Skills for Care has kicked off the new year with its ‘Keep learning for success’ campaign.
The strategic workforce development and planning body for social care in England is encouraging social care managers and their teams to #KeepLearning by highlighting training and funding opportunities available for social care workers and focusing on the benefits that continual professional development brings for those working in social care and the people they support.
The #KeepLearning campaign will run across Skills for Care’s website, social media, and other communications channels and will include resources to support with training, articles highlighting learning and development opportunities, and real life insights from people working in social care.
The campaign launches as the deadline for social care employers to apply for this year’s Workforce Development Fund (WDF), which provides funding for staff training, draws near. Employers who wish to use the WDF must sign up by 28 February 2023, with claims due by 31 May.
Skills for Care will be providing information about WDF, how to claim, and what it can be used for as part of this campaign.
Skills for Care data shows that investing in learning and development is crucial for staff retention. Average turnover rates decreased from 41.2 per cent among staff who had no training, to 31.7 per cent among those that received some form of training. Additionally, turnover was reduced by 9.1 per cent for care workers who received more than 30 instances of training when compared to care workers with one instance of training.
Skills for Care CEO Oonagh Smyth said: “The start of the year is a good time to plot your learning and development plans for the next 12 months. Our latest campaign aims to highlight to social care employers the range of different options and funding available to support them in providing ongoing development for their teams.
“This is vital not only in supporting a good workplace culture and developing and keeping the people who work in care, but also in providing the best outcomes for people who draw on care and support.”
