Over the years, I’ve been privileged to work closely with some incredible leaders in social care. One of them is Tayvanie (Tay) Nagendran, a care home manager and co-chair at Care Providers Voice, whose insights have really shaped how I think about workforce challenges.
During a Flourish panel leadership earlier this year, Tay shared some thoughts on retention that struck a chord with me. And not just the kind of “yes, I agree” chord – more like the kind that keeps playing in your head long after the conversation ends.
Widening the Focus
Tay made a point that’s stayed with me: people often leave jobs because of management, not because they dislike the work or the workplace itself. It’s a reminder of just how much influence leadership has.
Losing someone from your organisation is tough, undeniably, but losing them from social care altogether is a bigger blow. The latest Skills for Care data shows a turnover rate of 24%, which is around 350,000 people leaving their roles in a single year. Almost 60% of recruitment does come from within the sector. But that still leaves a large number walking away altogether – and when they go, so do their skills, experience, and knowledge.
Investment – Time, Space, and Culture
Tay also made a great point about how retention is about making people feel valued, and about how that means more than offering resources. Investing in people isn’t just about paying for a course. It’s about finding the time and capacity to help them grow.
That’s not easy in the current climate. The CQC’s latest survey found that 71% of provider locations see the current workforce situation as challenging, and more than a third are worried about sustaining their service levels over the next six months. When you’re working under that kind of pressure, blocking out an hour for an uninterrupted supervision can feel like a luxury.
But the truth is, it’s often these moments that make the difference. I’ve seen it in practice – when leaders prioritise protected time for development and meaningful conversations, staff feel invested in, and more likely to see a long-term future in social care.
A Sector-Wide Perspective
One of Tay’s comments really flipped the usual thinking on its head: staff moving between providers isn’t necessarily a bad thing – as long as they stay in social care. As she put it, “Someone can go between me and another provider… two years later they might come back.”
That’s not the way most organisations are used to thinking, but it’s worth considering. If we see a sector as an ecosystem, movement between organisations can be a form of talent recycling – keeping skills in circulation instead of losing them to the NHS, retail, or hospitality. And given that almost 60% of providers say their recruitment challenges haven’t improved over the past year, it’s clear solutions have to be sector-wide.
Collaboration could mean sharing training opportunities between providers, pooling resources, or jointly creating career development pathways.
Beyond the Here and Now
I’ve been working with care providers for over a decade, and if there’s one thing that’s clear, it’s that there’s no quick fix for sector retention – there are structural issues that need long-term, joined-up strategies.
But I also know, as a manager, how much we can influence the everyday experiences that keep people in a job. We can build workplace cultures where staff feel listened to. We can make learning more flexible and accessible. We can work together, not just to keep good people in our own organisations, but to keep them growing and thriving in their careers.
