Care home workers rate their bosses in new Best Employers in Care awards

Care home employers will be rated by their staff in a new awards scheme based on feedback from thousands of care workers.

The biggest challenge facing many care home providers is recruiting and retaining good care workers. The UK’s ageing population and sometimes negative media coverage of the care sector exacerbate this problem.

The Best Employers In Care Awards has been launched to overcome this challenge and recognise the sector’s best companies to work for. The awards are based on feedback from care workers, who complete a confidential Carer Engagement Survey.

This is provided by specialist research agency Smith & Henderson and asks them to rate the initial training, their job satisfaction, communication, client services and development opportunities. Based on the anonymous feedback, the shortlist and winners of the Awards will be then determined.

Steven Frost, chief executive of Smith & Henderson said: “For several years, we’ve been helping leading care providers on an ad-hoc basis gather feedback from their carers, improve employee engagement and reduce staff turnover. Through The Best Employers in Care Awards, we will be able to help more care providers become better places to work, improve retention and change perceptions of careers in care.”

Dr Emily Bladon-Wing, director at Community Therapeutic Services, a care home provider in the south west of England, said: “Knowing we are all facing a staff shortage in care has meant we want to focus our efforts on not only recruiting staff with the 'right’ attitudes, but also to retain the good staff we have as well. Choosing the external survey from the Best Employers in Care, we felt that we could ensure current staff would provide honest feedback.”

The Awards are free to enter and open to all care providers operating in the UK, with at least 25 care workers.

There are three categories:

• Local – 25-199 employees

• Mid-size – 200-999 employees

• Large – 1,000+ employees

Following their survey, care providers will receive a summary of their feedback, but can upgrade to receive a more detailed report and benchmark data to help them pinpoint how to improve employee engagement and retention.

The deadline for entries is midnight on 18th September 2016 and the winners will be announced at an awards ceremony in November 2016. For more information on the background to the awards and categories, please visit www.bestcareemployers.co.uk

The Best Employers in Care Awards are provided by Smith & Henderson – a leading research agency. Over 120 organisations including blue chip companies like McDonald’s, O2 and the Post Office rely on Smith & Henderson to help them measure and improve employee engagement, retention and customer satisfaction. For more information about Smith & Henderson visit www.smithhenderson.com