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Workplace recruitment and retention is an integral aspect of functioning organisations. In the social services sector the turnover of employees can be high – particularly in the case of support workers – since the nature of some positions is short-term with disparity around pay and recognition. Revising and improving recruitment and retention plans, therefore, is essential for organisations in the social services sector, to adapt to the changing needs and demands of a diverse workforce.
The Right Values, Right People toolkit contains information to support employers and workers to adopt values-based approaches to recruitment. The toolkit contains different types of resources including videos and PDF documents that can be downloaded.
Educational Competencies Consortium (2010) ‘Workforce Planning: A Practical Guide’.
The Safer Recruitment Through Better Recruitment resource is good practice guidance intended to help employers, especially those in social care, early education and childcare and social work to meet existing legislative and regulatory requirements in relation to the safer recruitment and selection of people who work with individuals who receive support and care from social services in Scotland.
The Continuous Learning Framework (CLF) sets out what people in the social service workforce need to be able to do their job well now and in the future and describes what employers need to do to support them.
Employers have used the CLF to inform job descriptions and person specifications.
The Organisational Capabilities help employers to:
The Personal Capabilities focus on managing self and managing relationships, emphasising the importance of softer skills and emotional intelligence as workforce attributes.
Employers Organisation (2004) ‘Workforce Development Planning Guidance Document’.
Those entering the social service workforce and registered with SSSC are required to adhere to the SSSC Codes of Practice. The Codes of Practice set out standards of practice and behaviour expected of social service workers and their employers.
Registration has an impact on workforce planning, as social service workers have to register with SSSC and must meet the requirements for registration in terms of their fitness to practise.
The role assigned by an employer to a worker determines the part (or parts) of the register that the worker must apply for. Registration requires workers to:
Registration is a major part of the drive for higher standards in social services and – with reference to the integration of health and social care and to multi-disciplinary practice in general – is bringing the social service workforce in line with other professional colleagues.
Fitness to practise is a requirement for registering, and ongoing registration, with SSSC.
A social service worker is fit to practise if they meet the standards of character, conduct and competence necessary for them to do their job safely and effectively with regard to the SSSC Codes of Practice.
Implications for workforce planning include recruitment of workers who can meet, and continue to meet, registration and fitness to practise criteria
Workforce Intelligence: The SSSC produces workforce data, information and intelligence for employers and other stakeholders that supports the development of the sector. This intelligence, including workforce profiles and trends can support organisations in their workforce planning activity
The SSSC Workforce Skills Report (WSR) offers an overview of key skills challenges for the sector. The findings echo the messages SSSC has regularly heard from employers, frontline workers and learning and development staff. The Workforce Skills Report is a recurring publication, reflecting changing conditions in, or which influence, the sector.
The SSSC Workforce Planning Guide (2014) offers an 8-stage framework that guides you through the main elements of the workforce planning process.
The development and implementation of a personal outcomes approach in health and social care impacts on service design, workforce configuration and practice development. The Personal Outcomes Collaboration is a helpful source for information and insight.
SSSC offers an interactive career pathways tool, which helps social service workers see what opportunities and different professional roles a career in social services could offer them. There are three main pathways to explore:
SSSC published A Career in Social Services (2017). This comprises an online resource for careers advisers and individuals interested in a career in care.
The National Occupational Standards (NOS) in Social Services and Health Care form the basis of qualifications for the majority of social services workers, who are required to register with SSSC. The development and maintenance of common UK NOS for job roles plays a significant role in the mobility of the workforce across the UK. The NOS Navigator can also help you to:
The Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF) is Scotland’s national qualifications framework. The SCQF supports lifelong learning and can help:
The 2010-2020 Self-directed Support (SDS) strategy and supporting legislation calls for greater collaboration, flexibility choice and control for people who need support which requires a change to the way in which support is delivered.
Self-directed Support gives people who require support great opportunities to design and create support that fits in with the way they want to live their lives.
Planning for the future by the Scottish Social Services Council is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Based on a work at http://learn.sssc.uk.com.