Retention, Rewards and Compensations

High rates of employee turnover are well documented at many levels of the public child welfare system.  Worker turnover carries enormous costs for the agency.  It has a direct fiscal cost in that the investment made in training and enhancing the skill of the worker is lost.  It disrupts progress in work with a family, so it has clinical costs.  It spreads cases to other workers, causing both a slowing of work and, potentially, safety and morale issues among the workforce.  In addition, supervisors charged with the task of training and guiding field workers on a day-to-day basis suffer secondary trauma when faced with ongoing loss of these workers.

However, monetary benefits are not sufficient to retain all employees in the field of public child welfare.  Child welfare agencies must provide support and training to enable new employees to do their job competently.  Research indicates that supportive supervision, recognition and a sense of competency are the most decisive factors for retention and professional growth.²  The American Public Human Services Association Retention Tip Sheet and the Child Welfare Information Gateway Retention Tools webpage are two great sources of additional information on workforce retention.

Reward, recognition and compensation provide intrinsic satisfaction and contribute to individual self-fulfillment and self-esteem that can, in turn, enhance agency capacity building.  Compensation systems allow compensatory pay increases and/or bonuses for performance.  Frequently, public child welfare agencies are bound by civil service pay scale systems that preclude the ability to financially reward excellent performance.  Rewards and recognition can still be used as motivational tools.  Agency leaders can fashion opportunities for workers’ contributions and high productivity to be publicly recognized within the agency and in the community.

Example: Exemplary work can be recognized openly and can be appreciated even with little or no financial awards.

Workforce retention requires looking at how non-occupational factors affect the development and productivity of staff.  These work-life balance factors include the worker’s leisure and recreational time spent alone and with family, as well as attending to one’s own physical and mental health.  The agency should support workers in constructing a healthy work-life balance.  This is best addressed by educating the workforce regarding self care.  However, the entire spectrum of options must be considered.  If resources are available for providing recreational facilities on-site or in cooperation with a local facility, this is a significant workforce bonus.

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