Delivering a shared vision of care: CareTech

The care sector knows it has an image problem and has been plagued by misperceptions of low pay, low skill and low aspiration for too long. Nigel Taylor, Group Head of Learning and Development at CareTech, says in reality “only a few providers operate in this way” and many people do not appreciate the changes that have taken place in the sector over recent years.

“The sector has become much more highly technical in terms of the people we deal with and the outcomes we must achieve,” he says. “20 years ago, if you worked in the care sector you would say ‘it’s 10.30 so I’ll make you a cup of coffee’, but now we say, ‘it’s 10.30 so would you like a cup of coffee and how can I support you to make it,’” he says. “This marks the fundamental difference between support and care and giving the person choices about what they want to do.”

The UK’s care sector is also highly complex and diverse. It comprises 20,000-plus separate organisations which represent many different facets of care. The expertise required for elderly day care, for instance, will be vastly different to those needed to look after children with special needs or vulnerable adults in supported living accommodation. “They require different skills, knowledge and behaviours,” says Taylor.

It therefore presents a challenge for any vocational qualifications programme that relies on standards and frameworks. Taylor says the organisation is on a journey implementing the new apprenticeships and it isn’t without challenges but believes ultimately the programme will deliver more highly skilled and technical workforces. “This will lead to better productivity and better productivity in the care sector means consistency of the workforce and continuity of care resulting in being rated good or outstanding,” he says (currently 85 per cent of CareTech’s services are rated good or outstanding).

Workforce development is a major part of CareTech’s employee value proposition and being supported to achieve career goals is one of the reasons given for joining in recent employee engagement surveys.

The majority of CareTech’s apprentices are existing staff and it has to secure commitment from the divisional lead managing director, the service manager and the individual before they join the programme. Under the levy, the 20% off-the-job requirement does have an impact on how it invests in its staff says Taylor: “Having to find and pay for cover can have a major impact on the organisation and needs to be managed carefully.”

To tackle some of the challenges that are unique to its sector, the organisation is in the process of developing a young person’s strategy. “We are looking at on-boarding individuals into an academy style programme that will lead to an apprenticeship through a talent development programme,” says Taylor.

The company has launched an online appraisal system in which it can monitor and identify talent against competences and performance/potential criteria. “Again our issues are not that everyone has management potential, however, they may have potential to be developed,” he says.

CareTech has a significant training programme in place alongside apprenticeships. It takes a blended approach, which includes on-the-job action learning, off-the-job, classroom, e-learning, mobile and distance learning, covering a wide range of subject areas along with leadership and management initiatives. It delivers more than 60,000 learning interventions every year to 5,000 staff and this includes 12 days off-the-job post-probation.

Going forward, Taylor’s ambition regarding apprenticeships is to put in place a set of standards that raise the bar in terms of quality and the technical understanding of the workforce. “There is still some work to be done but I believe having qualifications and apprenticeships is great for our sector,” he says. “It will help to professionalise the sector and make people realise that it is technical as well as rewarding and that there is an opportunity for individuals to develop and grow.”