Mental health strains, low pay, and feeling unappreciated are some of the top reasons Social Care workers give when quitting.
Improving pay is necessary, but in today’s climate it’s often harder to implement; budget cuts, inflation, and a volatile economy are forcing companies to look for alternative ways to appreciate employees.
Improving the mental health of your Social Care workforce and making them feel valued and recognised can truly change workers’ lives—without costing your businesses cash.
With 77% of Social Care workers wanting recognition from their employer, but only 21% of workers saying this happens regularly–there’s massive room for improvement.
In light of Employee Appreciation Day—and soon to be Social Care Worker’s Day—we’re sharing five employee recognition and appreciation initiatives that care homes in the UK are running to show workers that what they’re doing is being noticed.
Employee Appreciation Day is a special event celebrated on the first Friday of March. This day is a special reminder for companies to thank, recognise, and celebrate their employees. This year that day falls on Friday 3rd March 2023.
#EmployeeAppreciationDay is for employees and companies across all industries around the world–after all, no matter what they do, they deserve to be recognised and appreciated for their hard work.
Bill Marklein, founder of Employ Humanity, said:
“Culture is how employees’ hearts and stomachs feel about Monday morning on a Sunday night.”
This couldn’t be any truer. After all, two in five workers have left their jobs due to feeling unappreciated. In comparison, only 35% cite looking for better-paid jobs as the reason for leaving.
Even today, many are prioritising mental well-being over finances. Let’s look at five initiatives that are helping employees feel the appreciation that they deserve.
First up, Majesticare.
The Majesticare Star Awards is a set of awards given to employees in different categories to show them how much residents, patients, and the company value their work.
Employees can be nominated by colleagues, as a great showcase of peer recognition, but also by residents and their families.
Majesticare weren’t shy when coming up with categories for their awards, they understand how vital acknowledging individuals and teams is.
Some of the Star Awards categories, for which people can nominate employees and teams for as many as they want, are:
Majesticare knows that valuing, appreciating, and recognising employees is crucial for an out-of-this-world quality of care, and more importantly, a pillar of a thriving company culture.
This initiative takes their employee appreciation efforts to the moon and back–and similar award structures will likely do the same for your team.
Sanctuary Care has over 6,000 employees and more than 90 care homes. They know that appreciating and recognising employees is one of the best ways to ensure employee well-being and the highest possible quality of care at scale.
Sanctuary Care offers employee benefits like free meals, gym memberships, and bonuses to teams that achieve a Care Quality Commission (CQC) award. They also recognise employees for their hard work on Social Media.
Seeing how employees are 63% more likely to stay at a job where they feel recognised, even small things like this can have a huge impact on staff morale and satisfaction.
Additionally, Sanctuary Care holds employee awards where the winners can get up to £300 in vouchers.
Voyage Care truly understands the importance of recognising workers and it shows. They offer:
Staff appreciation for Voyage Care is quintessential. In their own words: “Our remarkable teams work incredibly hard to help us achieve our core purpose: to deliver great quality care and support. The difference they make to the lives of the people we support is immense and we want them to know how much we appreciate them.”
Learn how to create a workplace culture of staff recognition in Social Care.
Newport's Aria Care Home for people with Dementia won a Caring UK Award in 2022 for achieving 100% employee retention by enhancing its workforce culture. That is no small feat—no matter the industry!
But, what have they been doing right? Let’s take a look.
First of all, they offer employee wellness programmes focused on supporting the mental health of its employees. After all, 86% of HR professionals cited that offering mental health resources can increase employee retention.
On one hand, their mental health improves thanks to the resources provided. On the other, they feel seen, heard, and appreciated by an employer who cares about their well-being. A win-win!
Managing Director of Aria Care home, Ali Al-Mufti said: “The team [at Aria Care] have cultivated a remarkable culture here this year and understands the importance of love and support not only for our residents, but each other as well.”
“Our team worked diligently and selflessly during the covid outbreak, having to deal with some of the most challenging times ever seen in the sector and did so with unrelenting selflessness and resilience. They are an amazing group of people, and I am so proud of all of them.”
Ali added “I hope that one day we can contribute a positive change in an industry that is facing many challenges. At Aria Care Home, we have no fear of trying to do things differently and will always focus on the wellbeing of both our residents and the workforce.”
In Social Care, caring for residents it’s only half the work. Ensuring workers are being taken care of, their mental health and general well-being, is not only good for retention, but it also improves the quality of care they are able to provide.
Ready to go the extra mile? Check out three strategies to retain and win back staff.
Abbots Care has stepped into the future of workforce appreciation. After witnessing the challenging times and isolation many workers were living through the pandemic, Abbots Care’s Managing Director and Co-Founder Camille Leavold came up with an app to help support workers’ mental and emotional well-being.
The app is accessible to workers from their very first day on the job and in it they can:
This app has been a true game-changer for Abbots Care. In their own words: “Since its launch, we can honestly say that the Abbots Care wellbeing app has made a huge impact not only in the way our people and company communicate but our culture and team motivation as a whole – which is no mean feat when you employ a remote workforce of over 400 people!”
As you can see, Abbots Care makes sure that all employees are feeling valued, seen, and recognised for their work, and that they are able to take care of their mental health and overall well-being–and is using technology to help them do exactly that.
Employee Appreciation Day is celebrated on the first Friday in March each year to focus our attention on employees in all industries–including Social Care–because they truly deserve it.
Get inspired with these five recognition and appreciation initiatives shown here, and get ready to value and appreciate your Social Care employees–today and always.
Want more? Check our latest webinar where we discussed if Social Care needs a new culture of recognition–psst, the short answer is yes!