Kaley Kenyon is a Regional Manager at award-winning North West health and social care charity Alternative Futures Group. Starting out as a Support Worker at 18, she now leads a team of 4 registered managers who each manage 8 Team Leaders who in turn manage around 20 support workers each across the whole of Lancashire.
I believe the most effective leaders stay connected to and deeply understand the people within their organisation. For me, that means our frontline colleagues and the people we support. I think it can be very easy for senior managers to lose touch with what’s happening on the ground, but maintaining that awareness is crucial for making meaningful and impactful changes. I strive to stay connected every day, whether that be through a property visit, phone call, reviewing daily records or praising colleagues with our internal communications platform.
I learnt very early on in my career that having confidence in yourself is key. When I started as a Support Worker at age 18, I worked with a gentleman with very complex needs and behaviours that challenge. Positive Behaviour Support was not an embedded framework as it is today, and I remember my colleagues being very nervous about working with him because of his aggressive behaviours.
I started writing down what I believed triggered him and advocated for him at every team meeting, even when I had not been asked to. Eventually this led to people getting on board with what I was saying, and changes were made which improved his quality of life. This was a formative experience and has stayed with me throughout my career.
Although I feel confident to speak up and ask if I am unsure about something, I have learnt that not everyone does this, so I always take the time to check in and explain things to the people I manage even if they might seem obvious. People will get on board with the vision once they understand the reasons behind it.
When I took on management of the West Lancashire team, it had the highest vacancy rate and lowest retention of staff in our organisation. I was able to reduce the vacancy rate from 650 hours to 250 and increase staff satisfaction levels from 40% to 82% (as of our latest staff survey.) My success was down to drilling into the detail, not being afraid to try new solutions and being people focused.
By looking at the data I found that our 30-hour vacancies were the more difficult to recruit for, so I tried adapting to 16-hour posts to accommodate those with other commitments, and 39-hour posts for those wanting additional hours, which had a very positive impact. I also found that allocating shifts to people across more than one property was a great way to encourage them to pick up more shifts, as they enjoyed the variety of working in different teams.
I nurtured relationships by making time to visit properties regularly, holding staff engagement sessions (with no agenda, to hear from everyone about anything and everything), and consistently asking questions and feeding back.
Finding out what motivates people is key. Some people love healthy competition, so if they see others doing a great job, they will want to achieve the same – and equally others do not thrive in a competitive environment, so it’s all about getting to know your team.
In addition to my current role, I have been successful in a secondment as operational lead for the implementation of a £250k care management system, which will be transformational for our charity.
The most important thing I have learned during this experience is to draw on the opinions and experience of those around you. This project could not be a success without input and collaboration from our operational colleagues. Fresh eyes see different things that you may have missed.
I am extremely proud to have achieved positive CQC inspections, improved staff satisfaction rates, won national social care awards, and earned my Level 5 Health and Social Care qualification – but my greatest pride will always come from the role I’ve played in the lives of the people I’ve supported.
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