7 Ways to Reduce Staff Turnover & Build a Stronger Home Care Team

In the UK, the adult social care sector has historically struggled with high staff turnover rates.

In 2021/22, there were 1.79 million adult social care posts in England with 165,000 vacancies and an overall staff turnover rate of 29%. Care workers had one of the highest staff turnover rates at 36.1%, up from 34.4% in 2020/21. (Skills for Care)

But what does this mean for the homecare sector in particular?

Essentially, increased recruitment and retention costs could have a direct impact on quality and standards of care. The knock on effect can lead to disgruntled care clients and low team morale, affecting a carer’s mental and physical health.

Here, we look at the main reasons for high staff turnover in home care and explore ways to potentially reduce the number of carers leaving the profession.

Why do Carers Leave the Home Care Sector?

Some common reasons home carers leave their roles include:

• Low wages and limited career and development opportunities.
• Temporary or zero-hour contracts.
• Lack of support from management.
• Little recognition or appreciation.
• Stressful working conditions and high emotional demands.
• Discrimination and racism.
• Poor work-life balance.

Reducing Staff Turnover in Home Care

Some ways that agencies could reduce homecare staff turnover include creating well-being initiatives, offering structured career progression, investing in staff training and development, and improving communication by making the most of dedicated domiciliary care software.

Let’s dig deeper into these 7 suggestions.

1. Supporting Team Wellbeing

Your care team’s mental and physical health could be supported in practical ways.

For example:

• Providing access to counselling or mental health resources.
• Regular group discussions or team-building activities.
• Encouraging peer support groups.
• Setting time aside for breaks and recovery.
• Creating opportunities for relaxation and non-work activities.
• Using wellbeing-focused mobile apps, such as Headspace and Calm for access to quick daily tips and self-care resources.

2. Improving Work-Life Balance

A good and healthy work-life balance is key to keep carers happy and fulfilled in their roles. Some practical steps homecare agencies can take are to:

• Offer flexible schedules and manageable workloads. Making small changes to a carer’s schedule if they’re showing signs of stress or burnout could make all the difference.
• Make use of dedicated all-in-one domiciliary care software to streamline and schedule shifts fairly and avoid clashes and double-booking.
• Allow carers to choose part-time, adjusted hours or job-sharing options as and when needed.

3. Setting SMART Goals

Lack of career progression for carers is one of the reasons they end up leaving. Care managers can set clear and meaningful SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound) goals together with carers to give them a sense of purpose and direction.

Examples of goals could be completing specific training courses, setting personal milestones or improving certain skills.

Using a home care management system to keep track of personal career goals and celebrate a carer’s progress could help increase their motivation and give them a real sense of achievement.

4. Creating a Diverse & Inclusive Agency

It’s important to create a diverse and inclusive workplace to build a strong and supportive care team. Recruitment strategies need to be fair and unbiased for everyone to attract carers from varied backgrounds.

Steps need to be put in place to tackle unconscious bias when hiring new carers. Care managers could consider implementing anti-discrimination training that celebrates cultural differences and creates a positive culture.

Recruitment software could be used to manage carer applications to make them anonymous and reduce unconscious bias when hiring staff.

5. Introducing a Carer Mobile App

Introducing a mobile app for carers is vital to make their jobs easier and less stressful. Tagtronics has a mobile app that is very popular with home carers as it allows them to update clients’ notes in real time during the care visit.

Other app features that could help reduce carer stress and increase engagement with your team include:

• Quick and easy access to schedules, care plans and route maps.
• Instant alerts for last-minute changes or updates in real time.
• Access to online training modules and instant feedback channels.

6. Checking In on Team Members Regularly

There’s great value in consistent communication to understand care staff concerns and keep morale high. Regular staff check-ins help build trust and highlight any potential problems early before it’s too late.

Some ideas to stay connected with your carers could include:

• Short weekly or bi-weekly one-on-one meetings to directly listen to their concerns.
• Quick anonymous surveys to get honest feedback.
• Recognising and addressing signs of burnout early and offering solutions.

Digital apps and communication tools can help make these check-ins simple and consistent, allowing you to have regular and meaningful interactions with your staff.

7. The Role of Home Care Software in Reducing Turnover

As a homecare software provider, we can’t miss an opportunity to mention the benefits of using dedicated tech to help manage your care teams and support strong team building.

Key features of homecare software include the ability to:

• Streamline carer schedules to avoid accidental overtime.
• Centralise tools for clear and easy communication and information sharing.
• Track performance to recognise hard work and make continuous improvements.

Building a Stronger, Happier Team

To reduce staff turnover in the homecare sector and build a strong and happy team means understanding the main reasons why carers leave the sector in the first place.

The challenge is not an easy one by any means, but the starting point is focusing on their mental health and wellbeing, making work-life balance a priority, setting clear and SMART goals, embracing diversity and inclusion, and providing them with helpful tools.

If care managers can create workplaces where carers feel understood, valued and supported, they’ll be well on the way to attract and keep skilled care staff.

For almost 25 years now, Tagtronics have helped hundreds of homecare agencies to manage their care teams using our all-in-one homecare software.

For a no-obligation demo, please call one of our friendly team on 01254 819205 or email us at howcanwehelp@tagtronics.co.uk.