A new report by healthcare platform Sona has highlighted the importance of employee recognition in the social care sector.
The report, Appreciation matters: why social care needs a new culture of employee recognition, which was based upon the findings of a survey of 500 social and health care workers, found that:
- More than 2 in 5 care sector workers have left a job because they did not feel valued, costing thousands of pounds each to replace.
- Over 20 per cent say they rarely, or almost never, feel their work is appreciated.
- Some 77 per cent want to receive recognition from their employer, but just 21 per cent say this happens regularly.
According to Sona, this lack of appreciation is a significant driver of preventable turnover that the sector simply cannot afford – there is a close correlation between how highly an individual values recognition and their willingness to leave if they do not get it.
In other words: employee recognition programs are no longer a ‘nice-to-have’; they are a must.
The report is very clear about the importance of making sure employees feel valued. After all, according to Sona:
Social care’s staffing crisis is closer to becoming endemic than it is to being fixed. The vacancy rate has remained above 10 per cent since September 2021, and the average staff turnover rate in England is five percentage points higher than 12 months ago at 34.8 per cent.
The report concludes that embedding employee appreciation as a regular practice across all levels of a care organisation is one of the ‘highest impact, lowest cost retention strategies of all’. It goes on to point out that, of the five examples of recognition that employees value the most - company rewards schemes (46 per cent); unexpected or spontaneous praise (45 per cent); employee and/or team awards (37 per cent); celebrating birthdays and milestones (31 per cent); and regular line manager meetings (29 per cent) – three of these do not even require that their employer spend any extra money.
Sona highlights the fact that, along with increased retention, proper employee recognition leads to a host of other benefits, as happy, engaged, and motivated employees are consistently shown to be more productive and to make fewer mistakes.
Recognition, then, should be a priority for every care provider, especially when, according to the report:
- A massive 92 per cent of care employees would feel better about their current work situation if they received more recognition for their work.
- On average, labour turnover is 31 per cent lower at companies with a ‘recognition culture’.
- Three in four employees who receive recognition (even if informal) every month are satisfied with their job.
Care providers should think very seriously about how their organisations recognise their employees, then. After all, the potential benefits are undeniable.
Enjoy the newsletter.
Matt Seex, Editor
