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People move on or change jobs for a number of reasons – personal and professional. Not all of these are within the control of an organisation. This Guide will only focus on the part that can be influenced.
It can be a difficult moment when a staff member leaves a well-established team. Both for the team members and the young people, the departure can be unexpected and bring up a range of emotion.
However, moving on is also a very normal part of life and can sometimes be a response to a demanding or stressful work environment. When supporting young people, practitioners can sometimes be encouraged to place the needs of the service above their own and staying in an otherwise harmful environment. This guide is not intended to discourage individuals from making those decisions, but rather help organisations in creating environments where people would like to stay.
Retention is the other side of recruitment. Factors that affect retention are work culture, support, resources, pay, individual circumstances, workload and changes in the organisation. It is important for individuals in an organisation to feel appreciated and be appropriately compensated for their work. Having tea and a space to take a break are equally as important as keeping workloads manageable and creating a consistent organisational culture.
Just as retention is crucial for consistency in relationships, in turn organisational consistency leads to retention. While we can name factors that contribute to retention, central to all of it a sense of being able to rely on the organisation to provide those factors consistently. Reliability and trust enable the staff to plan ahead and feel safe while doing their work.
It can feel like retention is a difficult aspect to improve, because the task seems so big and insurmountable. Often it isn’t within a single person’s control to change pay scales, shift patterns or workloads. However, that does not mean that over time retention cannot be improved.
Two strategies can be used to improve retention: setting milestones and immediate changes. A combination of both is what can create a sense of reliability. Consider what long-term milestones in regard to retention make sense for your organisation:
In terms of immediate actions, here are some suggestions:
*Relationship-based practice is an approach that prioritises building trusting, consistent, and empathetic relationships as the foundation for support. *It recognises that meaningful change and positive outcomes are more likely when young people feel valued, understood, and safe in their interactions with adults. *It focuses on the quality of the human connection rather than solely on procedures, emphasising active listening, authenticity, and mutual respect.
*Trauma-informed practice recognises how common trauma is, and how deeply it shapes young people’s development, behaviour, and relationships. *It aims to create safety, avoid re-traumatisation, and promote resilience and healing. *Early experiences leave lasting marks on body and mind. Trauma-informed practice takes this knowledge and applies it so practitioners and organisations can build safe, healing spaces.
Introductions matter — when, how, and where they happen can shape a young person’s entire experience of transition. For young people in care, transitions are often the most difficult times, especially when they involve changes in trusted relationships. This guide looks at how to approach introductions and referrals through the lens of relational practice, focusing on building trust and avoiding unnecessary stress.
What do IT systems and relationships have in common? Both usually run in the background and are easily taken for granted. Yet, IT systems can have a big influence on the quality of relationships and relational practice in general.
One of the first things you learn when you start your job is when you need to arrive and when you need to leave. Have you ever considered that the pattern of your work affects the relationships you are building?
Organisational values influence the working culture. They can inspire workers to follow the organisation's mission. However, for them to have an impact they need to be developed with staff and young people.
It is important to keep learning and growing. Recognise your staff’s value and expertise by developing internal training and discussion sessions. Enable staff to learn and train more. Training should not be a tick-box exercise but a place for growth and reflection.
As is often said, hurt people hurt people – it is even more important to consider the flipside: supported people support people. Working with young people and caring for them can be a demanding role, especially in under-resourced and stressful environments. A truly relational organisation also invests in the relationships between managers and staff, creating a positive environment for everyone.
Relationships are shaped by the culture of organisations. Sometimes one person who ‘doesn’t get it’ can create relational barriers for an entire team. So, it’s easy to see why recruiting the right people is critical to create and maintain a relational organisation.
Strong relationships take time, effort, and trust. For young people with care experience, this can be more complex, requiring patience, consistency, and a clear sense of boundaries. With the right approach, you can build positive, lasting connections that support the young person’s growth and relational skills.
Relationships are essential to all parts of life and encompass both our professional and personal lives. They are a vital part of the support networks for our young people and the stronger the relationship the better we can all do our jobs, perhaps making them feel less like a job and more like a vocation. And perhaps more importantly, the stronger the relationship the more important a young person might feel.
