In the latest edition of Compass Conversations, we speak with William McFadyen, Head of Care Quality & Operational Excellence at Home Instead SUR Group, about the group’s growth across Scotland, why the sector needs leaders rather than managers, and how AI is starting to shape care at home.
Home Instead SUR Group has grown from a single office into a multi-unit franchise with ten offices across Scotland, supported by a central team in Glasgow. William joined the group around four years ago as a Care Manager and has progressed with it as it has expanded.
“Management can sometimes be viewed as maintenance. We do not want to maintain: we want to grow and develop, and to do that we need leaders.”
William McFadyen
Head of Care Quality & Operational Excellence
What brought you to SUR Group, and how has your role evolved since then?
I came here approximately four years ago to the SUR Group, and the group itself has expanded, developed, and grown in a short space of time. Home Instead’s National Office is in Warrington. We are based in Glasgow, and we are a multi-unit group; we have ten offices.
When I started, we had six offices. I joined initially as a Care Manager in Glasgow South. Due to the group expanding, there has been opportunity for progression. From my own perspective, I applied for the post I am in currently, the Head of Care Quality & Operational Excellence.
The group has progressed not just in terms of number of offices, but in relation to departments, focus, and service provision. In Central Office Glasgow we have a number of teams: finance, compliance, recruitment, business development and a learning and development team.
These departments alongside the ten offices make up the SUR Group, and all those resources support the external functions of the ten offices geographically situated throughout Scotland.
I progressed into my current role after just over a year, but I should preface that with a bit of context. I have worked at senior level in local authority, the private sector, and the independent sector for more than twenty years. I consciously came in at Care Manager level and then progressed to my current role. So, I had a fair bit of knowledge and experience prior to joining the SUR Group.
What do you value from a recruitment partner?
I think, for us, I can speak not only for myself but the wider group who have collaborated directly with Compass.
We have confidence in your approach. There is an honest endeavour from Compass. Not only that, but they are also fully immersed in the Scottish social care sector. You do not always find that to be the case and sometimes that can be a barrier for companies coming in which do not have relationships or understand the Scottish market. They do not have a finger on the pulse. But Compass is different, and that has been demonstrated in all my interactions with the various Compass representatives, from Tom to Robbie, to yourself Lauren, to Dominic.
That has been consistent, so for me that is reassuring. It is also reassuring that Compass has a strong presence in Scotland. You guys are clear about what is happening from a macro level, and a micro level as well. That is important because, as a group, we are not just functioning as one entity: we are functioning as a unit.
It is important that we stay abreast of changes at a national level which affect recruitment trends, and my interactions are fed back to various departments within our organisation.
All our transactions with Compass are positive. Not only that, but the recruitment we have been involved with through yourselves has resulted in recruiting good solid managers who are developing with us. I think that’s testimony to the calibre of the people that Compass has sourced for us.
Senior leadership roles have changed in the last five years. What do you see impacting them in the future: AI, automation, policy or retention?
I think you have hit the nail on the head that they are no longer just management roles. Management’s one element, but I think for us we are always looking for good leadership credentials and a capacity to grow and develop. We are not just looking for people to manage others; we are looking for people to lead. Management can sometimes be viewed as maintenance. We do not want to maintain: we want to grow and develop, and to do that we need leaders. Leaders bring strength to the various teams they participate in and lead them in a way that will ensure growth and development.
From a staff perspective, people need leaders they are confident in, who they can go to for the right support, the right answers, and people in leadership roles who can help develop the teams they are responsible for.
There is a lot of change in social care nationally from a government perspective and in terms of initiatives, with the advent of AI starting to play a bigger role. One of the positives about the SUR Group, and Lesley’s perspective, which the senior team all share, is that we try to embrace new initiatives like AI. AI has been around for a while, but the positive effect it can have on the provision of care at home and social care is really important. As leaders, we need to make sure that is done in a measured way so there’s proportionality to the service we provide.
We are all about looking for efficiencies. Sometimes people confuse efficiencies with cuts. For us it is not about that; it is about effectiveness. The best use of time, the focus you have, the planning, the organisation, and a pragmatic approach to achieving better outcomes.
We deal with people, so it is important there is a clear person-centred approach to what we do, and that is something that is inherent in the leaders and managers. The challenge is embracing some of these new initiatives that AI brings, whether it is planning, organisation or other aspects, and considering what efficiencies we can make and how it will support us to sharpen our focus.
Ultimately, how best can we positively impact the care we provide to the client, because they are the end user? Also, how can we use that to support the teams? We are already making good strides. Within our scheduling team, we use AI a bit, we are building dashboards around availability and capacity, which offers more precision. The integration is working well for us at the moment, but it is very early.
It can help us be efficient, but there still needs to be the human element in relation to the analysis, the perspective, and the person-centred aspect. I see it more as a support service which enhances our efficiency and effectiveness. We are starting to integrate it into our daily working environment, which is bringing a lot of benefits, but we need to be measured in our approach.
Home Instead SUR Group is the fastest-growing franchise across Scotland. What do you put this success down to?
For me, you have genuinely got to go back to the beginning. Suhail Rehman, who is our owner, has a vision. He also instils a culture, and that culture is a positive one. I have worked in a lot of various places, and the cultures vary vastly within those environments. Suhail had a vision to develop and grow, not just to be one entity.
Ten or twelve years ago the SUR Group was one office, but now it is a multi-unit franchise, and that was his vision then. That vision has come to fruition and continues to go from strength to strength.
Lesley, our Managing Director, has been on most of that journey with Suhail and shares the same vision in how we progress and grow our group.
Any additions to our group are well thought through. There must be capacity for growth, and economically it needs to be a viable decision. Our group will continue to grow. We are all invested in that growth because there is a belief that we can expand whilst providing the highest quality of service.
Expansion is one thing, but it can be dangerous if it is not done in the right way. We have a template which we follow. We also recognise that you often learn more from your mistakes, so understanding what not to do is sometimes a real benefit. We look to capitalise on the positives we have learned from taking on new offices.
The important part of that is the back room to it all. We have centralised finance, compliance, learning and development, recruitment, and scheduling. That is where the inner strength is. Those support functions give our offices the strength and foundation to expand and develop.
Finally, where do you see the sector heading in the next three to five years?
To consider where the sector is heading, you have got to look at the national picture.
One of the first things you would consider is, can we resource? Do we have the staff? We are confident we can train people regardless of their background, experience, or qualifications, but staffing is a challenge nationally.
It is a challenge not just within our sector but across social work and social care in Scotland and the UK as a whole.
That is one of the biggest challenges facing social care and care at home. The NHS continues to face significant pressure, and the clients we are supporting following hospital discharge often have increasingly complex needs. The nature of care at home has changed considerably over the last five years, with people requiring higher levels of support than they may have done previously.
We need to understand that direction of travel and continue investing in our teams, ensuring they have the skills, confidence and training required to deliver the right level of care. We are fortunate that, as a group, we are greater than the sum of our parts. We can draw on our central strength and shared resources to support our teams and respond quickly when needs change.
We feel confident we can deal with most situations because we have the resources, planning and forecasting in place. There are real challenges at a national level which impact us on the ground, but we plan and that puts us in a better state of readiness to respond.
Looking for recruitment support in care at home?
At Compass Associates, our care at home recruitment team works with providers across Scotland and the UK to find the leaders and managers who help services grow without compromising on quality. Whether you are expanding into new locations or strengthening your senior team, our specialist consultants understand both the national picture and what is happening on the ground.
Get in touch to discuss how we can support your growth.
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