Deskless, not voiceless: The rise (and benefits) of ongoing frontline employee feedback
The key to a healthier, more engaged workforce lies in establishing a culture of ongoing feedback.
Building a staff schedule couldn’t be easier.
Reduce payroll errors with real-time T&A.
Fill 50% more shifts with your own employees.
Ensure shifts are covered even if you're understaffed.
Manage absence requests and approvals.
Practical ways to boost team morale with proven examples from across the sector.
Find out what care employees say matters to them most at work.
Search and view employees with customised permission levels.
Key employment information all in one place.
Store visas, professional certifications and more with easy access.
Control personal and operational details of your staff.
Why are people leaving Social Care, and where are they going?
Take ownership of your payroll processes.
We asked 250 Social Care leaders about their attitudes towards digitisation and their plans for the next 12 months...
Share updates with a single click.
Staff can see relevant messages in one place.
Request post-shift feedback from staff.
Recognise staff contributions by sending them praise.
Identify staff at risk of churning.
How care organisations can embrace flexible working and thrive.
Maintain quality of care and reduce costs.
Bring out the best in your teams.
Streamline operations across sites.
Keep your staff and volunteers connected.
Richard, our Head of Product, worked in social care for 10 years before bringing his experience to Sona.
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Sona is the 2022 Leaders in Care Awards winner for Innovative Solution of the Year for Care Homes.
Give staff greater visibility of shifts available to work, with a simple "shift claim" process to increase their income.
Improve employee engagement and retention with a seamless employee communication platform.
Happier staff provide greater customer experiences, which in turn drives return rates, revenues and recommendations.
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| 6 min read
The key to a healthier, more engaged workforce lies in establishing a culture of ongoing feedback.
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Social Care, Retention, Report
We surveyed 750 UK-based employees in the care sector to find out how they feel about their current work situations and what matters most to them when making job decisions.
3 minute read
Rethinking Retention explores:
The most important influences on staff satisfaction
Three key areas to focus on this year
Ideas and tools to boost engagement and retention
Download your free copy here.
This first blog in our Rethinking Retention series
The staffing crisis in care may have made more headlines recently, but it’s nothing new. According to CQC estimates, the baseline vacancy rate has remained above 6% for six years. In December 2021, the rate reached 12%.
What has changed is the addition of uncontrollable factors - most notably the pandemic and Brexit - that have made it harder for providers to retain staff.
Understaffed, overstretched, not paid enough.
Former care support worker
In November 2021, the Nuffield Trust reported that 70,000 adult social care workers had left the sector over the previous six months - 4% of the total adult care workforce. Increasing churn in an industry with a long term recruitment challenge is a worrying trend. Unfortunately, our survey results suggest that things are likely to get worse at the start of 2022 before they get better.
14% of respondents said they are thinking about leaving the sector altogether. Hopefully, this level of intent will not convert into action, but it’s a clear indicator that staffing levels are not yet close to stabilising.
With the overall labour market currently squeezed, care providers will be looking to ease the burden on their recruitment teams by doing everything in their power to retain their existing staff.
Skills for Care notes that, while the overall sector turnover rate is high (28.5% in 2020/21), turnover at the best performing employers doesn’t exceed 10%, For an operator with 2000 staff, going from average turnover to industry-leading would mean retaining 370 more staff each year - a potential saving of over £1m.
The good news? Our research shows that the most important contributors to happiness at work are all things employers can control:
Would the following factors have a positive impact on how you feel about working for your current employer? |
Agree |
More recognition from management |
92% |
Better internal communication |
91% |
Having more freedom to choose your working patterns |
90% |
Better mental health support for employees |
90% |
Greater visibility of my upcoming schedule/hours/holiday |
90% |
Forward-thinking operators are rapidly adopting technology and new working policies and practices so their staff feel more valued and supported.
Learn more at https://www.getsona.com/rethinking-retention
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3 min read
Struggling with staff retention? Learn how regular well-being and mental health check-ins can transform your worker's lives.
2 min read
Sona was invited to join an expert panel to discuss why care providers should be focused on employee engagement and wellbeing in 2022. Read more here.
6 min read
The care industry's crisis needs to be solved. One of the solutions – maybe the most important – is improving staff retention. Learn why it’s important and how to do it.