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HC-One shares success of their Aspiring Home Managers Programme

24 Mar 2023

3 min read

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  • Learning and development
  • Good news story
  • Recruitment
  • Retention

This #GoodNewsFriday care provider HC-One shares the positive impact of their Aspiring Home Managers Programme and the importance of learning and development in supporting staff retention.

The Aspiring Home Managers Programme training is open to anybody working at HC-One, with current participants from a range of specialisms including nursing, administration, care, and deputy management. The organisation has seen some great success from the programme, with several participants going on to secure permanent leadership roles within HC-One.

Sarah Bullock, Head of Leadership & Organisational Development and Buffy Sparks, Head of Operational Learning & Development at HC-One say:

It [is more important than] ever that care providers have an open-minded approach to ways they can support staff in developing and diversifying their skills – whether that be carers, chefs, managers, or housekeepers.

Across the sector we practice values-based recruitment, but this approach shouldn’t stop once you get in the front door: values-based learning, growth and development is also really important when it comes to readying colleagues for leadership roles.

By opening up development pathways to a wider, more diverse, audience, we’re moving away from traditional career trajectories and discovering fantastic new talent amongst our existing workforce. Providing a demonstrable, clear progression opportunity helps not only to attract new starters but also retain existing colleagues.

We’ve seen through our Aspiring Home Managers Programme how much giving somebody the confidence in their skills and abilities can develop them into great leaders.

Moreover, it builds sustainability as it dials up a level of readiness in our aspiring Home Manager community which supports with succession planning and can expediate filling vacancies more quickly– a positive move for the sector which struggles to attract and retain people with the right skillset for this complex role.

The learning and development opportunities offered by HC-One also extend beyond those looking to become managers and people leaders.

The organisations also offers non-registered care colleagues the chance to gain a Registered Nursing Associate (RNA) qualification via the apprenticeship route. The two-year programme combines theoretical and practical learning, enabling individuals to perform more complex tasks than a non-registered colleague, and diversifying their skillset.

They highlight that:

The most important factor in any learning and development offer is that it has a meaningful impact in equipping the care workforce to best meet the needs of people using social care services.

The organisation will also be rolling out a new dementia care learning and development offer across all their homes this year.

Sarah and Buffy conclude:

Those of us working in the sector know all too well the misrepresentation that care is an unskilled profession, with little opportunity for development. It’s up to us as providers and sector leaders to counter this myth, and to foster a culture of learning and professional advancement however we can.

Investing in such a culture pays out – it supports succession planning and workforce development, not to mention ultimately reducing high recruitment and productivity costs.

More importantly, when we focus on valuing and developing the skills that already exist in the care sector, we better equip individuals and organisations to meet the increasingly complex needs of those we care for. This will raise parity of esteem with other sectors, and help to future-proof ourselves against being faced with the same, or worsening, workforce pressures again and again in the next few years.

Well done to the HC-One team for the great work they’re doing to support learning and development for staff.


Find more information and support on learning and development with our #KeepLearning spotlight.

If you have a good news story to share, send it to marketing@skillsforcare.org.uk


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