The future of care – new research reveals happiness among the social care workforce.
Sam Hussain is the CEO and Founder of Log my Care, the award-winning care management platform making person-centred technology accessible to everyone in social care. Designed alongside support workers, Log my Care’s free Starter Plan gives care providers everything they need to go paperless.
I’ve always been fascinated by technology and its ability to improve our quality of life, both at home and at work. I founded Log my Care when I saw the pressure the UK care system was under. I knew that person-centred technology could lighten the load for those working in the sector and help them deliver better care to those accessing it.
In the media, there’s seemingly endless coverage of the challenges social care is facing. However, this image is at odds with the incredible dedication and optimism voiced by our customers in our daily conversations.
In line with our commitment to social care, we wanted to better understand the sentiment of the people working in the UK care sector, so we surveyed nearly 300 service owners, managers and carers to find out what they really think. Our research report, the future of care: an analysis of job satisfaction and technology in social care, explores the motivations of the social care workforce, what rewards matter the most to them and how technology can support them in their roles.
Although the sector is clearly under pressure, our survey identified a workforce that was predominantly happy in their role. Reflecting these high levels of happiness in their jobs, only a small minority of respondents said they wanted to leave the sector:
- Respondents had an average ranking of 7.9 in which 1 was ‘very unhappy’ and 10 ‘very happy’.
- Only 4% of respondents said they wanted to leave the care sector.
Unsurprisingly, we identified a workforce that is drawn to the sector for predominately altruistic reasons:
- 81% of respondents said that ‘purpose’ was ‘very important’ to them in their role.
- 56% of respondents selected ‘knowing that the job was done well’ as the most important type of reward.
However, the stressors of the pandemic have exacerbated some of the unpleasant factors associated with working in social care:
- 45% of respondents reported that the ‘workload’ was the factor they disliked most about their role, followed by ‘work-life balance’ (37%) and ‘level of responsibility’ (14%).
Our report also revealed a workforce that is comfortable with technology and feels the sector needs to become more digital:
- 67% stated they feel ‘super excited’ by the increasing digitalisation of the sector.
Public sentiment towards the sector is that staff are burned out, overworked and underpaid, but our survey also shines a light on a workforce that truly loves what they do.
Despite its negative image, people are drawn to work in social care for overwhelmingly selfless reasons. They’re passionate about the people they care for and making a difference.
But there’s still work to be done. The sector was in crisis before the pandemic and studies show that social workers’ mental wellbeing and quality of working life have decreased since it began.
Our report and recent research in the health and social care sector indicate that we urgently need to ensure our frontline workers have the working conditions and development opportunities they desire. While digital adoption may be the solution, empowering staff to embrace this change has to come from the top-down, with the right technology and support in place for its implementation.
The sector has experienced incredible hardship in recent years, but technology can pave the way for a brighter future and we can’t wait to be a part of that.
