We are so proud of the fact that we have been shortlisted for no less than five Great British Carers award this year. Helen Twiddy and Sarah Cawdron have both been recognised in the Home Care Worker of the Year category and Rachel Chettleburgh has been recognised as Registered Manager of the Year, whilst our Managing Director, Gordon Anderson, has been shortlisted for Outstanding Contribution to Social Care. Amazing! As a company we are also delighted to have been shortlisted for the Homecare Employer of the Year Award; an accolade we were honoured to win when the awards were last held in 2019. So, we are looking ahead to the finals later this month with much excitement.
Our goal as a company has long been to be recognised as the employer of choice for social care staff. We passionately believe that happy staff deliver the outstanding service on which we pride ourselves here at Cavell Healthcare and we work hard to ensure that our staff know just how much they are appreciated.
Since being awarded regional Homecare Employer Award 2019, we have obviously been through a global pandemic, during which all of the team had to work, despite their own personal fears for themselves and their families. As key workers, they had to go out and ensure that our clients continued to receive the service on which they depend and, in fact, relied on even more during the pandemic, when their families were unable to assist them during the lockdowns.
So, it has been more important than ever to keep staff morale high and to show our appreciation for their hard work. As such, we have implemented many ideas to show our staff how grateful we are – from a simply thank you card, key ring or goodie bag to a Christmas hamper for every single member of the team, packed full of goodies for them to enjoy and share with their loved ones. As big fans of The Office, Managing Director, Gordon Anderson, arranged a video message from David Brent, and he also surprised 13 members of staff with an all-expense paid luxury overnight stay at Barham Broom Hotel and 6 members of staff with an indulgent traditional English afternoon tea.
Even more important than the gifts and tokens to show our thanks, has been the fact that we genuinely care for the well being of our team. So we carry out weekly phone calls and regular well-being checks to ensure they are ok and monitor their mental health; this has been more important than ever as we have all battled through COVID19.
We also believe in investing in staff. Many of the team have benefited from Dementia Awareness training, as the “Virtual Dementia Bus” came to the office, giving staff the chance to experience what it is like for their clients to live everyday with dementia. We have also recruited an in-house trainer so that staff can more easily advance their professional development, and we have had a number of staff completing NVQs in various aspects of Health & Social Care and Business Management.
Overall, we believe our success in recruitment and staff retention is down to the fact that we generate a caring culture through teamwork and communication. We have built a trust with staff, our clients and external stakeholders and all work together to be able to achieve the same goal.
