The Abbeyfield Society has been given 'one to watch' status from Best Companies, recognising it as one of the best large companies to work for in the UK.
Abbeyfield actually surpassed its 2021 score in Best Companies' b-Heard survey, which measures staff engagement, and continues to show good levels of staff engagement overall, scoring highest in areas of ‘my team’, ‘my company’ and ‘my manager’.
As a result, Abbeyfield once again features on the Best Companies website where it is promoted as being 'officially a good company to work for'. The charity provides accommodation and care for over 8,000 people through a combination of care homes, sheltered housing, and independent living schemes. Best Companies is a leading employee engagement specialist.
Abbeyfield HR director Gail Manley said: "We are delighted to once again be recognised as one of the best companies to work for in the UK. We see workplace engagement as vital and have done our best to support our staff through challenging times with various mental health and wellbeing initiatives and an Employee Assistance Programme is available for those who need it. We also offer a competitive pay and benefits package, varied opportunities for learning through our accredited learning and development team and have invested in a leadership excellence programme for all of our managers. Above all, staff care about and support each other and enjoy working together.”
Paul Tennant, Abbeyfield CEO, said: “The social care sector is under a significant amount of pressure and has been experiencing recruitment and retention issues. This is an amazing achievement and provides us with a great foundation from which to attract new people.
“Our staff work in demanding, challenging and enormously pressurised roles, especially in current times, and have been doing a wonderful job of caring for their residents. We’ve invested heavily in our workforce and tried to provide support through a wide range of initiatives. I’m proud of the development opportunities we offer to ensure our people have the tools to advance in their careers and continue to support residents to the best of their ability.
“One of the key factors that attracted me to Abbeyfield at the start of the year was the genuine family feel of the organisation, and it is great to have confirmation that this is felt by others too, from staff on the front line to those in office-based roles.”
