Given current recruitment challenges, the care sector should look ‘in-house’ to nurture its next generation of leaders, a new report has recommended.

The Leaders of Tomorrow report, authored by everyLIFE Technologies, urges the sector to “explore the ways where we can make the most impact and help nurture those with the potential to lead”.

The report’s findings draw on three in-depth interviews with current industry leaders, Amanda Jackson, director of Heritage Healthcare; Jane Perry, director and owner of Bluebird Care Ayrshire, Edinburgh and Glasgow South; and Nicole Gibson, care manager at Care South, and explores solutions to some of the common barriers to career development, including:

• Identifying, recruiting and retaining those with leadership potential
• Instilling confidence and belief among those with the potential to lead – allowing those willing and able to take on responsibility to take the next step
• Promoting the care sector and improving the perception of care careers
• Signposting established leadership pathways and fast-tracking those with high potential
• Enabling current leaders to nurture rising talent.

The findings of the report fall in to four key themes: the qualities needed for a leadership career in care; the importance of self-confidence; the infrastructure supporting career pathways; and the role current leaders can play in supporting the industry’s rising talent.

Duncan Campbell, director of everyLIFE Technologies, said: “It’s time to talk about leadership – now is the moment for the leaders of tomorrow to step forward and into the spotlight. This will be the difference between a care sector that manages and a care sector that thrives.

“Becoming a leader in the care sector is no ordinary role. It requires compassion, respect, empathy and self-awareness.

“The findings from this report have drawn out three key questions to ask ourselves: Where are the future leaders now? Do they recognise their leadership potential? And what systems need to be in place to ensure they can flourish into the people we need?

“There is a lot that is working well right now – but more can always be done. If there’s one thing our research demonstrates, it’s that this is only the very start of the conversation.”