In social care, retention is rarely just an HR issue. It affects the quality of care, team stability, leadership capacity, recruitment costs and ultimately the experience of the people you care for and support. Yet while organisations are often facing similar challenges, there are surprisingly few opportunities to come together and openly share what is working.

That’s why we created the Retention Club.

Where It Started

The Retention Club was born out of conversations and focus groups with social care providers, HR leaders and operational teams who were all asking similar questions:

– How do we keep good people?
– What are other organisations doing differently?
– Which initiatives actually improve retention?
– How can we learn from each other instead of starting from scratch?

Across the sector, there is no shortage of ideas. What is often missing is a space where people can share experiences honestly, discuss challenges openly and learn from both successes and setbacks. The Retention Club was created to fill that gap.

Watch our webinar sharing practical retention strategies identified through our focus groups, spanning Pay & Benefits, Flexible Working, Recruitment & Onboarding, Communication & Engagement, Career Development, and Culture & Leadership.

What We Do

The Retention Club is a free community of HR, People and Operational leaders from across social care and aligned sectors.

Each month we bring members together for a practical roundtable discussion focused on workforce retention. Sessions are designed to be collaborative, giving attendees the opportunity to hear sector insight, discuss current challenges and exchange ideas with peers facing similar workforce pressures.

Alongside discussion and networking, we share workforce data, research findings, examples of best practice and practical actions that organisations can take away and apply in their own settings.

What We’ve Covered

Every session focuses on a topic that members tell us matters most to them. So far we’ve explored themes including:

Workplace Culture

What creates a positive culture, how culture impacts retention and what leaders can do to strengthen belonging, engagement and employee experience.

Management Capability

The role of front-line managers in retention, building leadership confidence and creating consistent management practices across services.

Recruitment and Early Retention

How organisations can improve candidate fit, onboarding and the first few months of employment to reduce early turnover.

Employee Voice and Stay Interviews

Practical approaches to understanding why people stay, gathering meaningful feedback and acting on employee insight.

Recognition and Reward

Looking beyond pay to understand the wider factors that influence engagement, motivation and loyalty.

Workforce Data and Benchmarking

Exploring turnover trends, vacancy rates and retention metrics to help providers make more informed workforce decisions.

Career Development and Progression

How organisations can create meaningful career pathways, support development and increase long-term commitment to the sector.

Why It Matters

Some of the best ideas in social care don’t come from consultants or reports. They come from the people leading services every day.

The Retention Club provides a space for those conversations to happen. Members leave with practical ideas, fresh perspectives and reassurance that many of the challenges they face are shared across the sector.

Most importantly, it helps organisations turn workforce challenges into opportunities for improvement.

Join the Conversation

The Retention Club continues to grow, bringing together leaders who are passionate about creating workplaces where people want to stay, develop and thrive.

If you’d like to join a future session or learn more about the community, we’d love to hear from you. To find out more, contact Dave Beesley – dave.beesley@cohesionrecruitment.com.

Together, we can build a stronger, more sustainable social care workforce.