The Care Workforce Crisis: Why Values-Based Recruitment is the key to transforming the sector 

The adult social care sector in the UK is at breaking point. A workforce crisis has left providers struggling to fill vacancies, with Skills for Care reporting an 8.3% vacancy rate (131,000 vacant posts) in 2024. Care England’s Building the Future Care 2024 Workforce report outlines a solution to bridge the need for an urgent, sector-wide transformation in recruitment and retention strategies by providing an end-to-end solution to help providers fill vacancies and retain staff for longer, of which Values Based Recruitment(VBR) plays a significant part. 

Traditional hiring methods have not proved sufficient to fulfil the recruitment needs of the sector. They contribute to a revolving door of staff, driving up recruitment costs whilst failing to address the fundamental issue: many people entering the sector lack the core values needed to provide compassionate, high-quality care. This is where VBR steps in, offering a revolutionary, cost-effective, and longer-term solution to fixing the workforce crisis.  Care Character, developed by social care recruitment and retention specialists at Cohesion and Prof. Stephen Woods, leverages VBR to reduce retention challenges and ensure a values-aligned workforce for success in the adult social care sector. 

  

The Power of Values-Based Recruitment 

VBR isn’t new, but its adoption in the care sector has never been more critical. Unlike traditional methods, which focus primarily on experience and skills, VBR prioritises the personal values and behavioural traits that align with providing outstanding care, including: 

• Retention and Engagement: According to Skills for Care, organisations using VBR experience a 5.6% reduction in staff turnover, translating to a £4,000 cost saving per hire. 
• Productivity and Performance: Staff recruited based on values perform significantly better, with 72% demonstrating higher productivity than those hired using conventional methods. 
• Reduced Sickness and Absence: Teams built on shared values report a 62% reduction in sickness rates, improving continuity of care and reducing reliance on costly agency staff. 

By moving away from a qualifications-first approach, care providers can attract a new pool of candidates with the right attitudes and emotional intelligence to thrive in care roles. 

 

How recruitment is transformed with Care Character 

One of the UK’s largest not-for-profit care providers, Dimensions, sought a robust, evidence-based recruitment tool that could objectively assess candidates’ values, improve retention, and reduce costly hiring mistakes. Their solution was Care Character. 

Dimensions partnered with Care Character; an innovative assessment platform designed to evaluate candidates against seven essential care qualities: 

1. Communication 
2. Compassion and Empathy 
3. Dutifulness 
4. Teamworking 
5. Inclusivity and Respect 
6. Adaptability and Resilience 
7. Procedural Compliance 

By integrating Care Character’s assessments into their hiring process, Dimensions saw considerable improvements: 

• 30-35% of disengaged candidates self-deselected early, ensuring only the most committed applicants progressed. 
• Interview no-shows dropped by up to 50%, saving valuable time and resources. 
• Personalised interviews led to a 20% increase in job offers, securing the best candidates. 
• For Dimensions UK, failed probation rates fell by 22%, and 6-month turnover reduced by 17%, demonstrating the longer-term impact of values-based hiring. 
• Development Reports enabled structured onboarding, fostering early engagement and reducing early attrition. 

Care Character ensures new employees are aligned with the organisation’s values, display higher engagement levels, stronger teamwork, and a greater commitment to professional development. The impact of VBR extends beyond recruitment, helping to create a more resilient, supportive, and effective workforce, for the people cared for and supported. 

This case study evidences that hiring based on values leads to a stronger, more committed workforce, ultimately improving care quality and organisational stability. 

  

The Benefits: A stronger, more resilient workforce 

As seen by the adoption of Care Character by Dimensions, VBR in care has far-reaching benefits both for employers and people cared for and supported.

1. Higher Retention and Stability

Care providers implementing value-based recruitment see a significant drop in staff turnover, reducing recruitment costs and improving service continuity. A stable workforce ensures that people cared for and supported receive consistent, high-quality care from familiar faces, which is particularly crucial for individuals with complex needs. 

A more stable workforce also helps reduce staff burnout, which is a major contributor to high turnover. With the right people in place, care teams can better support one another, fostering a positive, motivated working environment. 

2. Cost Savings and Efficiency

Skills for Care estimates a 23% cost reduction when value-based recruitment is effectively implemented. Reduced recruitment cycles, lower probation failures, and fewer agency staff help create a more sustainable workforce and thus do not hinder a provider’s finances. 

Organisations adopting values-based recruitment spend less on corrective measures and retraining staff, as employees hired based on their alignment with the organisation’s ethos are more likely to succeed in their roles. 

3. Enhanced Care Quality and Compliance

A workforce aligned with the core values of care demonstrates higher engagement, improved teamwork, and therefore, a greater commitment to CQC compliance and best practices. As laid out in the 2024 End-to-End Workforce Report providers who adopt values-based recruitment consistently report higher inspection ratings and better service user outcomes. 

For care recipients, this translates into a more consistent and compassionate level of service. Carers who are intrinsically motivated to care for others build stronger, more trusting relationships with the individuals they support. 

4. Futureproofing the Sector

With an ageing population and increases in demand for social care, the need for a sustainable workforce strategy is critical. Values-based recruitment ensures a pipeline of dedicated professionals working in adult social care for the right reasons, and not just as a temporary job. 

Providers who embed values-based recruitment into their hiring and development strategies will be better equipped to handle future workforce challenges. By making recruitment a long-term investment which retains more suitable staff for longer, rather than a short-term fix which merely feeds high rates of attrition, the sector can move toward sustained, meaningful change. 

  

A Call to Action 

The evidence is here that values-based recruitment is not just a ‘nice to have’, it is a necessary imperative for the future of adult social care. Care providers who struggle with high staff turnover, rising costs, and deteriorating service quality can use values-based recruitment to create a strong and stable workforce. 

The time for change is now, by adopting tools like Care Character and embedding value-based recruitment into hiring practices, providers build a resilient, compassionate, and dedicated workforce that delivers the quality of care that every person drawing on support deserves. 

For more information on how to implement values-based recruitment and how it can transform the workforce, read Care England’s End-to-End Workforce Guide. 

Find out more about Care Character by visiting https://carecharacter.com/ or by arranging a demo here.  

For support with VBR recruitment solutions, contact Cohesion https://cohesionrecruitment.com/ – Social Care Specialists improving recruitment & retention.