1. A promise to keep
This presentation has been designed as a tool for managers to present to staff to encourage them to sign up and make their Social Care Commitment
The presentation is intended to be helpful and adaptable so feel free to add in any slides that are particularly relevant to your organisation.
Employers – do read the Learning Through Work – A Guide for Managers first as there is a section in it titled Talking to Staff which will help you to explain the commitment and engage your workforce. You will have been sent a copy of this in your Social Care Commitment - Learning Through Work pack when your organisation signed up. We would also strongly recommend you read the Learning Through Work – A Guide for Employees so you have a better understanding of the Employee Statements and their associated tasks
Once you have read the guides, you can use this presentation as a briefing and should be able to answer employee questions
After you’ve given this presentation, you may wish to purchase additional copies of the booklet Making the Commitment – A Guide for Employees to give to your staff. Additional copies can be ordered through the Social Care Commitment Support Team by calling There are discounts available for multiple copy orders
Then staff to invite them to sign up using the template provided in your Social Care Commitment on line account which will have the unique link to your employer account. By doing this you will be able to see which of your staff have registered and which have completed their sign up in your employer account

2. What is the Social Care Commitment?
A Government White paper initiative ‘caring for our future’
It’s about improving care, and the public’s confidence in care
It has been developed by employers, employees and people who need care and support
It is a voluntary agreement on workforce quality
What is the Social Care Commitment, and where did it come from?
The white paper: the Social Care Commitment is seen by the Department of Health as a key part of the solution to improving the standard of, and the public’s confidence in care and support offered in our sector.
Co-developed with a steering group made up of representatives from across the sector including Individual Employers, large providers, employer representative organisations, ADASS, DH, UNISON & CQC.

3. A sector united
CQC, ADASS and DH have all backed the Commitment by making public statements of support

4. A sector united
“The 1.45 million care workers and healthcare assistants in this country are the lifeblood of the care sector. As our population continues to grow and age, their skills and dedication are needed now more than ever. But it is one thing to attract people with the right values and skills, quite another to empower and support them in what we know to be challenging yet highly rewarding careers.
For more than two years, the Social Care Commitment has done exactly that – a contract between employers and employees to invest in each other and be the best they can. The Department of Health will continue to support Skills for Care, care agencies and local providers as they use the Commitment to facilitate better training and support, enhanced career paths and, ultimately, greater peace of mind for those receiving or arranging care for themselves and their loved ones.”
The Minister for Community and Social Care has issued this statement of support for the Social Care Commitment
Alistair Burt
Minister for Community and Social Care
Dec 2015

5. The Social Care Commitment is a voluntary agreement between employers and their employees
Employers promise to give their workers the development they need.
Staff promise to put care values into practice in their daily work.
Development doesn’t just mean paid for training but means all types of learning and development, encouraging and supporting your employees, coaching and mentoring, providing opportunities for your staff to make good use of their education, knowledge and skills
The Commitment sets out what employers can expect from their employees and what employers can expect from their employers

6. The Social Care Commitment online
For organisations the commitment
is a public promise.
Employers that make the commitment
Can choose to be listed on the Social Care Commitment website search resource .
Once your employer has made their commitment, they can choose to be listed on the Social care Commitment website’s public search facility. If the organisation is a CQC Registered provider, it will also show on their NHS Choices profile that they have signed up
Because it is a public promise, people who use care and support services, and their families will expect organisations to keep their promises
As an employee of the organisation, your commitment is between you and your employer, however an employer may wish to publicise their staff have also signed up and are committed to quality when tendering for contracts or in their marketing and promotional materials.
There are also badges and wristbands that can be purchased by your employer to give to you to wear once you have completed your sign up to show those you care for and their relatives that you have made your commitment to quality.
For staff, the commitment is private.
Your details will not appear in any public
Search on the Social Care Commitment
website search resource .

7. 1 5 2 6 3 7 4 The employer commitment is a promise to:
Recruit staff who care.
Take responsibility for how staff work. 2
Provide thorough induction training. 6
Supervise staff properly. 3
Support staff who put their commitment into practice everyday.
Help staff develop their
skills. 7 4
Make sure staff understand safety and quality standards.

8. 1 5 2 6 3 7 4 The employee commitment is a promise to:
Work responsibly.
Protect privacy. 2 6
Uphold dignity.
Continue to learn. 3 7
Work co-operatively.
Treat people fairly. 4
Communicate effectively.

9. Individuality Independence Privacy Partnership Choice Dignity Respect
The Social Care Commitment is our promise as providers to people who use our care and support services that we will put our values into practice:
Individuality
Independence
Privacy
Partnership
Choice
Dignity
The Social Care Commitment is a promise by everyone in adult social care to provide safe, high-quality care and support.
How do we measure quality in care? We use standards to measure quality in adult social care, including the Care Certificate and for registered providers of care, CQC inspection
Respect
Rights

10. What are care values?
Treating people who need care and support as individuals.
Respecting their right to make their own decisions.
Respecting their right to privacy.
Working in partnership with them.
Standards say what is expected of adult social care workers and their employers. The standards that we use to measure quality are based on care values.
These are:
Treating people who use care and support as individuals
Respecting their right to make their own decisions
Respecting their right to privacy
Working in partnership with them
Giving them real choices
Promoting and supporting their dignity or self-respect
Treating them with respect at all times
Promoting and supporting their rights
Giving them real choices.
Promoting and supporting their dignity or self-respect.
Treating them with respect at all times.
Promoting and supporting their rights.

11. How it works Making the commitment is voluntary.
The employer makes the commitment online first, and then s a link to their employees inviting them to also sign up and make their commitment.
No employee should be forced in to signing but it is an excellent way for an employee to show their commitment to their employer and those they support and care for that they believe in delivering quality care and support.
The employer s their employees with the link to the commitment website which contains a unique registration code that links employees to the organisation employing them
Employees cannot make the commitment independently without their employer first having signed up themselves as an organisation. The reason it’s like this is because Skills for Care administers the website, and needs to know that people who are making the commitment really are genuine social care employers and employees. Skills for Care can check an organisation is a genuine provider of care but it would be impossible to check on individual employees to verify they are actually employed in an adult social care or support role. So Skills for Care checks the organisations and by inviting their employees, the employers vouch for their staff
The worker follows the link to the commitment website and starts by filling in a few simple details before moving on to complete their sign up
The commitment is a living promise and will need renewing every 2 years
Employees cannot make the commitment on their own without their employer having signed up first.
Both Employers and their employees will be asked to renew their commitment 2yrs after they first signed up.

12. So what’s involved? Seven statements. Guidance. Tasks
- choose at least one task
for each statement.
Employees make their commitment online. There are 7 Employee Statements to sign up to.
The guidance explains the statements, what is and isn’t meant by each statement
For each statement there are tasks to choose that help you put your commitment in to practice. This is the same for the employer commitment
For each statement, choose at least one task, and set a date for completing it. You may wish to do this with your supervisor as part of your supervision and appraisal meetings?
Each statement will have links to useful and relevant resources which will help you complete the tasks you have selected.
Your employer may also give you a copy of Making the Commitment – A Guide for Employees. This booklet has been designed to help you understand the commitment, answer questions you may have give you some practical suggestions on how to make your commitment a success.
The commitment website records the tasks and the deadlines that you choose, and saves them into a Personal Development Plan. This is yours to keep and can be printed off or saved elsewhere as a reminder for you. You can insert more text if you wish if that is helpful. Your employer does not have an automatic right to view your Personal Development Plan as it is stored in your own on line account, however you may wish to print it off to share with your supervisor and use it e in supervision and appraisal meetings.
Your employer will have an Organisational Development Plan that was created in the same way when they signed up and made their commitment.
Resources
- Social Care Commitment booklets
- Personal development plan
- Links to resources across the sector.

13. identifying and sharing good practice 2 finding out information
Making the commitment means doing the tasks
There are three types of tasks: 1
identifying and sharing
good practice 2
finding out information
and sharing it
The tasks associated with each of the 7 Statements are interesting, easy to do and useful in the workplace
As part of their commitment, your employer promises to give staff all the support they need to complete the tasks
Almost all of the tasks require staff to interact with colleagues or with management – team work
The tasks ask staff to reflect on what they do, to investigate things and to agree with each other the right way to approach things 3
discussing with colleagues ideas and issues

14. Example
Employee Statement 1 : I will always take responsibility for the things I do or don’t do
What this statement means to an employee is:
Being clear with yourself and others about:
• what your job involves;
• which tasks you have the knowledge and skills to undertake safely and
well – and which tasks you do not.
One of the six tasks associated with this that you could choose is:
Discuss with my employer, supervisor or colleagues what knowledge and skills I need to carry out my job safely and well.
Here is an example:
Statement 1 : I will always take responsibility for the things I do or don’t do
What this statement means to an employee is:
Being clear with yourself and others about:
• what your job involves;
• which tasks you have the knowledge and skills to undertake safely and well – and which tasks you do not.
One of the six tasks associated with this statement is:
Discuss with my employer, supervisor or colleagues what knowledge and skills I need to carry out my job safely and well.

15. So what next - how do I sign up?
It’s simple:
There is a choice of two ways you can sign
up and make your commitment 1
Your employer s you a link to
the commitment website, with a registration code You follow the link to the website, register and complete your sign up
If employees have their own address and wish to sign up independently, the employer s them an invitation to sign up to the Commitment. The employee can then register on the Social Care Commitment website and go through the sign up process themselves.
ALTERNATIVELY
The employer can nominate a Commitment Champion(s) in the workplace who can work with groups of employees to sign up using the Commitment Champion's address. This works well with a manager/supervisor/team leader a the Champion as sign up can be discussed in team meetings and supervision and employees can work together on the tasks that have been selected in the sign up process. OR 2
Your employer nominates a Commitment Champion who will work with you and other employees to sign up

16. On the website you… Go through the seven statements
of commitment and their guidance.
Look at the tasks for each statement.
Choose the ones you want to do.
On the website you...
Fill in a few simple details about yourself
Work through the seven statements of the commitment, looking at the tasks for each statement and
choosing the ones you want to do
You will be expected to set yourself deadlines for doing your tasks you have chosen.
If an employee is signing up independently using their own address, it makes sense for them to speak first with their employer or supervisor to discuss which tasks to choose and how to get the most out of the tasks, how to fit them in to work time and into any team meetings, supervisions or appraisals.
If working with a Commitment Champion in the workplace, employees can work as a group or team, discussing the tasks and agreeing which ones to choose to undertake
Which ever route to sign up is taken – independently or with a Champion – every employee must register to have their own account
The website won’t display the ‘Commit’ button until a minimum of 1 task for each statement has been nominated but once you have chosen a minimum of 1 task for each of the 7 statements, the Commit button will automatically appear on the screen and once clicked that employees sign up is complete and their commitment has been made!
The employee can then start to work on the tasks selected either individually or as a group/team.
Set deadlines for doing the tasks.
Click the ‘Commit’ button – job done!

17. Then… Download and print your certificate.
Save and print your personal development plan.
Discuss how you will plan and do your tasks.
Review your tasks.
Renew your commitment annually.
Once you have completed your sign up you will be able to:
print off your own employee certificate to say you’ve made your commitment
print off your personal development plan
add comments to your personal development plan
go back in to your account at any time to choose additional tasks
The employer supports the staff by incorporating the tasks into other learning and development including the supervisions and appraisals.
There is a lot more information on how to select, and do the tasks in the Making the commitment – An employee guide booklet that is available from the employer.
Sign up to the Commitment is renewable every 2yrs and a reminder to renew will be sent out 1 month before renewal is due.
The value of the commitment is in the quality of the tasks, and how staff approach them.

18. Sign up and be part of making a real difference to the quality of care
Sign up and be part of making a real difference to the quality of care
“ I think it’s a good thing to do. Having goals to aim for and aiming for all staff to have the same goals helps to enhance the quality of care we provide’
Signed up employee

19. Any
Questions?