Case Study: Shaw Healthcare

More Than A Bonus

Established as a housing association in 1986, Shaw Healthcare is now the largest employee owned care provider in the UK, operating 61 registered care services from 58 sites in addition to facilities management services at a further 12 sites.  

The move to becoming EO was driven by a desire to invest in its people, empowering them to deliver the quality of care that they’d want for their own loved ones across 2,100+ beds, 118 extra care flats, and 215 daycare places across the UK. 

The goal of positioning its 3,000+ employees at the heart of the business and rewarding them for their compassion saw Shaw establish an EOT in May 2020. Four years later, it remains the UK’s third largest EOT controlled company. 

This EOT currently owns 61% of the company shares and, combined with other employee and trust shares, means employee ownership makes up76% of the business. 

But creating the EOT wasn’t just about bonuses. Shaw considered it as one aspect of a journey of continuous improvement.  

The intention was to nurture a culture where employees respect each other, can communicate freely, share a collective sentiment for delivering excellent care to its residents, and develop their skills.  

Success in all these areas would enhance Shaw’s reputation as a leading care provider, fortifying relationships with existing partners and generating new business.  

To that end, the company has set the target of achieving 100% compliance with the care regulators and uses its own internal quality measures to ensure a high standard of care is being delivered.  

Emphasis continues to be placed on independent reviews so potential customers can assess whether the company meets their care requirements based on user experience. 

How EO was Brought to Life

The company has its own EOT board, comprising two Independent Trustees, the company’s Chief People Officer, and two Employee Trustees. Together, they help ensure the business is acting in the best interest of the employees for the long-term.  

Each care home also has an Employee Representative who gathers feedback across the business and reports back to the EOT board.  

Elsewhere, Shaw’s intranet has been adapted to make it more mobile-friendly, allowing employees the flexibility to access company news and manage work-related tasks anytime and anywhere. The platform also offers ways for employees to ask questions, debate in forums, and make suggestions irrespective of role or location. 

Quarterly Zoom strategy update meetings are held for all managers which they’re asked to cascade alongside sharing a visual dashboard taken from the CEO’s board report to aid an open discussion making all company objectives shared goals. 

The Shaw website is centred around employees and residents. The care homes have provided feedback about how they thoroughly enjoyed their involvement in the creation of videos and felt very special during filming and photography. 

Since May 2020, the company has paid over £5.5m in tax-free bonuses to employees. 

In March 2022, it made the bold move of becoming an early adopter of the Real Living Wage. Since then, it’s invested more than £9m into employees’ salaries over and above mandated National Living Wage changes. 

To celebrate its many long-serving employees, Shaw awards certificates and prizes at dedicated events, or anniversary events marking care homes long standing in the community. An annual reward and recognition scheme gathers employees’ nominations and recognises them at regional events and culminates in a national award ceremony that celebrates outstanding examples of care. 

Reflections Since Becoming EO 

Russell Brown, CEO of Shaw Healthcare, said: “The EOT has been a great journey for us and our employees who now have a stake and a say. Employee ownership has helped us retain our independence and has had a huge impact on staff retention in a challenging sector.  

“The latest annual employee satisfaction survey has seen an increase in engagement scores suggesting that our approach to employee-ownership is making extremely positive progress - people are proud to work for Shaw and many of them are long serving employees.  

“I’m very pleased that our collective hard work has meant employees have received a share of over £5.5m of profits since becoming an EOT in addition to an improved benefits package. Importantly, our employees understand it’s because of the excellent care that they’ve delivered. 

“Our ethos of focusing on the quality of care and making Shaw an employer of choice is such a positive asset to the areas in which we operate.  

“We’re creating care homes that offer career opportunities, places where people can live fulfilled lives and receive the care they need. It’s our aim to partner with Local Authorities and introduce the way that we deliver care in other communities in the UK.” 

Reflections From the Health Sector

Chief Executive of Care England, Professor Martin Green OBE, said: “As many owners of care businesses consider their succession plan, it is heartening to see a brilliant example of an EO succession in our sector empowering its employees through shared goals and reward.

“Shaw healthcare has pioneered this in their business setting a great example of how investing in its people is delivering great business impacts - through increased employee satisfaction and retention, continued quality care for its customers, and being rooted sustainably in the communities in which it operates for the longer term.”