ILPC 2027

Personalisation of social care is increasingly a key aim of government policy in ensuring that people who receive services have greater choice over how such services are delivered. According to the Commission on Personalisation the move to give greater choice to people who use services is ‘one of the most significant reforms to the welfare state for decades’, with potentially far-reaching consequences for voluntary sector organisations and their workforce. Thus, the process of personalisation is often presented as being transformative in the manner in which it empowers both people who use services and employees. For those working in social care personalisation has therefore far reaching consequences with regard to job functions, working practices and the required skills and behaviour. To date, much of the research on workforce issues arising has tended to focus primarily on social workers. There has been limited research on the experiences of other front line workers and people who use services especially in voluntary organisations. As part of the process of transformation and empowerment employees in voluntary organisations who are responsible for delivering social care are increasingly expected to demonstrate a range of skills. For example, employees as part of an empowerment process increasingly have to deal with multiple agencies; develop skills in personal advocacy, brokerage, counselling and risk assessment; and navigate people who use services to the type of services they require. Studies have also highlighted the need to develop multi-skilled workers at all levels to create ‘hybrid roles’ where they would undertake tasks previously done by other professions concerning issues such as health, housing, leisure and employment.

To assess the impact of attempts to further empower employees the paper reports data gathered from three voluntary sector organisations in Scotland, Oakwood, Cedar and Chestnut.[i] Each organisation was chosen on the basis of their different approaches to adopting personalisation. Across the three organisations semi-structured interviews were conducted with employees (n=15), managers (n=10) and people who use services (n=6). In addition semi-structured interviews were done with four key national policymakers involved in the formulation and implementation of aspects of the personalisation agenda. Interviews were designed to gain an insight into the process of implementing personalisation in Scotland; the issues regarding implementation of that agenda; and an overview of the workforce implications.

The main findings from the paper suggest that whilst both policymakers and managers and employees in the case study organisations were enthusiastic about the potential benefits of personalisation with regard to the opportunities for the independence of people who receive services and enhancement of workforce skills a number of concerns remained. These concerns centred on the potential impact of public spending cuts and the manner in which personalisation becomes a means to further cut costs. There were also concerns about skills gaps among employees, fragmented working hours, new performance management regimes and the impact of deteriorating terms and conditions of employment on worker morale, especially in the context of expectations that they would take on a more empowered role in the provision of care.