Residents are at the heart of everything that we do in a care home, and continuity plays a big role in their care. Team turnover can have an impact on team morale and the level of individual competence. Recruitment is both an investment of time and finance, so we need to not only develop our team members to retain them, but also to create a solid future succession plan and pipeline of talent. 

As a leader this means that investing in the development of our internal talent should be a priority to ensure that we have a high performing team and a strong succession plan for both leadership roles and critical roles within our homes.

Our recruitment processes should be designed to find not only the right person for the role, but also the potential talent for future roles. We then have a responsibility to support the development of each individual team member to empower them to be successful in their role. 

We should also be having regular conversations to understand what their career aspirations may be, or if they want to be the best that they can in their current role. Annual appraisals provide the opportunity to talk about future ambitions and the desire to progress or take on a broader role. 12-weekly reviews allow us to regularly discuss performance, provide feedback, and identify training and development needs.

These individual conversations should then feed into a wider conversation that identifies the development needs of both current and future talent and enables us to plan how to support them.

At Hallmark Luxury Care Homes, we have a number of homes in different locations, so it is important for us to have a consistent and regular approach to identifying our current and future talent and the individual development they need. Each team member identified through this process is then supported to create their own personal development plan and goals. This plan is tailored to their individual needs, so each one will look very different but can include:

• Coaching
• Mentoring
• Leadership development
• Projects
• Job shadowing

As a Talent Development Manager, I support our leaders to develop their newly promoted line managers, which will have a positive impact on their teams and residents. Identifying and then coaching and mentoring our future leaders to reach their full potential is an important part of my role. 

I also recognise the positive impact we can have by developing team members who have applied for a leadership role and not been successful at this stage. Coaching them to create a clear development plan to achieve their career ambitions and be ready for future opportunities is important for their motivation, engagement and ultimately retention. Building and developing future leaders allows us to create a strong succession plan in our homes and key roles across the business.

This support allows us to invest in our team's development, motivate them and build individual relationships which has a positive impact on retention.

Top tips for General Managers

• Create a process that allows you to identify the development that your current talent needs.
• Identify your future talent and put a plan in place to develop them.
• Build your internal coaching and mentoring capability.
• Identify a blended learning approach to developing internal talent.
• Look for learning opportunities across your wider organisation.

And finally, taking the time to invest in your current and future talent will save you time in the longer term and will build stronger employee engagement and relationships.

AnnMarie Duggan will be speaking at the Care Managers Show on Thursday 27 June about Nurse Student Training at 11:55am.