Having been a key name in case management for 19 years, AKA Case Management is now set for the next chapter in its journey after it was acquired earlier this year. Here, director Andrew Rose discusses its commitment to its clients and team and how its strong and ongoing progress will never be about ‘growth for growth’s sake’
Tell us why AKA Case Management was established and what was the ambition at the outset?
The company was established in 2002 driven by Angela Kerr’s life experiences, drive, passion and love of people.
The company has focussed on recruiting a like-minded team. We all work together to support the company philosophy and ethos of putting the meaning back into the lives of individuals who have suffered traumatic injuries.
How has the business developed over time?
AKA’s focus is on not only improving the lives of the clients that we work with but also the lives of the people who work with us, whether they be employees or external stakeholders. This is more important than growth for growth’s sake. Our team grows when we are able to find people who share our values and our ethos and AKA is able to support the individual’s needs as well.
The acquisition of AKA earlier this year has not changed any of this focus. In fact, it has cemented it. Angela took a long time to identify and help to develop people from within AKA to ensure that they shared those values and had the trust of the employees
Andrew Rose
of AKA.
How did the team respond to the significant challenges of COVID-19?
AKA continued to do what AKA has always done, which was adapt to the situation for each individual client and support their individual needs. So, if that required face to face support, we facilitated that with all appropriate risk assessments and safety measures in place. Some clients needed space to adapt to the changes, so this is what they were given.
Technology obviously played a key part in terms of allowing connectivity and communication. This has been a definite benefit of the pandemic as people were forced to engage in technology which might have otherwise taken a long time to adapt to. The use of technology will remain in place but blended with the importance of human contact, assessment and support.
Clients and staff required different support at different times. Again, these needs were assessed and supported on an individual basis. Changes in government guidance frequently caused periods of uncertainty and anxiety. We provided simplified summaries of government guidance throughout the pandemic and met to discuss changes as a team to brainstorm ideas and provide the best solutions for our clients and staff.
We also focussed on wellbeing, connecting with all staff individually, providing wellbeing skills, tools and resources to support them through the challenges of the pandemic.
What are your priorities going forward?
Our focus on wellbeing has remained and we are working hard to imbed skills and tools into our everyday practice.
We want to support and promote to our staff that they need to look after themselves to best support our clients. If, as a team we can model these skills and tools, then our clients are more likely to see the validity of them.
We truly believe that if our staff are happy then this will help us deliver the best support that we can to our clients and help
Dawn Abernethy, director of AKA
them to achieve the most they can from their lives.
What does the long-term future look like for AKA?
Our ambition remains to help our clients live the fullest lives that they possibly can. Accompanied with this, we want our staff and everyone we work with to have the best experience that they can and to be happy. We believe that if we support our staff well, then we can achieve this and be commercially successful.
If we can find likeminded employees whilst maintaining the quality of support to our staff and clients, then we will continue to grow. Our drive and passion for people won’t be compromised to pursue commercial success.
We want AKA to be sustainable long into the future so, as Angela did before us, we are also looking at the next generation of leaders to take AKA forward.
