What I've Learned About Recruitment And Retention From 26 years In Care

Amar Marjara is the CEO of Peterborough Care, a family-run care group operating five care homes in and around Peterborough.  His journey in care began in 1999 when he stepped into the business founded by his mother, Sumeet Marjara, a former NHS nurse and one of the early pioneers of private elderly care. Inspired by her ethos and commitment, Amar has carried that legacy forward, evolving the company while staying true to its values. Under Amar's leadership, Peterborough Care has achieved exceptional staff retention, with his shortest-serving manager having been with the company for ten years, and many team members beginning their careers as domestic assistants before progressing to leadership roles. His approach centres on nurturing staff who genuinely care about older people, believing that everything else can be taught. But empathy must come from within. Amar maintains a hands-on leadership style, often working directly in the homes and mentoring managers and frontline staff.  He strongly believes in presence, listening, and mutual respect as the backbone of strong care delivery and has minimised recruitment agency use to just 0.2%. He remains personally involved in recruitment and induction processes, ensuring new team members align with the care home's ethos, and in this episode, Amar discusses what he has learned about recruitment including: Why empathy is non-negotiable, because, "you can teach someone to be competent. You can't teach them to care." The importance of consistency in care teams as "without the people that deliver the care, we can't set out to do what we want to do." How Amar has achieved exceptional retention metrics with his shortest serving manager having  been with the company for ten years. How Amar has minimised recruitment agency use to 0.2%. How Amar, "hires for heart, not just skill," and the importance of meeting candidates face to face. Developing talent from within with three managers having started as domestic assistants, and one now running an Outstanding-rated home. Empowering managers while remaining accessible, giving them, "complete autonomy—but they know they can call me anytime. And they do. Daily." Why, "being present isn't a formula. But it gives people reassurance, and that's everything." Creating emotional safety through not treating questions as annoyances because, "you're dealing with people's lives." Onboarding that embeds culture through, "passing on our ethos and philosophy." The impact of pay incentives and why ethos and philosophy matter more. Creating loyalty beyond pay because, "there are probably better paid jobs out there. But our managers aren't looking." Mentoring through listening and developing a culture where leaders care about their teams, not just manage them. Creating a culture of challenge and feedback because, "some of our best systems came from being challenged by our own team."