Having a degree apprentice at Red Rose Care has proved invaluable with some key developments already made through the informed teaching modules on the BA (Hons) Business Management (Chartered Manager) degree apprenticeship course.
Red Rose Care provide personalised high-quality care and support to clients and their loved ones within the comfort of their own home in the Lancashire area. They are renowned for delivering person-centred care to people in the local community. Michelle Richardson, a qualified nurse with decades of experience, established Red Rose Care with her husband Alastair. She is a great advocate of continuous learning and development, having achieved several nursing and management qualifications herself over the years and this is why she was keen to support the employee apprenticeships.
She views the ongoing development and training of her team as vital to the future success of the business and commented, “Learning is a major part of the culture at Red Rose Care, whether that’s internal training sessions or Degree Apprenticeships. In our industry, we should be wholly focussed on people and their care and our staff are at the heart of everything we deliver. The Red Rose Care team are encouraged to expand their expertise, and many are promoted from within the company.
"Utilising qualifications like the Degree Apprenticeship and taking full advantage of the associated teaching and subsequent learning can only be of benefit to the company and the people we look after."
— Michelle Richardson, Red Rose Care
James Richardson started his Degree Apprenticeship in 2017 and has found much of what he is learning can be applied to his role as Business Development Manager at Red Rose Care. He’s already implemented some of this learning to positive effect within the business.
James has established a Senior Development Group within Red Rose Care, which aims to increase the skills and knowledge of the senior team using teambuilding, coaching and developing methodologies to enable them to tackle difficult situations. The group meets monthly and has already implemented valuable changes across the whole business. This helps ensure that the whole team is more effective in their delivery of care services. The care sector is regulated and adhering to the many stringent procedures, particularly with regards to staff is both time consuming and complex. James identified that appointing an external employment law and HR specialist would be more cost-effective and efficient than managing these processes internally.
The care sector can be very demanding, and this is one reason why many employees within the sector move between roles and organisations. This has a detrimental effect on care providers, but more importantly, the people in their care. Red Rose Care strive to retain their staff and they believe many of the changes James has started to implement will help to motivate, develop and therefore retain their staff.
Following a tremendous start to his Degree Apprenticeship, achieving a first in his initial year, James is on course to achieve a first in his overall degree, which he is extremely proud of. James commented, “The Degree Apprenticeship has provided me with the opportunity to learn and work at the same time. I have been able to put theory into practice and implement several new ways of working at Red Rose Care, supporting the business and its success. I have gained a vast variety of new skills and knowledge, that have enabled me to grow into a much more confident and competent person, both professionally and personally. My four years on the course have been challenging, but extremely rewarding. I have gained a perspective on business that a traditional university degree could not offer, and this has provided me with a fantastic platform for me and my future career.”
