Recruitment and workforce management

This Workforce Strategy was developed by Skills for Care in collaboration with the
adult social care sector – including people who draw on care and support. It seeks to
set out where we are now, the drivers and case for change, and where we want to
make changes to build the workforce of the future.

Behavioural based interviewing is interviewing based on discovering how the interviewee acted in specific employment‐related situations. This module gives you the skills to identify and understand the principles of behavioural based interviewing and how to apply those skills in an interview situation.

Good people management skills are vital in meeting the challenges faced by organisations of all shapes and sizes across the world. Designed by world-class academics from The Open University, with input from industry experts with diverse perspectives, this microcredential will introduce you to frameworks and ideas that will help you become an ethical and inclusive people manager and leader. You’ll learn the critical tools and techniques needed to adapt and respond to the changing needs of your organisation, and further your career.

In this online content you will learn how to deal with disciplinary issues and what to do when an employee raises a grievance. Whether you’re a manager or an individual who is directly affected by these issues this content will guide you through the process.

The module covers these areas:

• Definitions of discipline and grievance
• The legal principles
• The disciplinary process
• Failing to meet standards
• Level of responses
• Disciplinary meetings
• Grievances
• Raising a grievance
• Dealing with a grievance
• Grievance meetings
• Support and appeals

Launched by The Careers & Enterprise Company in 2023, the Employer Standards offer a clear framework to help businesses understand what effective careers education outreach looks like.

By self-assessing against the Standards, you can:

• Plan and structure your engagement with schools and colleges
• Identify strengths and areas for development
• Connect with peers and share expertise
• Benchmark your approach and access tailored resources

The Careers and Enterprise Company also offers a free self-assessment tool, based on the Employer Standards framework. It allows employers to:

• Review the quality of their careers engagement activities (e.g. workplace visits, open days)
• Learn from examples of best practice
• Track progress over time with a personalised report and updated resources
• See how their results compare with similar organisations, by size, sector, and region.

This can be a helpful way for care providers with limited time to reflect on current activities and identify practical ways to strengthen links with schools and colleges. Results are confidential and not shared publicly.

The UK Government has published this series of factsheets explaining the proposed Employment Rights Bill. These outline key changes and what they could mean for employers and employees.

This interactive seminar is designed to support workforce planning and help CQC-regulated services meet key areas of CQC assessment focus effectively. The seminar and its exclusive, customised tools will help you embed systems and processes to ensure staff are competent and supported to provide safe, effective, and person-centred care. It will mean you have fewer compliance issues during CQC assessments and help you to make financial savings.

This page shares key information on the Level 2 foundation apprenticeship that has been launched in 2025 to help young people take their first steps into adult social care. Designed for those aged 16–21 (or up to 25 with an EHCP or if they are a care or prison leaver), this employment-based route is mapped to key roles such as:

• Adult care worker
• Healthcare support worker
• Personal assistant
• Mental health support worker

The programme gives learners valuable real-world experience, a recognised qualification, and clear routes for progression. It also supports employers to build a confident and sustainable workforce for the future.

The Great Care Employer scheme, developed by West Sussex County Council in partnership with West Sussex Partners in Care, offers care providers a way to highlight the benefits of working for their organisation. The scheme’s webpage also features a range of resources designed to help providers strengthen their offer and showcase examples of good practice.

Here you will find information and resources specific to the South East of England, designed to help you overcome the barriers to international recruitment while upholding ethical practices.

Recruiting internationally is one of the solutions that some adult social care employers use to address ongoing workforce capacity challenges. International recruitment must always be carried out in a legal and ethical manner. Providers need to be supported to recruit staff from abroad in a way that meets the needs of those people when they arrive and are in post.

This international recruitment guide was released in March 2024 by Skills for Care in partnership with the Department of Health and Social Care to support good practice.

Skills for Care and NHS England have collaborated to create catalogue of free-to-access learning materials for anyone new to a role in health and social care. The induction modules are designed to equip new starters with a clear understanding of health and social care sector, as well as the values and behaviours needed to succeed in their role.

These new resources were developed to support employers recruit and retain nurses in their workforce, sharing good practice from pre-registration right through the nursing career span.  

Advice on providing high-quality work experience placements that benefit both employers and potential recruits. It includes a list of forms and templates to use in your own work experience programme.

This is a bite-size guide to help you to explore and maximise opportunities that overseas recruitment offers. Real life examples are included to help you to learn from the experience of others.

Discover the key methods, strategies and principles of people management and develop your own management style.

Whether you’re a natural leader or want to improve your management skills, this 5-week course will teach you the people management skills you need on your journey towards becoming a successful line manager.

Who is the course for?

This course is designed for new and aspiring line managers or companies that want to provide employees with people management skills.

This course has been developed by the CIPD with the financial support of JPMorgan Chase Foundation.

The Recruit to retain programme is designed specifically for CQC-regulated adult social care services, offering practical, values-based strategies to strengthen recruitment, support staff development, and reduce turnover. This three-day interactive workshop provides practical tools and hands-on experiences to seamlessly integrate these principles into your daily operations. With a focus on real-world application, you’ll gain immediately actionable strategies to create a values-driven, supportive workplace that attracts and retains staff.

Our tools and resources can help you recruit and retain people who have the right values for your organisation and the adult social care sector.

Values-based recruitment is essential to ensuring you employ a compassionate, person-centred workforce that is committed to providing quality care. It can be tricky to know how to assess a candidate’s values and whether they align with those of your organisation.

Skills for Care has worked with social care experts at University of York to create ‘Curious about Care’, a free evidence-based tool that can be used as part of your recruitment process. It allows you to explore different scenarios with a candidate to better understand their values, helping you assess if they are a good fit for your organisation.

WSPiC offer a range recruitment support for adult social care employers in West Sussex, including the below:

• Help with job adverts
• Signposting to recruitment resources such as events, initiatives, schemes and apprenticeships
• Guides and marketing materials to help with your recruitment
• Bespoke advice

This new step-by-step guide is designed to help care providers strengthen their recruitment processes. It offers practical tips, advice, and ready-to-use templates to support you at every stage.

The toolkit includes:

• A recruitment plan template to structure your approach
• Prompts to set objectives, identify recruitment challenges, and plan activities
• Pages to complete your annual recruitment plan

This Better Hiring Toolkit provides simple guidance to support you to both obtain and provide effective references and conduct information. At the heart of the Toolkit is the safety of the people who employers are entrusted to care for and the staff who carry out this role.

According to data from Skills for Care, just 8% of the adult social care workforce are under 25. This highlights both a challenge and an opportunity: how do we attract, support, and retain young people in care roles so the sector can thrive in the future?

This edition of the MILE newsletter explores ways to inspire the next generation of care professionals, from apprenticeships and skills bootcamps to practical resources on recruitment, induction, and retention.

The Care Workforce Pathway is a new framework for career progression in adult social care. It defines clear career routes by outlining the knowledge, skills, values, and behaviours needed to deliver high-quality, personalised care and support. The pathway is structured around a series of role categories.

To support implementation, Skills for Care has released a suite of practical resources to help care providers embed the pathway within their organisations. These tools are designed to guide you through the different ways you can adopt and use the pathway effectively.

This report provides information about the adult social care sector, including its size and
structure, employment information, recruitment and retention issues, workforce demographics,
pay, qualification and training rates, workforce projections, and factors affecting staff turnover
and CQC ratings. This year, following changes to UK immigration rules, additional information
has been provided regarding the level of international recruitment within adult social care and its
impact on the workforce.

Published 15th October 2025, Skills for Care’s report features key trends in filled posts, pay, recruitment and demographics.

Once you have good people working in your organisation, you want to keep and develop them. Having staff who like their jobs and do them well will reflect in the quality of care that they provide. It is also good for productivity and ensuring the future sustainability of your organisation. 

Whether you’re new to social media or want to sharpen your approach, this resource page is packed with short videos to help you attract the right people into care roles. It covers everything from choosing the right platform to creating content and understanding algorithms, with tips for Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok and more.

Attract a diverse range of candidates for your roles and hire people previously underrepresented in your workforce. People from all backgrounds can have the right values to work in social care and bring a wealth of perspectives, ideas and ‘lived experience’ to your workforc

We have guidance and tools to help both providers and commissioners to shape, commission, plan and develop the workforce.