Tackling the Social Care Workforce Crisis

Tackling the Social Care Workforce Crisis

Kath Smythe
Good trouble, , Recruitment and Retention

With the sad and concerning news today that the social care workforce has reduced by 50,000 over the last year I’m revisiting my mini blog series focusing on what’s causing social care workforce challenges and how we address them. With the cost of living crisis, energy prices rocketing and mortgage rates rising we can’t afford to not talk about pay. Tackling social care workforce pressures is multi-faceted. There are lots of things we can do differently to help improve the current situation but if we don’t get pay right we won’t have the impact we are looking for. Decent pay is a fundamental foundation of a sustainable adult social care workforce. Click the pic to read more……

My Freelance Summer

My Freelance Summer

Kath Smythe
Good trouble, Learning for Life, Making change happen

As the first week of “back to work” draws to a close I wanted to reflect on my “freelance summer”. It’s my first proper summer as a freelancer because last year I was still very much in start up mode. This year, with a little more than a year's experience of working freelance under my belt, I’ve been able to experience the absolute privilege of a freelance summer and it’s made me think about workplace cultures and the importance of creating time to think. Click the pic to read more

Want to maximise your learning this summer?  Relax, take time out and trust your brain!!

Want to maximise your learning this summer?  Relax, take time out and trust your brain!!

Kath Smythe
Learning for Life, Good trouble, Making change happen,

I’m exploring the crucial role of leaders in creating environments where people learn every day and always. It’s a talent that the most pioneering international organisations have mastered. We can’t learn to our full potential if our heads are full and we have no down time or space for reflection. Here’s my advice for maximising your learning potential this summer…….click the pic for more

Lessons in Learning - what I learned from my experiment

Lessons in Learning - what I learned from my experiment

Kath Smythe
Learning for Life, Good trouble, , Making change happen

My Lessons in Learning blog series aims to help leaders to understand how to create learning cultures that enable people to recognise and maximise the impact of the learning that we all do every day and always. I’ve been doing an experiment where for a month I’ve been capturing what I’ve learned on a regular basis to see how this helps me to help leaders create learning environments. Here are my big 3 take aways. Click on the pic to find out more……..

Lessons in Learning Experiment - mid way reflections

Lessons in Learning Experiment - mid way reflections

Kath Smythe
Learning for Life, Good trouble, Making change happen, , Workplace culture

I believe creating learning cultures is one of the most important skills for leaders to have. I’m on a mission to help people understand what learning cultures look like, why it matters and how to create one. As part of my Lessons in Learning series I’m doing an experiment to see what I discover by capturing my learning every day for a month and how that helps leaders to think about creating cultures where people learn every day as part of doing what they do. I’m half way through so today I’m taking a step back to reflect on what I’ve discovered so far. Click the pic to find out more………

Lessons in Learning 2: What does a learning culture look like?

Lessons in Learning 2: What does a learning culture look like?

Kath Smythe
Learning for Life, Workplace culture, Making change happen, Strengths based, Good trouble

When I talk about creating a learning culture, it can feel a bit amorphous and hard to get hold of. The culture we work in can manifest itself in many ways - our behaviours, how we interact with one another, the mindsets that frame our thinking, as well as the physical things that are around us in our work environment. If we haven’t experienced working in a learning culture, how can we start to create one? I draw on my own experiences to paint a picture. Click on the pic for more…..

Lessons in Learning 1: Let's start with Why

Lessons in Learning 1: Let's start with Why

Kath Smythe
Learning for Life, Workplace culture, Strengths based, Recruitment and Retention, Good trouble

To say that creating environments where people learn, everyday and always, is one of the most important things for leaders to do is a strong statement and one that I firmly believe. Before I get into what a learning environment looks like and how to create one, I want to take a step back and start with why I believe this and why it’s such an important leadership skill to develop. This time round I get into why it’s important, the benefits it brings and how it helps to build confidence in the workplace. Click on the pic to read more……..

The cave you fear to enter really does hold the treasure that you seek

The cave you fear to enter really does hold the treasure that you seek

Kath Smythe
Good trouble, Making change happen, Strengths based, Learning for Life, Workplace culture

I’m celebrating my first anniversary in business!!!! It’s a year since I found the courage to leave my well-paid job in the public sector and work for myself. I can honestly say I’ve not looked back for a second. I love it!! I’m a big reflector so it only feels right to take a step back one year on and think about what I’ve learned. Four key chapters in my learning journey that changed my life course, the way I do things and the way I think about learning. I’m putting this learning to good use and helping leaders to create learning environments that play such a crucial part in creating workplaces where people can thrive……..click on the pic to read more

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