SOCIAL WORK STRATEGY: WORKSTREAM 1

SOCIAL WORK FIRST LINE MANAGERS

Content / Page Number
Section 1 – Introduction
Background and Context
Terms of Reference
Section 2 – Current Literature: Role of Senior Practitioner / 3
3
4
4
Section 3 – Define the Role and Tasks of Social Work First Line Managers
Typology for First Line Managers
Review of Job Descriptions
Regional Scoping of Roles and Tasks
Fishbone Analysis / 6
7
8
9
11
Section 4 – Identify Existing Training, Leadership Development and Supports available and Develop Menu of Supports Available
Range of Leadership and Management Training Provision
Proposed Management Pathway / 15
16
16
Section 5 – Examine Existing Gaps in Training and Support
Coaching and Mentoring for First Line Managers
Role of First Line Managers: Exploration / 20
21
22
Section 6 – Conclusions And Recommendations / 25
Appendices / 29
-Membership of Workstream 1 / 30
  1. INTRODUCTION
  1. Background and Context

‘Improving and Safeguarding Social Wellbeing: A Strategy for Social Work in Northern Ireland 2012 -2022’ (The Strategy) was officially launched in April 2012. The Strategy aims to “support the Social Work profession to not only survive but to thrive in the coming years and to continue to be at the forefront of addressing new and emerging issues in society. It provides a framework for the future direction and further development of social work in Northern Ireland, setting out a vision and agenda for action for social work and social workers in improving and safeguarding the social wellbeing of individuals, families and communities.”

There were a number of workstreams set up to progress the Strategy’s recommendations. These are as listed below:

First Line Management

Workload Management

Job Rotation

Extended Hours/Flexible Working

Social Work in Older People’s Services

Reducing Bureaucracy and Paperwork

Promoting Leadership

This workstream was identified as a priority under the strategy due to the recognition of the growing demands on the social workFirst Line Managers. The increase of demand on all public and voluntary agencies is well documentedand social workers are working under unprecedented financial and service pressures. The First Line Manager plays a significant role in organisations and is expected to fulfil a number of managerial and leadership functions to ensure safe and effective delivery of service. In the current financial and strategic climate, they are also expected to deliver and manage change. There is anecdotal evidence that the First Line Managers post is becoming increasingly unattractive to those considering the post and in some organisations it is increasingly difficult to recruit suitable staff. Those social work managers who manage other professionals have additional professional development needs and there is concern that they may become detached from their professional involvement in social work[1]

  1. Terms of Reference

Workstream 1 was established to:

  • Define the role and tasks of social work First Line Managers
  • Identify existing training, leadership development and supports available and develop a menu of supports available
  • Identifying gaps in existing supports/development
  • Make recommendations to the Implementation group about the next steps

Membership was sought across organisations and is outlined in Appendix 1. A core working group was also established to drive the collective work of the larger group and to provide analysis on the material gathered throughout this process. The draft report was discussed with a focus group of nine social work First Line Managers and their comments and views have been included in this paper. Thanks are extended to their valuable participation and contribution. A debt of thanks and gratitude is also extended to those who attended meetings andworkshop and who provided valuable materials for consideration. Thanks also to Andrew, Janine and Catherine from the Social Work Strategy team for their efficient and invaluable contribution to this process throughout.

The paper commences with a literature review examining the role of the senior practitioner post and the interfaces with the First Line Managers job

  1. CURRENT LITERATURE : Role of Senior Practitioners

The role of the First Line Managers (FLM) differs significantly between Children’s and Adult Services. In Children’s Service the First Line Managers context is uni-disciplinary while in Adult services it is located in a multi-disciplinary context.

In considering the role of the First Line Managers as it has developed within adult services, it may be helpful to draw on the work commissioned by the DHSSPS regarding the review of roles and deployment of Senior and Principal Practitioners (SP and PP). While the analysis of the FLM and SP roles are not differentiated between Adult Services and Children Services, the information is helpful in understanding the adult services context. In the review, the role of the FLM is analysed against the role of the SP. The review was carried out through a literature review of national and international research on social work career pathways and an analysis of job descriptions and specifications currently being used across Trusts and service areas in NI. This in turn will inform the deployment of these grades of staff across the region and across programmes of care. (DHSSPS 2014)

The SP role is paid at a grade 7, the same as the FLM’s role. In the SP job descriptions there was an average of 22 statements regarding tasks expected while in the FLM’s job descriptions there was an average of 33 tasks expected and in some instances the tasks ranged upwards to 48. This is congruent with the exercise demonstrated on the fish bone diagram, carried out by members of the FLM work stream on Pg. 11 of this report, which demonstrates the demands placed on FLMs. Both numerically and visually, the evidence shows that the social work FLM role is demanding and the question has to be asked if it is possible to meet the demands inherent in the job descriptions in terms of volume alone.

This role of the First Line Managers has widened out to incorporate a more general management approach where the focus is managing the service and where the burden and time consumption of supervising staff has to be woven through the rest of the workload. The issue of who is best placed to offer supervision needs to be addressed.

Another issue which was presented in the review was that, besides the volume of demands placed on FLMs, the weight of responsibility and accountability was greater on FLM than on the SP. The FLM’s job description had statements such as, “being responsible for...” or “ensuring that...” while the SPs tasks were couched in more gentle terms such as participating in or contributing to key areas, thus taking the burden of being held accountable out of the SP role. (P8, DHSSPS, 2014). It must be noted that both roles are on the same pay grade.

A task which appeared in both job descriptions included supervision. This appeared in one third of the SP Job descriptions and all of the line manager’s job descriptions. Consultation, support, advice and guidance appeared in all FLM job descriptions and three quarter of the SP job descriptions. Training appeared in half of the SP job descriptions and all but one line manager job description. All FLM job descriptions contained responsibility for management, statutory functions and professional leadership while SPs were only expected to contribute to these functions.

Through the scoping of the line manager’s role as demonstrated by the fish-bone approach(discussed late in the paper) and the review of job descriptions as undertaken through the “Review of the Roles and Deployment of Senior and Principal Practitioners”, it raises a question if some of the functions of the FLM could be shared by the SP e.g. intervening and decision – making in complex situations and offering support, consultation, advice and guidance to less experience staff to develop practice when working with more complex cases.

Not all Trusts deploy the SP role in Adult Services. However most Trusts have explored the benefits of the SP role in specialisms which require complex interventions and where risk management and complex decision- making are required.

This report reviewing the roles and deployment of senior and principal practitioners outlines the following pertinent next steps;

  • A review of the roles and responsibilities of the First Line Managers social work posts should be considered alongside ways of strengthening support for staff in this key role.
  • To consider the interface between the SP and LM roles to agree the common and distinctive characteristics which each role should have and ensure comparable weighting in terms of responsibilities.

Recommendation

The deployment of SPs across Adult Services is actioned through the Commissioning process. It is recommended that service areas are identified, where responding to risk and complex decision – making puts added pressure on FLMs to intervene or offer closer supervision. The SP role should be considered where practice expertise is required and where less experienced staff can be supported by the SP to develop confidence in complex practice and decision making.

Commissioners should also consider, when contracting with the voluntary and independent sectors in both children’s and adults services, to specify the need for deploying SPs in situations where complexity demands an expert practitioner.

  1. DEFINE THE ROLE AND TASKS OF SOCIAL WORK FIRST LINE MANAGERS

In order to attempt a definition of role and task, a number of exercises were undertaken to scope as comprehensively as possible the role and tasks across programmes of care and agencies represented on the workstream:

i)Typology of First Line Managers

ii)Review of Job Descriptions

iii)Regional scoping of tasks and roles of First Line Managers

  1. Typology for First Line Managers (FLMs)

TYPE 1

FLMs working in settings and sectors where a professional Social Work qualification is mandatory for FLM posts and Social Workers and Social Care staff make up the Teams.

All HSCT Family and Child Care SW Teams / Family Centres / Child Residential

All ELB Education Welfare

All statutory Criminal Justice Teams including Probation and Youth Justice

Specialist Social Work Teams, for example, HSCT Adult Safeguarding Teams and voluntary sector Teams such as NSPCC.

TYPE 2

FLMs working in settings and sectors where a professional Social Work qualification is not mandatory but highly relevant and Social Workers hold such posts.

HSCT Teams across Adult Services – Disability/Older People/Mental Health

Other Specialist HSCT Teams such as CAMHS

FLM posts in Voluntary Sector involved in delivering Social Work/Social Care

Differentiation within Type 2

(a) Teams/Services where the bulk of work include safeguarding, statutory functions, performance management and which requires substantial Social Work management E.g. HSCT Integrated Teams for OlderPeople

(b) Teams/Services where the bulk of the work is “therapeutic” E.g. CMHT.

  1. Review of job descriptions.

The purpose of this exercise was to draw out a common set of criteria within the existing roles and responsibilities from job descriptions from those agencies represented on the Workstream. This did not however prove to be a useful exercise as the job descriptions were, on a whole, extensive and covered numerous “other duties” that reflected general management roles. On a positive note, it was encouraging to note that the key social work tasks of safeguarding, protection and supervision were core to all job descriptions. It is clear that an agreement on the appropriatefunctions of the social work manager is required as a first step to regional agreement on the job descriptions that clearly capture the role and responsibilities.

Recommendation:

Regional agreement in job descriptions for social work First Line Managers which will provide consistency and support for roles and responsibilities and recognition of the particular contribution social work values, skills and knowledge that can underpin a management role. These should include

  • Influencing
  • Negotiating
  • User involvement
  • Respect for diversity
  • Effective communication
  • Planning, organising, safeguarding
  • Risk assessment/risk management
  • Provision of operational and professional supervision and contribution to the development of others
  • Practice underpinned by Delegated Statutory Functions(DSF)
  1. Regional scoping of roles and tasks

A template was developed to explore the role and tasks of First Line Managers and distributed across member agencies of the workstream.a wide representation of social work agencies regionally. This was a useful piece of work and enabled some insight into the range and complexities involved in the day to day role of the social work First Line Managers. It was also intended as a tool to shape potential recommendations in this report

The purpose of this exercise was to examine and define the role and tasks of First Line Managers against the key areas identified by the working group. Staff were asked to list the tasks they do and to provide any suggestions how they felt things could be managed differently. The key areas identified were:

  • Staff supervision/KSF
  • Case management responsibilities
  • Service improvement and development
  • Budgets
  • Estates management
  • Working with support services, i.e. HR, Occupational Health, Estates
  • Attendance at communication forums with staff and service users
  • Interface with external agencies
  • Significant indirect work, i.e. liaison, planning, organising meetings, assurance, networking
  • Training and workforce development including the development of others
  • Governance
  • Approved Social Work
  • Safeguarding
  • Extensive involvement in administration tasks including minute taking, arranging meetings/venues, filing, form filling relating to HR, Performance, lack of technology to assist administrative tasks, implementation of HRPTS which is a significant administrative task now expected of managers

Analysis

The First Line Managers core duties are numerous, as outlined above. In the main most duties undertaken were considered to be appropriateto their job role although all expressed dissatisfaction at the disproportionate amount of administrative work, quality assurance and updating of information systems and all struggle to manage these demands.

First Line Managersidentified that challenges in their job relate to the breadth of the role and the need for all support systems to work efficiently in order for them to fulfil their duties. Common challenges relate to staff sick leave and the impact of vacancy controls; limited administrative support; the need to work outside of working hours to manage the workload, increase of demand for example, in safeguarding and Vulnerable Adults activity. Although there are limitations to the analysis of this exercise, lack of support and training opportunities were not identified as challenges.

Organisations are dependent on First Line Managers to ensure the adequate functioning of the organisation and the effective delivery of quality services. This exercise demonstrated that the First Line Managers role is a critical part of the management system of organisations, acting as the link between frontline staff and senior management. However in order for them to do their job they require that the component parts of the service work in partnership to ensure efficient and appropriate use of their time, taking account of the competing demands.

Recommendation

  • Job descriptions for front line managers must be streamlined to reflect the essential managerial and leadership competencies required for the effective appointments to these posts. The number of additional duties detracts from the core business and expectations of the post. This work must be linked with the current development of the Children’s First Line Managers job description under the auspices of CSIB (Children’s Service Improvement Board)
  • The use of technology to assist First Line Managers should be explored regionally.
  • It is clear that the operational and professional supervision of staff is significantly time consuming. A regional working group should be established to review the role of the First Line Managers providing supervision to all members of their teams. This will include the delegation of supervision to other appropriate staff.
  • Policy direction is required in relation to the supervision of administration staff and on placing the responsibility on administration/Business Officer to deal with non-social work tasks such as Estates Management, Health and Safety, recording/minute taking, reviewing maintenance issues.

Process Mapping Exercise: Workshop

To run in conjunction with the scoping exercise regarding task and role, a workshop for members of the workstream was facilitated using a Fishbone analysis as a framework to capture the following:

  1. Identification of key tasks of First Line Managers on a day to day basis
  2. Identification of key tasks expected of First Line Managers from an organisational, corporate and regional view

The group was divided to produce a practitioners perspective and from a strategic/ senior management perspective. Ten high level functions were identified and the component parts of each are listed in the following diagram:

  • Safeguarding including the work of Approved Social Work
  • Governance
  • Leadership
  • Staff management
  • Information Management
  • Service Delivery
  • External/Partnership Working
  • Management of Resources and Organisational Demands
  • Delegated Statutory Functions requirements
  • Preventative Working/TYC

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