Workforce engagement and development
Workforce engagement
The leadership team is engaging with staff through regular service-wide newsletters, staff surveys, including the corporate Pulse survey, messaging from the Director and Assistant Directors and holding virtual and in person question and answer session briefings with staff, with attendance ranging from 50 -100 colleagues per session (four quarterly sessions). These activities were reflected positively in the staff survey in terms of visibility of the Director and senior leadership team.
A second annual conference for around 250 members of staff to share learning, celebrate achievements and for attendees to reflect on their own wellbeing was held in April 2024. The conference theme focussed on the concept of one workforce, ‘Working Together’ and the Adults' Services Improvement Programme. It also included a keynote speaker from the British Institute of Human Rights. Staff feedback was positive with those attending inspired and proud to be part of the service.
“Great event for staff – especially inspiring to understand our role in the big picture of the improvement plans. We can only achieve by doing together!”
Leadership and management events take place quarterly across the whole council, bringing together leaders and sharing good practice between services. Quarterly recognition programmes include the council-wide employee Living our Values awards, with 56 nominations for individuals and one team nomination for colleagues in the Directorate in 2023/24.
Leadership and workforce development
An overarching adult social care workforce strategy outlining our ambitions for our staff has been agreed. A programme to develop our leaders is also being created to ensure that managers have the skills, knowledge, tools, and confidence to manage through challenging times, keep themselves and their teams focused, well, future-fit and delivering great outcomes. In conjunction with this, leadership teams are embarking on a programme of culture change focusing on engagement, adaptability, resilience, and learning and development across the staff group. We are progressing this throughout 2024. A review of performance conversations and supervisions within Adults' Services has just been undertaken to help identify the things we do well and where we need to develop. Performance conversations between managers and staff are an important part of the way we work and focus on wellbeing, objectives, expectations and support and development needs. The annual performance cycle includes regular individual conversations, team discussions focused on business plan priorities and how the team contributes, and an individual annual review conversation summarising achievements, challenges, learning, development and career aspirations.
We are proud of our workforce and have a considerable range of learning and development opportunities on offer to staff in all roles and grades via the WSCC Learning Management System, including access to a range of apprenticeships to further skills and enable career progression. We have a rolling programme of apprenticeships into occupational therapy and social work regulated roles. We have recently reviewed and updated learning and development pathways for all operational roles and grades from unregulated staff through to managers.
Continuous Professional Development (CPD) programmes and support are delivered by our Quality Practice & Service Development Team, including for newly qualified social workers and occupational therapists, those progressing to senior professional level and social worker and occupational therapy apprenticeships. We work in close partnership with Chichester and Brighton Universities in the design and delivery of courses and programmes at qualifying and post qualifying levels.
Assessed and Supported Year in Employment (ASYE)
We have a strong practice development offer and a skilled professional workforce. Our ASYE programme, Post Qualifying (PQ) CPD and apprenticeships provide our regulated workforce with the knowledge, skills, and confidence to deliver high quality social care in line with the Care Act. It is a key component in supporting attraction, retention and progression across the council. We currently have 24 social worker and eight occupational therapist apprentices.
Spotlight: International recruitment
We commenced our first international recruitment project in January 2022, led by our Assistant Director of Operations. Working in partnership with Tripod/Frontier (a specialist recruitment agency) we set an ambitious objective of making 10 offers of employment to international social workers by the end of March 2021. (Phase one).
Utilising a government workforce grant we developed a recruitment campaign guided by the NHS ethical list with a focus on training, progression and wellbeing. Our Principal Social Worker and Principal Occupational Therapist developed an internal induction and training programme including individualised welcome packs with information about West Sussex, the UK and links to relevant community services, which the candidates had indicated were of interest to them.
In addition, we also developed a progression and competency process and commissioned external training from Chinara Enterprises which included coaching sessions to support recruits with the significant life change and specific training to ensure they were well equipped to practice occupational therapy and social work in the UK.
We were able to achieve our objective of 10 social workers and have since recruited eight occupational therapists (Phase two) all of whom have now joined our community, hospital, learning disability and mental health teams. All recruits in phase one have commenced their CPD portfolio to move to senior roles. Several have expressed an interest in training to be AMHPs. We continue to provide aftercare and support to enable the staff and their families to integrate into the council and the UK.
Phase three commenced in January 2023 which was a joint project with Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust Mental Health, utilising a hospital discharge grant, to successfully recruit 30 social workers between the organisations and 10 occupational therapists for the trust. Phase three candidates began to arrive in the UK in September 2023 and the final recruits will be in post by the end of October 2024. We have utilised a buddy scheme to link them with previous arrivals.
From the initial phase one cohort, two of the recruits have progressed to senior social work practitioner roles and a third is interviewing for the AMHP course at Brighton University.
Due to the success of our project, we have presented our approach to ADASS and worked with Oxfordshire County Council to develop an international recruitment toolkit which will be used across the South East region. We continue to utilise our knowledge to support other authorities.
Case Study: International Social Worker
"Relocating to a new country is never a straightforward experience. It's a rollercoaster of emotions, a tapestry woven with moments of joy and threads of longing. The initial days were marked by a sense of disorientation. The food tasted different, the weather felt alien, and even the smallest routines were a challenge. These nuances are invisible to others; we put on a brave face and pushed forward, but the struggle was real and deeply personal. […] Through it all, one constant source of support and stability has been provided by WSCC. From the day we joined, WSCC has been more than just an employer. It has been a family, a community that welcomed us with open arms. The organization has been a pillar of strength, offering unwavering support during our low points and celebrating our successes with genuine warmth.
It has provided a space where I could voice my feelings and experiences without hesitation. My team, colleagues, and managers have always been there to listen, offering a shoulder to lean on and words of encouragement. While there are limits to what any organization can do, the efforts made by WSCC to create a nurturing environment have been nothing short of remarkable. They have fostered a sense of belonging, ensuring that we felt seen, heard, and valued."