Ask what makes a good colleague want to stay

What we found in the news

When Skills for Care launched its workforce strategy in July 2024 (opens in a new tab), it described an aim to:

“improve the quality of roles in adult social care”

— Skills for Care, July 18, 2024

The strategy brought together perspectives from across England’s adult social care sector. Its ambitions are not proof that a particular retention initiative works. They prompt a practical question for individual organizations: what is the working day asking of the people we hope will stay?

Why this matters to us

A valued colleague can enjoy supporting people and still find the way the job is organized difficult to sustain.

Consider a hypothetical program coordinator who likes the team and knows participants well. Their planned work repeatedly changes because cover is uncertain. They finish routine administration after the service closes and are unsure which tasks can wait.

A thank-you is welcome. It does not resolve the working arrangement.

At genus, we are interested in how organizations support the people behind dependable care. Retention belongs in those ordinary conversations, before it becomes an exit interview.

Ask about the work people actually encounter

Make space to discuss what helps someone do their role and what regularly gets in the way. Ask for concrete examples rather than relying only on a general satisfaction rating.

Different colleagues may face different pressures. A part-time employee may miss decisions made on a day they are away. A new manager may have responsibility without enough preparation. Someone working across locations may spend more time traveling than the roster suggests.

Listen without assuming every difficulty can be solved locally. Pay, staffing, and contractual arrangements may require wider decisions. Naming those limits honestly is more useful than directing every concern toward personal resilience.

In our hypothetical service, the first useful step might be to examine why administration is consistently pushed beyond the planned day.

Choose a response that reaches the cause

Discuss which tasks require a specific person and which can be organized differently. Check whether interruptions reflect new needs or a recurring gap in the process.

If work exceeds the time available, leaders need to decide what will change. Simply making the task list more visible can leave the same person carrying the same excess work.

Agree a bounded action and a review point. A clearer handoff or protected time may help in one setting; another may need additional capacity or a revised service commitment.

Keep the conversation respectful of the colleague’s choices. A person may want development, stability, different hours, or a role elsewhere. Retention should not become pressure to stay regardless of what fits their life.

Notice the experience of support

Look at whether support is available in practice. Are supervision conversations repeatedly canceled? Can staff ask a question without waiting for a crisis? Do people know how decisions affecting their work are made?

Recognize what is already working and ask why. A well-supported team may have useful arrangements other colleagues could adapt, but avoid assuming that copying a meeting or checklist will reproduce the whole experience.

Use workforce information carefully. A change in turnover can have several explanations, and small teams can show large percentage swings when one person leaves.

Combine the numbers with a fair account of what colleagues describe. Keep individual conversations private and avoid making someone’s personal circumstances a management case study without permission.

What this means for the people you serve

Participants may value familiar people, but staff continuity is only one part of a dependable service. Explain roles and cover arrangements so support does not depend on one colleague always being present. Include participants’ experience when reviewing how changes affect the program.

The genus connection

Configured genus staff tools can help organize recorded activities, relevant participant context, and agreed tasks today. Training resources and operational workspaces can support the modules an organization uses.

These capabilities do not establish a staffing model or resolve working conditions. We would want to understand the work before proposing a tool as part of the response. Making an avoidable step easier can help; it should not be presented as an answer to every reason someone might leave.

One question for your next team meeting

What recurring difficulty have colleagues described that we are ready to examine at the level where it can actually change?