Why Company Culture Matters So Much in the Care Sector

Why investing in and building a positive company culture makes such a difference to domiciliary care workers and the clients who receive care.

There is a substantial growing market in the UK for elderly home care and related services, now estimated at £5.2 billion per year.

The British government has a policy of encouraging people to be cared for in their own homes and this looks set to increase further over time, as the proportion of elderly people in the UK population continues to increase.

Projections show that that in 2014 18% of population were over 65 and by 2044 this is expected to increase to 1 in 4 (25%). This puts an increasing strain on public sector healthcare services, leading to a rise in demand for private provision, strengthened by government initiatives to promote independent living.

However, the role of the carer carries a ‘stigma’ and carer recruitment & retention has become an increasing challenge for the care sector in recent years not helped by the seemingly perpetual focus of the media on promoting negative news stories of the adult social care sector.

Promoting the Positives

This means that it is up to the Home Care companies themselves to create their own news about the many positive effects that a caring career can have and showcase it as a positive choice for people. It is also vital that carers are valued for the contribution they make and receive support and career progression opportunities. This is precisely what Radfield Home Care have done – and it has worked.

Since launching the Radfied Home Care company core values in 2013 and embedding them into their recruitment, training and carer support processes they have demonstrated a dramatic increase in staff retention levels from 30% in 2013 to 89.6% in 2016 to date.

Opportunity & empowerment also plays a key part in the Radfield recruitment and retention strategy with a firm example of this across the branch network. The team of supervisors, office staff and Registered Managers all joined Radfield as carers and have been given opportunities for promotion and career progression.

Creating Opportunities

Dr Hannah MacKechnie, Radfield Home Care Owner & Director comments, “Our approach provides a platform for opportunity; empowering our carers provides them with the confidence and self belief creating a ‘can do’ attitude and we continually provide & support career opportunities within the company.’

One carer in the Radfield Home Care Stafford branch commented, “When I started to work for Radfield in 2014, it was a complete change of career. After the training and help from the office staff in my first few weeks, I began to gain more confidence and really enjoyed meeting the clients and working with the other carer’s. Sadly, in January 2015 I was given the bad news that my cancer had returned. Straight away the support I received from the team was amazing. They assured me that I would have my job to come back to and overwhelmed with their kindness. Through my time of the operation and chemotherapy treatment they phoned me and encouraged me to pop into the office whenever I felt well enough.

When I returned to work a year ago, I was so grateful for all their support. Slowly over the months, my hours increased and I was back doing the job that I loved and a job that I had really missed.
In January 2016, I was asked if I would like to join the office team as team coordinator. Of course the answer was yes! I now find myself working along the most committed colleagues that I have known. It is an honour to be part of the Stafford Branch and of the Radfield Family.”

With their success in attracting and retaining the best staff, Radfield Home Care are demonstrating the benefits that creating a positive culture can bring to the care sector.