Factors that Influence Retention and Professional Development of Social Workers

Abstract

The profession of social work is becoming increasingly involved in empowerment for its members as employers become more invested in promoting employee satisfaction. This is occurring at a crucial time in which predictions are that the profession will be heading into a shortage of workers (NASW Center for Workforce Studies, 2006; U.S. Department of Labor Profession Report 2008-09). The experiences of the social work staff at Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center in Richmond, Virginia, illustrate the process as efforts combine to create new paths to career development for “frontline” clinicians. The work of the Retention Committee in the Department of Care Coordination began due to staff members' dissatisfaction with opportunity for advancement, pay disparity, and inequitable distribution of workload. This article will present the history, efforts, and outcome of the Social Work Retention Committee at VCU Medical Center.

KEYWORDS:

• retention
• career development
• empowerment
• pay parity
• employee satisfaction

The authors would like to thank all members of the Retention Committee; Crystal Bradby, HR specialist; our supervisor, Bonita Hogue; and director, Sandra Brown.