Employers' Experiences and Views of Grow Your Own Social Work Programmes: A Qualitative Interview Study

Abstract

In the light of expressed support for Grow Your Own or employer sponsored schemes for social work training, this article explores why they are not so frequently adopted. It draws on findings from a multi-method study of GYO activities and outcomes in England, in particular interviews with 27 participants from 20 organisations employing social workers and funding GYO activity. These interviews revealed that GYO was seen as a means to recruit and retain new social workers, specifically to recruit workers who were able to start practice immediately and needed minimal support, but also to widen access to the profession and to demonstrate evidence of the employers' wider commitment to its non-qualified staff by providing a career pathway. Not all those interviewed were able to provide firm data as evidence of their belief in the value of GYO schemes. The article concludes that the reasons for the decline in GYO schemes lie in the sizeable investment required to develop and sustain them. It identifies some mismatch between the need for immediate solutions to workforce shortages and the longer-term investment in students and in workforce development staff who are necessary to reap the benefits of such schemes.

Keywords:

• Employment Sponsored
• Social Work Training
• Grow Your Own
• Social Work Employer

Acknowledgements

The Grow Your Own project was developed and supported by a group of stakeholders led by the General Social Care Council (GSCC). The research was carried out by the Social Care Workforce Research Unit, King's College London, working with the Open University. We are grateful to all participants, to Helen Wenman of the GSCC in particular, and to the other project stakeholders: the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services; Association of Directors of Children's Services; British Association of Social Workers; Children & Family Court Advisory & Support Services; Children's Workforce Development Council; Department of Health; Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills; Joint Universities Council Social Work Education Committee; Learn to Care; Local Government Association and Improvement and Development Agency; Skills for Care; UNISON; and Universities UK. The views expressed in this article are those of the authors and are not necessarily shared by the project stakeholders.