Sona Webinar Recap | Closing the gap: Strategies for workforce retention in Hospitality
Here are the main takeaways from Sona’s webinar on closing the labour gap in the Hospitality industry.
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.
Over 500k shifts are created by our customers each year.
Integrate with Nourish.
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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
Here are the main takeaways from Sona’s webinar on closing the labour gap in the Hospitality industry.
| 2 min read
Sona has been shortlisted for the Innovative Solutions, Care Homes and Best Care Marketing Team categories, at the Leaders in Care Awards 2023. The awards ceremony annually recognises the best providers, leaders, and suppliers in social care.
| 8 min read
Welcome to the first edition of Sona’s Social Care around the world series.
PUBLISHED: September 2023
Why are people leaving Social Care, and where are they going?
This report looks at the trends seen in the last year, the meaningful changes compared to 2022, and highlights how Social Care organisations can improve recruitment and retention, and better target the needs of those who receive care.
PUBLISHED: July 2023
10 practical strategies to boost your sales per labour hour
These practical strategies will help your hospitality organisation gain a competitive edge by boosting sales per labour hour (SPLH). Provide a few details to get instant access!
PUBLISHED: June 2023
Showing appreciation is crucial for staff retention in the care industry.
Our latest report provides 15 practical ways to boost team morale with proven examples from across the sector. Provide a few details to get instant access!
PUBLISHED: June 2023
Sona's KPI Cheat Sheet is designed to provide clear metrics to track progress and make informed decisions specifically within the Care industry.
PUBLISHED: April 2023
Our set of handy templates is designed to help you improve your employee experience and retention rates, covering the key questions you should consider asking any future leaver.
PUBLISHED: January 2023
Take our bespoke quiz, designed to help you understand your communication style and provide tips to improve your communication with others.
In 2021 the first National Care Awareness Survey was released, and with it, a unique opportunity to hear first-hand from the nation’s care professionals. The survey helped shine a light on the UK’s social care industry and its needs. This year, we were pleased to lend our support as the survey’s official sponsor. Let’s take a look at the headlines.
5 minute read
After all, back in 2021, only 61% of workers were planning to stay in the industry–with a whooping 72% feeling their salary was unfair.
However, there’s still a long way to go, especially in the areas of workforce management and well-being support - concerns which were also highlighted in the latest CQC State of Care report.
The National Care Association questions in the survey highlight the three key areas of concern in the sector. Those are:
Let’s see what employers and managers can do to ensure that these areas have been addressed by next year’s survey.
With a high number of respondents saying that employee recognition is an area of concern, it’s worth digging a little deeper to understand how to meet this challenge and the benefits of fixing this problem.
92% of care employees say that more recognition from management would make them happier in their current roles. And we know that happy employees perform better and are more likely to stay.
Recognition can be as simple as a ‘thank you’ or ‘well done’ in a private message or a public shout-out to showcase those doing an exceptional job.
Quick and easy solutions can go a long way. Managers know that recognition is important: it helps improve employee retention, employee engagement, and productivity. No one wants to work hard for a thankless job. However, praising staff often falls to the bottom of the priority list.
How can this problem be addressed?
Employers need to create a culture of recognition, which means embedding it in the company’s culture, policies, and values.
In the Social Care sector, patients/residents must be the top priority. However, this can mean staff neglect their own physical and mental well-being. This is a significant problem in the industry since the well-being of workers has a huge impact on the quality of care they provide.
Social workers are on the front line, working long hours caring for others, which can take a massive toll on their physical and mental well-being.
A survey commissioned by the British Association of Social Workers (BASW) and talk radio station LBC found that one-third of social workers reported experiencing emotional responses to their work on a fortnightly basis, such as crying or feeling unwell, at least once a week.
That’s a startling statistic which highlights an urgent need for more support. One simple thing that can have a massive impact on staff well-being is weekly check-ins.
Wellbeing check-ins help your staff feel heard and connected and provide an ‘early warning system’ for managers, who can make appropriate interventions before burnout occurs.
The Great Resignation—otherwise known as the post-pandemic mass exodus of unsatisfied workers—is still significantly affecting the sector, causing a Social Care staffing crisis.
This crisis can be addressed by better managing the workforce, checking in with colleagues to make sure they’re feeling good, and giving recognition when it’s due.
The Health and Social Care sectors were among those hit hardest by the pandemic. Many are thinking twice before joining the industry if factors like low salaries, compromised well-being, and lack of recognition don’t truly improve.
However, there is a solution. Although some problems may be harder to fix, like salaries due to lack of funding, improving working practices and staff well-being are very possible, especially when technology is on your side.
Our Co-founder Oli Johnson believes there is an abundance of opportunity for technology to address some of the sector’s major concerns over the next year:
“The survey results are clear - keeping staff happy, healthy and motivated will continue to be one of the sector’s most significant challenges going into 2023. Care is all about people, so it’s no surprise that recognition, well-being, recruitment, and retention were the top three issues of concern.
"And as we know, it’s not just about pay. What jumps out from the findings is the vital role that employee recognition and well-being strategies can play in reducing turnover and improving engagement and productivity.
"Exciting initiatives are happening in both these areas across social care, yielding some fantastic results. But we must work together to accelerate the pace of change in 2023 to attract and retain amazing talent and deliver the quality and quantity of care the country needs.”
With almost half of the respondents of the National Care Awareness survey believing that digital software could aid their duties, it’s time to take action.
Workforce management tools like Sona offer a long-term solution, solving immediate issues such as scheduling and filling shifts and relieving pressed staff of time-consuming admin tasks.
With Sona, employees can better organise their time, and managers and human resource departments can improve employee well-being and engagement with recognition and staff check-ins.
Retaining and making the most out of your social care workforce is possible with the right policies, processes and technology, all working in harmony:
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2 min read
Sona is now an award-winning company after being named Innovative Solution of the Year for Care Homes in the 2022 Leaders In Care Awards in Birmingham.
10 min read
HR teams in UK Social Care will face many challenges in this post-pandemic and inflation-ridden year. Here are the 5 biggest HR challenges of 2023.
2 min read
According to our latest research, 79% of leavers are open to working in health and social care again in the future. Here are some practical steps health and social care organisations can take to reduce preventable labour turnover.