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Session 5: Creating my action plan
Introduction
In Session 4 you looked at how carers in the workforce can be supported and you will now have a greater awareness of the sorts of measure that can be put into place to achieve this.
This session is about setting goals – these may be for yourself and/or for the organisation you work in. You will start to think about creating an action plan and where you can find the information and support you need to progress action.
Learning outcomes
After working through this session you will have:
a clearer understanding of the experiences of carers
an understanding of carers’ motivations to return to work, or to balance paid employment with their caring role
an awareness of the factors that may help or hinder carers who are in paid employment, and the support available to them
an understanding of your role, and your organisation’s role, in supporting carers in your workforce
insight to help promote early identification of carers as part of your support and supervision
an awareness of how workplace policies and practice can help ensure carers don’t experience discrimination at work
the ability to identify practical steps to take to foster a Carer Positive workplace
an understanding of how the Core Principles for Working with Carers and Young Carers are applicable in your practice.
Stepping stones and my action plan
The Carer Positive is an award for employers in Scotland who have a working environment where carers are valued and supported. This might be through flexible working policies or with simple practical measures that can make a big difference to carers.
To be recognised as Carer Positive, employers complete a simple self-assessment application form showing how their organisation meets criteria in five key areas. There are three levels of award, from ‘Engaged’, to ‘Established’, through to ‘Exemplary’. The award is designed to enable organisations of all sizes and structures to engage in the process.
Completing the Caring_Counts_in_the_Workplace course is not a requirement of Carer Positive but would certainly provide strong evidence that would contribute to meeting the required criteria.
To find out more about Carer Positive visit their website.
This session will help you to identify steps you can take towards becoming a Carer Positive workplace, even if you don’t intend to apply for the award.
Steps to becoming Carer Positive
In Activity 5.1 you will draw up an action plan based on the Carer Positive criteria. You will also think about where you and/or your organisation are trying to get to, and within what sort of timescale.
Before you write your action plan you might like to look at an example to help you identify the steps you could take to support carers in your workplace.
| My long-term goal | |||
| To contribute effectively to developing and embedding a culture of support for carers within my department and the organisation as a whole. | |||
| Carer Positive criteria | What I am going to do | Where I will go for help or advice | When I will do this |
Identification of carers: There is clarity around what is meant by the term ‘carer’ A system is in place to enable carers to identify themselves (if they choose to) | Ensure that I am aware of existing systems in place to enable carers to identify themselves and that it is clear what we mean by the term ‘carer’ If no system is currently in place I need to investigate ways of progressing this Arrange a meeting with the senior management team (SMT) to discuss ways of identifying carers | Speak to the HR department or someone with responsibility for personnel issues This may need to be raised at a senior management level | I can do this quickly – within the week I will ask for this to go on the agenda for the next SMT meeting |
Policy: Carers are recognised within existing organisation/HR policies Where no policies exist there is a statement which makes specific reference to supporting carers within the organisation There is knowledge of and adherence to the minimum statutory employment rights for working carers | Ensure that I am fully aware of the statutory employment rights that affect carers and understand how carers are supported within the existing policies of the organisation If existing policies need to be updated or amended to include a carers section or statement, raise this with HR/senior management | Speak to the HR department or someone with responsibility for personnel issues As above | Within the week Next SMT meeting |
Workplace support: Information on external forms of support and services for carers is available Options for carers to benefit from additional practical support in the workplace are identified | I will ensure that information on local support services and carers centres is available for staff to access I will identify some practical actions that will help carers feel more supported in the workplace | Get advice from local carers centres about this Speak to employees who are carers to ask what might be helpful Source additional information from relevant websites and support services | I will phone Carers Scotland on Tuesday Raise at the next staff team meeting |
Communication, awareness raising and training: Policies and available workplace support is communicated to all levels of/members of staff | In the first place, I will ask staff if they are aware of the policies and support currently in place for carers I will review current methods of communication and identify the scope to develop these | Speak to employees who are carers Speak to HR | Raise at the next staff team meeting Raise at the next SMT |
Peer support: Carers are supported to engage with other carers | Consider the scope to develop/promote an appropriate form of peer support Where workplace-based peer support is not appropriate, ensure that carers are signposted to external peer support (source contact details of local support groups or online forums) | Speak to employees who are carers and HR about how this could be progressed Get advice from local carers centres about this | Raise this within the next cycle of staff reviews |
| The first step I am going to take will be to… | |||
| Phone HR this afternoon and make an appointment to talk to someone about existing policies, procedures and support for carers. | |||
Examples of the specific types of support that might be developed within an organisation are detailed in the Carer Positive application forms that are available on their website. (Remember, you are not required to apply for the award but looking at the examples on the application forms might help with Activity 5.1.)
Creating an action plan
Activity 5.1 My action plan
For this activity you need to think about the five criteria for Carer Positive, where you and/or your organisation are trying to get to, and within what timescale. As a reminder, here are the five criteria again:
- Identification of carers
- Policy
- Workplace support
- Communication, awareness raising and training
- Peer support
Think carefully about what you need to do to get there, starting from ‘now’ and where you are now. Take a moment to think back over the activities you have done and what you have learned from this course.
You may have several goals in mind: these might be for you as a line manager, or wider goals for the organisation. Some may be quite specific and achievable within a short timescale; others may be broader in scope, longer term and perhaps more complex. Think in terms of bite-size chunks or stepping stones. Thinking about a series of small steps makes it easier to identify and plan what a next step might be.
Remember, there is a lot of information and advice available from the websites listed in the Resources section of this course.
Go to Activity 5.1 in your Reflection Log and complete the template for your action plan. Once you have completed the activity, make sure you save the document again. Alternatively, use this document to fill in the table setting out your action plan.
If you are working in a group, or with a mentor, you may want to discuss and share your plan and your ‘first step’ sentence with others.
Core Principles for Working with Carers and Young Carers
Figure 5.3 outlines the Core Principles for Working with Carers and Young Carers that form the basis of the Scottish framework for workforce learning and practice with carers. The Core Principles are:
- Carers are identified
- Carers are supported and empowered to manage their caring role
- Carers are enabled to have a life outside of caring
- Carers are fully engaged in the planning and shaping of services
- Carers are free from disadvantage or discrimination related to their caring role
- Carers are recognised and valued as equal partners in care.
The framework is structured in three levels, which outline the knowledge and skills needed by workers, depending on their job role and contact with carers.
Level 1: Carer Aware is for all workers who may come into contact with carers as part of their role.
Level 2: Caring Together is for workers who support carers as part of their role.
Level 3: Planning with Carers as Equal Partners is for those with a leadership or management role.
We’d now like you to take some time to reflect on your own practice in relation to the Core Principles.
Activity 5.2 Reflection on my practice
Consider each of the Core Principles for Working with Carers and Young Carers and reflect on how well you demonstrate them in your practice.
The Core Principles are supported by a framework of knowledge and skills, with three levels based on job role and nature of contact with carers. Level 3 outlines the knowledge and skills those with a leadership or management role may need. You may find it useful to read these to help you identify areas of your practice that you feel you need to develop.
To get you started, we have listed the Core Principles in the table below, along with some reflective questions based on the skills expected at Level 3.
| Core Principle | Reflective question |
|---|---|
| Carers are identified | Do you feel confident that you could identify if someone you manage had a caring role? |
| Carers are supported and empowered to manage their caring role | What skills and qualities would you need to support someone in your workforce to manage their caring role? |
| Carers are enabled to have a life outside of caring | Having time away from their caring role to return to work or to continue working can be important for carers. What support are you aware of in your workplace and the wider community to enable carers to do this? |
| Carers are fully engaged in the planning and shaping of services | Are carers in your workforce involved in planning and decision making? How do you ensure they feel valued as members of your staff team? |
| Carers are free from disadvantage or discrimination related to their caring role | What policies are in place in your organisation to ensure carers do not experience discrimination or disadvantage as a result of their caring role? |
| Carers are recognised and valued as equal partners in care | How do you contribute to fostering a Carer Positive workplace? Do you promote carer awareness in support and supervision with all staff? |
Use your Reflection Log to record your thoughts. This activity may help you to identify areas of your practice that you feel you need to develop. Decide what your first step will be and then write a sentence starting ‘The first step I am going to take to improve my practice will be to…’
Go to Activity 5.2 in your Reflection Log. Once you have completed the activity, make sure you save the document again. Alternatively, use this document to record your thoughts on the Core Principles.
If you are working in a group, or with a mentor, you may want to discuss your thoughts and share your ‘first step’ sentence with others.
Summary
You have now completed Session 5, the final session of Caring_Counts_in_the_Workplace. This session focused on how to create an action plan for a Carer Positive workplace and it helped you reflect on your learning and what difference this may make to your practice.
Caring_Counts_in_the_Workplace has addressed some questions you may have had about the challenges faced by the carers in your workforce as they juggle their caring role with other aspects of their life, including work, study and leisure time. As you reflected on the experiences of the carers you met during the course, you may even have identified that you also have a caring role.
You have considered the implications for employees who have caring responsibilities and in turn you have reflected on the implications for your own practice, for example your role in identifying and supporting carers in your workforce. You completed the course by creating an action plan to develop your own practice, together with recommendations to influence policy and practice at a strategic level within your organisation.
You may have worked through this course on your own, or with colleagues in a group context. Or the process might have involved a bit of both. You may have had the opportunity to discuss some of the ideas in the course, and the reflections shared by the carers you’ve met here.
Your Reflection Log is a record of your self-reflection and you could use this as a basis for further discussion with colleagues.
Quiz
To consolidate your reflective learning on this part of the course you may like to complete the following quiz. You will need to pass this quiz in order to gain your digital badge.
Quiz 5 provides evidence that you are achieving the following learning outcomes:
- a clearer understanding of the experiences of carers
- an understanding of carers’ motivations to return to work, or to balance employment with their caring role
- an awareness of the factors that may help or hinder carers who are in paid employment, and the support available to them
- an understanding of your role, and your organisation’s role, in supporting carers in your workforce
- insight to help promote early identification of carers as part of your support and supervision
- an awareness of how workplace policies and practice can help ensure carers don’t experience discrimination at work
- the ability to identify practical steps to take to foster a Carer Positive workplace
- an understanding of how the Core Principles for Working with Carers and Young Carers are applicable in your practice.
The point we want to reinforce in this quiz is that there are multiple and varied approaches to supporting carers in the workplace, and that context is important in relating the hypothetical example of Dean to your own working environment. Therefore, for assessment purposes, in this quiz we have sometimes asked you to identify the least appropriate means of support in a given situation rather than assuming there is a ‘correct’ answer.
By studying this course, completing the optional quizzes and meeting the required completion criteria you will have gained the following Caring_Counts_in_the_Workplace digital badge.
We hope you have enjoyed working through the course and have learned a little bit more about yourself, as well as gaining ideas for developing additional workplace support for carers within your organisation. Everyone has transferable skills, abilities and qualities, as well as personal strengths, but we sometimes need help in recognising and using these. This is true for carers and non-carers alike!
If you need a reminder about the quizzes and the criteria for getting a badge, visit How to complete the course quizzes.
We’d like your feedback on Caring_Counts_in_the_Workplace and to find out about your experience of using the course, so please complete our feedback survey. It shouldn’t take you long to complete and it would be very helpful to us in terms of informing future developments.
Acknowledgements
Caring_Counts_in_the_Workplace: a reflection and planning course was written by Lindsay Hewitt and Sarah Burton, quizzes by Julie Robson, The Open University.
This course was redeveloped to create Caring_Counts_in_the_Workplace in collaboration with Gill Ryan from NHS Education for Scotland and the Scottish Social Services Council’s Equal Partners in Care project, together with Sue McLintock (Carers Scotland) from the Scottish Government’s Carer Positive initiative.
Except for third party materials and otherwise stated (see terms and conditions), this content is made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 Licence.
The material acknowledged below is Proprietary and used under licence (not subject to Creative Commons Licence). Grateful acknowledgement is made to the following sources for permission to reproduce material in this unit:
Images
Figure 5.1: © iStockphoto.com
Figure 5.2: © Carer Positive, Carers UK 2015
Figure 5.3: © NHS Education for Scotland 2013
Figure 5.4: Badge illustration © The Open University
Tables
Table 5.1: Extract from https://nationalcareersservice.direct.gov.uk/
Every effort has been made to contact copyright owners. If any have been inadvertently overlooked, the publishers will be pleased to make the necessary arrangements at the first opportunity.
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4. Carer Positive Find out more about the award for employers http://www.carerpositive.org/
5. Equal Partners in Care Find out more about the Scottish framework for learning and practice with carers and young carers www.knowledge.scot.nhs.uk/ equalpartnersincare or www.ssks.org.uk/ equalpartnersincare