Paul Devoy, Chief Executive, Investors in People, examines why change fatigue is rising in social care — and what leaders must do to protect wellbeing, retention and resilience.
I have huge respect and admiration for the people who work in social care. Over the last 12 years I have been grateful for the care they have provided for my mum in her nursing home. It is a tough job with limited financial rewards and it takes a special kind of person to choose that sector as a career.
Social care has always required adaptation, but the scale and speed of change now confronting the workforce is unlike anything seen before. While many industries are wrestling with transformation, Finding the Frequency research shows that social care feels the effects more intensely and more personally. Chronic staffing shortages, emotionally demanding work and relentless operational pressures mean that change fatigue is not just a risk; it is already here.
Our data reveals a workforce under strain. One in five employees reports feeling worn down by organisational change, and one in four has considered leaving their role because of it. In a sector where continuity of care is essential, these figures should be a wake-up call.
Care workers are already operating at the limits of their capacity. When change arrives without clarity or support, it becomes another layer of pressure rather than a pathway to improvement. Nearly half of employees say their biggest fear during change is an increase in workload. For many, change has become synonymous with doing more, faster, with fewer resources.
I saw this when I studied the Governance of the Local Health and Social Care Partnership. It was impressive governance, with all the right language around joined-up policy and partnership working. Yet that did not always translate into the lived experience of frontline staff.
What sits beneath this fatigue is not resistance to change itself, but resistance to the way change is delivered. More than a quarter of employees worry communication during change will be poor or confusing, and a third say they do not understand the reasons behind the changes they are asked to adopt. The disconnect between senior leaders and frontline staff is stark: while half of executives feel energised and ready for change, only one in ten entry-level employees feels the same.
Experts argue this gap is not inevitable. Professor Julie Hodges notes that people resist change when the rationale is unclear or expressed in language that does not resonate with frontline care. Emma du Parcq from the Roffey Park Institute adds that involving people early reduces fatigue because resistance is often about poor implementation rather than change itself.
A more participatory approach is essential. Involving frontline staff earlier — not just in implementing solutions but in defining the problems — reduces fatigue and increases engagement. Care workers bring insights leaders cannot access from a boardroom: the practical implications of new processes, the emotional impact on service users and the realities that determine whether change will succeed or fail. Early involvement shifts the narrative from “change being done to us” to “change being shaped with us.”
However, involvement alone is not enough. A third of employees say their work–life balance worsens during change — a troubling trend in a sector already vulnerable to burnout. Leaders must create space for recovery rather than layering new initiatives onto stretched teams. Middle managers, often the most affected yet least supported, need time and development to lead through uncertainty. Leadership behaviour matters enormously: calm, transparent and empathetic communication can either amplify stress or build resilience.
The stakes are high. If more than one in three workers are considering leaving due to change fatigue, the implications for retention and service quality are profound. High turnover disrupts relationships and undermines the continuity good care depends on.
Traditional, top-down approaches to change are no longer fit for purpose in social care. Leaders must move from directing change to shaping it with their people. With an ageing population and rising demand, pressure on the sector will only increase. Lead change in a way that protects the workforce — or risk losing the very people care depends on.
Paul Devoy, Chief Executive, Investors in People