turnover.
A study found the Newly Qualified Social Worker Programme to be effective. It improves training, reduces workloads, and boosts professional growth. This lowers turnover and increases confidence.
Increasing staff wellbeing is crucial as it improves effectiveness. Local authorities focused on recruitment and retention see lower turnover.
Heavy workloads can harm quality of care. Organisations should prioritise safe workplaces as they can boost resilience and protect staff wellbeing.
Employer standard 4: Wellbeing resources will support you in meeting this standard.
The benefits of improving staff wellbeing
Adequate staffing levels significantly enhance wellbeing and effectiveness. Ofsted reports that commitment to planning for recruitment and retention is important for local authorities. Such authorities have seen attrition and turnover rates improve.
Research indicates that excessive workloads leading to stress and compassion fatigue can compromise the quality of care provided. Social work organisations should provide safe and secure workplace environments. Such environments boost resilience and safeguard employee wellbeing and professionalism.
You may want to look at the resources in Employer standard 4: Wellbeing to find out more about supporting resilience.
Reducing turnover costs
Turnover is costly. It may include temporary staff replacement, recruitment, and induction costs. Attracting, recruiting, and keeping staff also demands significant investment. By calculating these costs, the importance of effective workforce planning practices is clear.
Skilled staff improve social work
In a recent review Ofsted emphasised the link between a skilled workforce and staff capacity in children's services. Ofsted found that skilled practitioners or those with time to develop their skills improve service quality.
References
This is the list of research and evidence sources used to produce this section. Publicly available links are included.
Bride, B. E. (2007). Prevalence of secondary traumatic stress among social workers. Social Work, 52(1), 63–70.
Buchan, J. (2010). Reviewing the benefits of health workforce stability. Human Resources for Health, 8(29).
Carpenter, J., et al. (2015). Developing the confidence and competence of newly qualified child and family social workers in England: Outcomes of a national programme. British Journal of Social Work, 45(1), 153–176.
Community Care. (2023). Social Work England to research profession’s recruitment and retention challenges.
Edwards, D., Trigg, L., Carrier, J., Cooper, A., Csontos, J., Day, J., Gillen, E., Lewis, R. H., & Edwards, A. (2022). A rapid review of innovations for attraction, recruitment and retention of social care workers, and exploration of factors influencing turnover within the UK context. Journal of Long-Term Care, 205-221.
Hansson, L., Jormfeldt, H., Svedberg, P., & Svensson, B. (2013). Mental health professionals’ attitudes towards people with mental illness: Do they differ from attitudes held by people with mental illness? International Journal of Social Psychiatry, 59(1), 48–54.
Johnson, C., Coburn, S., Sanders-Earley, A., et al. (2019). Longitudinal study of local authority child and family social workers (wave 1). London: Department of Education.
MacAlister, J. (2022). The independent review of children’s social care – final report
McFadden, P., Maclochlainn, J., & Manthorpe, J., et al. (2024). Perceptions of safe staffing, self-reported mental well-being and intentions to leave the profession among UK social workers: A mixed methods study. The British Journal of Social Work, bcae014.
Ofsted. (2012). High expectations, high support and high challenge.
Ofsted. (2022). The multi-agency response to children and families who need help.
Ravalier, J. M. (2018). The influence of work engagement in social workers in England. Occupational Medicine, 68(6), 399–404.
Social Work England. (2023). Social Work England’s fitness to practise process: An initial analysis of diversity data.
UK Government. (2021). Children’s social work workforce.
YouGov. (2021). Social Work and Continuing Professional Development for Social Work England.
Next page: Action planning
The resources have been developed by
Research in Practice
in collaboration with
DfE.
Published: 30 October 2024
Last updated: 04 November 2024
Published: 30 October 2024
Last updated: 04 November 2024