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Professional development at all career stages

Standard 2: Effective workforce planning

Effective workforce planning systems

You could increase opportunities by encouraging life-long learning and offering professional development opportunities.

It may also help to: 

  • offer opportunities for specialisation and mobility 
  • regularly assess skills 
  • promote interdisciplinary collaboration 
  • conduct community needs assessments 
  • ensure a supportive working environment 

Values-based recruitment

Values-based recruitment (VBR) is a method aimed at attracting individuals whose values match those of social work and the organisation. When employees feel their values align with the organisation they have a stronger sense of belonging. This leads to higher job satisfaction and protection against burnout. Skills for Care (see references section) highlights several benefits of VBR in the social care sector, including:

  • cost savings
  • reduced employee turnover
  • better retention rates

An evaluation of VBR in healthcare recruitment showed mixed results. It can enhance focus on patient-centred values and allow applicants who do not share these values to opt out.

Long-term benefits are harder to assess as those who are recruited are influenced by organisational cultures, working practices and experience over time. This mean that it is harder to link VBR to their reasons for staying in the organisation.

Use evidence-based approaches 

When choosing VBR methods, it’s important to use evidence-based, tailored and consistent approaches. Selecting candidates with potential for value alignment is likely to be more effective than rejecting anyone whose values do not immediately align. 

To implement VBR effectively, you should first identify core values by defining and clearly communicating the organisation’s mission, vision, values, and practice model. You should also emphasise values in job descriptions to ensure that postings highlight the core values of the organisation. 

It’s essential to ensure that the candidate experience reflects the organisation’s stated values, providing a positive experience throughout the recruitment process. Collecting feedback from candidates about their experiences and using this information can help improve the recruitment process. 

Consistent communication is important so make sure to clearly communicate the organisation’s values to everyone involved in the recruitment process. Providing training on VBR techniques and the importance of discussing these values will help prepare all participants. 

Finally, reinforcing the organisation’s values during the induction process will help new hires integrate into the company culture from the start. 

Methods in values-based recruitment

Using assessment tools such as psychometric tests or values inventories can help evaluate candidates more effectively. During the interview process, you can design recruitment activities that explore how candidates relate to the organisation’s values.

Using behavioural and situational judgement questions can help assess how candidates have demonstrated their values in past experiences.

Situational judgement tests (SJTs)

These are commonly used to check problem-solving abilities, interpersonal skills and ethical considerations. The tests present candidates with hypothetical but realistic job-related scenarios and multiple-choice responses. This helps to evaluate how candidates would manage specific situations and assess the extent to which judgement and decision-making align with organisational values and culture.

SJTs are effective at revealing candidates’ values and attitudes and predicting job performance. They help reduce bias by focusing on relevant job-related competencies rather than personal characteristics. 

Multiple mini-interviews (MMIs)

These are used to assess a wide range of skills, including communication, ethical reasoning, teamwork, problem-solving, and critical thinking. 

MMIs involve candidates rotating through a series of short, structured interview ‘stations’ that focus on different competencies, scenarios or questions. Techniques include role-play or SJTs reflecting real-life challenges that might be encountered in the role. 

MMIs predict performance and reduce bias by incorporating multiple assessors and diverse scenarios, offering a more balanced evaluation of candidates’ skills and competencies.

Understanding why social workers leave and why they stay 

Effective workforce planning involves distinguishing between different types of turnover to see why social workers leave and why they stay. 

Practitioners in social work leave for a variety of reasons, it could be for: 

  • mobility, where practitioners leave their current role to take up another within the profession 
  • turnover where practitioners leave the profession entirely 
  • unpreventable turnover where practitioners leave due to retirement, change in life circumstances, or death 
  • voluntary or desirable turnover where practitioners who are not a good fit for the role or the organisation choose to leave 
  • undesirable turnover when capable practitioners leave even though the organisation wishes to keep them 

Push and pull factors ​​

Push factors are the negatives that drive social workers to leave, like high stress, poor work-life balance, and lack of support. Pull factors are the positives that keep them in their roles. To help retain social workers focus on ‘pull factors’ that encourage them to stay.

Push factors that contribute to decisions to leave include: 

  • work-related stress and burnout related to high caseloads and emotional demands
  • low pay in relation to workload and responsibilities 
  • a ‘blame’ culture, lack of support and supervision 
  • lack of resources to do the job well 
  • excessive paperwork and administrative tasks 
  • feeling unable to practise in a way that aligns with professional values and ethics 
  • lack of flexibility to accommodate caring responsibilities and a poor work-life balance 
  • limited opportunities for career development 
  • inadequate support for equity, diversity, and inclusion 

Pull factors that contribute to decisions to stay include: 

  • a culture of psychological safety and support for wellbeing
  • reduction in workload and increased staff levels 
  • an organisation that offers a strong sense of professional identity and purpose 
  • supportive relationships with co-workers
  • a sense of teamwork 
  • a sense of fulfilment that comes from supporting vulnerable people 
  • a deep connection to the community served 
  • flexible working opportunities 
  • having a voice in shaping resource allocation or service delivery 
  • flexible working opportunities 
  • access to professional development and career advancement opportunities 
  • inclusive workplace practices and feelings of belonging 

How to make retention strategies effective 

Effective retention strategies will focus on reducing (or where possible eliminating) push factors and enhancing pull factors.

Most people leaving children’s social work have been with their local authority for less than five years. Also, a quarter of those who left the register in England in the year to November 2022 were newly qualified.

Understanding workers’ support needs and implementing targeted interventions is a particularly important aspect of workforce planning. Research provides important insights that can help organisations design interventions that encourage early career practitioners to stay.

The importance of creating a psychologically safe, supportive and inclusive workplace culture is highlighted throughout these resources. It is important to ensure caseloads are manageable, expectations are realistic and adequate resources are provided. 

You could provide emotional space to help newly qualified practitioners process the challenges of practice. Think about offering informal peer support and mentoring, and opportunities to engage with experienced colleagues.

Good induction opportunities for personal development offer clear career development pathways and support in developing a strong social worker identity. Encourage self-care at an early stage to help prevent burnout, improve job satisfaction, and enhance overall wellbeing. Early self-care practices support resilience, reduce stress and promote a healthier work-life balance. 

For more information on factors influencing retention in social work use the References section.

References

Allen, K. A., Kern, M. L., Rozek, C. S., McInerney, D. M., & Slavich, G. M. (2021). Belonging: A review of conceptual issues, an integrative framework, and directions for future research. Australian Journal of Psychology, 73(1), 87–102. 

Begen, F. M., & Turner-Cobb, J. M. (2015). Benefits of belonging: Experimental manipulation of social inclusion to enhance psychological and physiological health parameters. Psychology & Health, 30(5), 568–582. 

Department for Education. (2023). Children’s social care workforce.

Grant, L., & Kinman, G. (2014). Developing resilience for social work practice. Palgrave Macmillan. 

McClure, J. P., & Brown, J. M. (2008). Belonging at work. Human Resource Development International, 11(1), 3–17. 

Research in Practice. (n.d.). Strengthening the workforce: Retention in social work.

Skills for Care. (2023). Understanding the reasons care workers move on and their future intentions.

Social Work England. (n.d.). Social work in England: State of the nation.

Social Work England. (n.d.). The social work workforce.

Turley, R., Roberts, S., Foster, C., Willis, S., Warner, N., Scourfield, J., El-Banna, A., Lyons Longworth, M., Levarre-Waters, R., Nuttall, D., & Nurmatov, U., et al. (2020). Promoting the retention, mental health and wellbeing of child and family social workers: A systematic review of workforce interventions. What Works for Children’s Social Care.

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The resources have been developed by Research in Practice in collaboration with DfE.
Published: 30 October 2024
Last updated: 04 November 2024