Staff Retention in Social Care

Recruiting and retaining staff in the social care sector remains one of its greatest challenges. The work is as meaningful as it is emotionally demanding, and staff sometimes face limited opportunities for growth. On top of this, high turnover rates can leave teams feeling stretched and vulnerable, impacting both care workers and the individuals they support.

Many providers struggle to attract younger workers, who typically seek flexibility, recognition, and meaningful career paths. Additionally, the sector faces competition from other industries offering higher pay or less demanding duties.

Despite these hurdles, organisations like Caring Care are demonstrating that with the right culture and tools, they have built a stable and motivated team.

A Family-Driven Mission

The story of Caring Care begins in 2008, with founder and director Paramjit Kaur Baines. A former care worker with a vision and a wish to serve diverse communities, Paramjit and her daughter, registered manager Manjinder (Manny), started the company in Walsall. In 2018, Mitesh Joshi joined to support his wife Manny, bringing operational and technological expertise to scale the business. Today, they deliver over 1.5 million care calls annually across the West Midlands – spanning Birmingham, the Black Country, and Staffordshire.

Their ethos is putting people first— a principle that guides not only their approach to care delivery but also how they treat their staff with respect, opportunity, and most importantly, recognition.

Diversity and Inclusion at the Core

From the outset, Caring Care has embraced diversity both in the communities they serve and in their workforce. Their team is built on people of all ages, backgrounds, and experiences, creating an inclusive culture that fosters a sense of belonging and ensures that both care workers and clients feel seen and appreciated.

Manny highlighted how diversity strengthens their team, saying: “When you have people from different backgrounds in the room, it allows everyone to be seen and heard.”

Retaining Younger Care Workers

One of the biggest challenges in social care is retaining younger staff. Younger care workers sometimes view care roles as short-term jobs rather than long-term careers, which can make retention difficult. They tend to seek flexibility and career progression, elements that are not always embedded in traditional care roles.

Caring Care tackles this head-on with a mix of respect, opportunity, and technology-savvy engagement:

• Equal Pay: Younger care workers are paid the same as older colleagues, reinforcing the value of their role.
• Flexible Scheduling: Recognising diverse lifestyle needs, they also offer tailored shifts, like weekends only, mornings only, or part-time options.
• Employee Success Programme: This initiative helps staff map out career goals and explore internal opportunities through secondments and training.

Technology as a Retention Tool

Caring Care has embraced technology not just for efficiency, but to enhance the employee experience with more optimal working practices and workflows:

• Care Planning App: Care workers use a mobile app for logging visits, accessing rotas, and updating care records. This tool eliminates the time-consuming paperwork, giving care workers more time to focus on supporting individuals. It also provides real-time access to care plans and information, making their work more efficient.
• SmartNotes: ACP Smart Notes is an AI-powered note-taking app that uses ambient voice technology to capture client conversations. The app is more than just transcription though; it generates notes of the key talking points for care workers, saving them time on admin and record updates after a care call and ensuring greater accuracy of recollection. This helps deliver more person-centred care.
• PayWise+: Staff can access earned wages before payday or save towards personal goals, reducing financial stress. This flexibility helps staff manage unexpected expenses without resorting to loans or credit, giving them peace of mind during financially challenging times. With real-time earnings tracking and smart money tools, PayWise+ empowers staff to take control of their finances, improve budgeting and build long-term savings, which boosts their wellbeing.
• Access Messenger: A secure, integrated communication tool that helps with streamlining updates and safeguarding data. By centralising all messages in one platform, it reduces compliance risk and ensures confidentiality. Care workers receive instant notifications about client needs, rota updates and other updates, improving responsiveness and reduces missed information.
• Applause Platform: A peer-recognition system where shoutouts and compliments about staff members are shared company-wide, praising excellence and boosting morale through recognition.

Mental Health and Wellbeing

Good mental health is essential for care workers, who are often faced with high-pressure situations and burnout. Because of this, supporting their wellbeing isn’t just about reducing the stress that comes with the job, but helping them feel safe and care for in their workplace. Understanding the emotional demands of care work, Caring Care has invested in mental health support through:

• A dedicated HR coordinator, offering unbiased support.
• Staff can access paid counselling sessions confidentially.
• Managers receive weekly updates on staff wellbeing, which allows for timely interventions.
• The company fosters a culture of empathy, where even a simple check-in can make a difference.

Building Community

Caring Care’s commitment to community extends beyond service delivery. They host an annual awards ceremony and a Santa’s Grotto for employees’ families, reinforcing a family atmosphere, and their involvement in the National Neighbourhood Health Implementation Programme further cements their role in supporting local wellbeing.

With a staff retention rate of 99% and a loss ratio under 1%, Caring Care’s approach is delivering tangible results. Their success lies in treating care workers not just as employees, but as valued individuals with aspirations, challenges, and unique contributions.

Caring Care’s story is a blueprint for workforce retention in social care. By combining traditional values with modern tools, they’ve created a workplace where people want to stay and grow. As Daniel Casson, the host of the webinar, said: “You’re old style in one way and new style in another—and that’s a winning combination.”
Caring Care has built a strong and collaborative relationship with The Access Group, leveraging its suite of Home Care Software to enhance staff engagement, streamline operations, and improve care delivery. From using Access Messenger for secure communication to implementing PayWise+ for flexible wage access, and Access Applause for peer recognition, Caring Care integrates technology to support both its workforce and service users.

Find out more about how The Access Group’s software solutions can help you and your organisation with retention and engagement, or book a quick demo with one of our consultants and discover how technology can strengthen your retention strategy.