Recruiting care workers within domiciliary care has never been straightforward, and in today’s market it remains a real challenge. Immigration rule changes for care workers under the previous government made international recruitment trickier, placing greater emphasis on attracting UK talent to the sector.
Hiring care workers from within the UK has often proven challenging – a result of a multitude of factors, including historically low pay, long days, extensive driving, and an environment that can provoke stress in some people. There are underutilised talent pools, such as retail or hospitality, from which people might be attracted to care work if training, flexibility, and qualification paths are provided. Offering referral bonuses if people help recruit good care workers who stay on for more than 6 months could also be an option. MNS Consul Home Care has explored referral bonus schemes and worked with local job centres to incentivise new recruits who stay for more than 6 months, but this hasn’t borne any fruit, as some people regard care as a stressful environment with low wages.
Those working in the care sector have to accept long hours that are not always consistent in terms of shifts finishing on time. It takes a strong, caring personality to accept this some of the work that is necessary on a daily basis. Driving between clients during a day’s work can involve some long distances and if an individual is not comfortable driving this can prove a stumbling block. That said, MNS Consul understands that working in care will not make people rich; however remuneration levels have improved, with the shortage of supply and there are few jobs that are as rewarding when done well.
Another issue in the care sector, particularly in domiciliary care, is that carers are required to own a car and have business insurance. New recruits hired from the UK find this challenging, as owning a car adds extra expenses and is hard to maintain.
Supporting people in their own homes is not just one job, the care worker must assume multiple roles. They must act as carer, timekeeper, listener, problem-solver and often as a friend. The time spent driving between homes, especially in rural areas, is often not enough for individuals to adjust to the different homes, the different routines, needs and moods of their charges and some days carers are welcomed like a long lost friend, while on other occasions they are greeted with silence or even hostility.
It takes a special person to be a care worker, but that doesn’t mean an individual is already aware they are that special person. MNS Consul Home Care is encouraging everyone to try as sometimes it takes trying something out to realise it is your calling. To realise that you are good at this job and that doing your best in this role makes you feel good about yourself.
We can talk about various challenges that affect our industry; however, one often-overlooked challenge is the solitary nature of the role. As a domiciliary care worker you are not surrounded by supportive colleagues, you are more often than not on your own, so when the day is not going your way it is you that has to give an inner pep talk, reminding yourself of the rewarding nature of the job and that tomorrow is another day. MNS Consul has recognised these challenges and implemented an open-door policy, with a manager available to speak with care staff at any time. The managers have gone even beyond their limits to ensure they don’t go to bed until everyone is home safely.
While it will take time to change the perception of care work as a low paid, low-status and physically demanding job, with limited career profession, every care-related organisation can help by changing the culture from within. Pay progression, mileage reimbursement and a supportive environment are just three examples of how this can be realistically achieved.
MNS Consul Home Care has learned that making a simple adjustment, such as career progression, continuous training, support from the management team, a guaranteed hours contract, and mileage payment, is just a few examples of how this can be realistically achieved.