Transcript Slide 1
Better Leadership, Better Quality: how good leadership can help you to aim for gold
Zoe Brown, National Skills Academy for Social Care Surrey Care Association Autumn Conference, 9 October 2012
What this presentation covers
Introduction: why a Skills Academy?
Why leadership matters, especially now
What leadership means in a social care context
How you can build leadership in your own organisations: practical steps
Introduction: why a Skills Academy?
• “[Social Care] lacks confidence. As a result it is timid in its vision and ambition for how adult social care services can be delivered.”
Social Care: A Review. Dame Denise Platt, 2007
“There is a unique culture within social care....Social care is often positioned ‘in the shadows’. This is disempowering [and] has the effect of reducing confidence and stifling innovation.”
Feedback from Skills Academy consultation on Leadership Strategy for Adult Social Care, 2011
Traditions...
So: w
ho we are and what we do
• Launched October 2009: for
adult social care
in England • Backed by
Department of Health
and
Skills Funding Agency
• Specific remit to develop and improve
leadership, management and commissioning
in social care • Developing a
Leadership Qualities Framework
and a
Leadership Strategy
for adult social care, to be launched this autumn.
• Working with
employers, trainers and commissioners
• • Leadership and commissioning
programmes
;
endorsement
for good/excellent
training providers
;
membership body
for organisations and individuals
Some of our Members
Cheshire Homecare Services Ltd
Why leadership matters, especially now
•
Demand
•
Supply/Resources
•
Changes
•
Culture growing and becoming more complex
e.g. ageing population, ‘the oldest old’, changes in people’s expectations
reducing in relation to time and money
e.g. local authority cuts, lower household income, fewer resources for training
bewildering and far-reaching
e.g. in structures, customer base, regulation and relationships
some things aren’t changing enough
“Who Cares?”: 83% of respondents felt the care sector was negatively represented in the media
Demand: (Life) expectancy and expectations
Supply: n
o end in sight
•
Continuing recession:
recovery slower than in previous recessions: austerity = “the new real” •
Affects public and private funding alike:
public perception differs £80bn being taken out of public spending. Note that only 12% cuts have been made so far but •
More public sector cuts in the pipeline:
additional £10.5bn by 2016, > £150bn additional borrowing. Cordis Bright 2012 Annual Survey - > 1/3 respondents have been asked for 25% fee reductions •
Interest rate reductions:
implications for annuities/final salary pension schemes/other savings •
Changes to pensions and tax system:
“granny tax”, additional 1.3m now in 40p tax band – 5m people by 2014, up from 3m
Why leadership matters, especially now
•
Demand
•
Supply/Resources
•
Changes
•
Culture growing and becoming more complex
e.g. ageing population, ‘the oldest old’, changes in people’s expectations
reducing in relation to time and money
e.g. local authority cuts, lower household income, fewer resources for training
bewildering and far-reaching
e.g. in structures, customer base, regulation and relationships
some things aren’t changing enough
“Who Cares?”: 83% of respondents felt the care sector was negatively represented in the media
Implications: Leadership is crucial to achieving outcomes
Revenue challenges and funding pressures
for employers – and for some, issues of managing growth Need to
do more
– and more complex -
with less
Working with
wider group of stakeholders
– CCGs, public health, personal budget holders, housing, planning Need for
adaptability/innovation
- reconfiguring services, working with new client groups, providing flexible care models Reversion to
the old virtues
– dignity, compassion - and emphasis on newer ones, especially in the light of integration
Why? (1) Because the sector sees it as key to making a difference
Policy
“Delivering the vision demands a capable and well-trained workforce...[and increased] leadership in order to deliver.”
A Vision for Adult Social Care, 2010
“The sector needs high-quality leadership at all levels...[it] is essential to the delivery of all the proposals in this White Paper.”
Caring for our future, 2012
Practice
In “Who Cares?”, 94% of respondents linked quality of leadership with quality of service
Why? (2) Because of the way that leadership can be defined
Not just about the authority shown at the top of organisations It’s a practical understanding – and awareness – about
how
you do what you do So it’s about
behaviours
, and taking responsibility for them And it’s everyone’s business – people working at all levels in social care
“People do not experience our values, they experience our
behaviours”: Bill Mumford, MacIntyre
Behaviours: key components of leadership, as identified in ‘Who Cares?’, Feb 2012
Communication
Adaptability
Focus on continuous improvement
Team working
Self-awareness
Ability to build relationships
Coaching and development
Building leadership: what works
Selecting
Including
Reflecting and coaching
Measuring
Coming together
Building leadership: selecting for leadership attributes and social care values
MacIntyre’s approach: www.macintyrecharity.org
• national charity working with people with learning disabilities: Skills Academy Founder Member • starting point was to define: ‘what makes a great care worker?’ • answers led to a personality profile for people who consistently deliver high quality, personalised care, and a competency-based framework for recruitment • same approach shapes overall workforce policy – responsible for standard of their own practice all employees • all line managers responsible for standard of practice within their teams: supervisors encouraged to take on lead roles
Building leadership: including everyone
“...there are certain aspects that must be there in any leader: intelligence and emotional intelligence are two aspects, but you can teach skills, you can give people opportunity to develop leadership confidence . So while you do need some basic core principles and values and intelligence, you can teach leadership ”.
Commodore Jake Moores, Head of Royal Naval College, Dartmouth National Skills Academy for Social Care Seminar Series for Senior Leaders
Building leadership: reflecting and coaching
Front-Line Leaders Programme
“ I am now constantly assessing my own practice and have the means to better myself which in turn creates a happier smoother workplace, which most importantly improves the quality of service we offer.”
• Leadership development programme for first-line/first-time managers – e.g. shift supervisors, team leaders, deputy managers • Workplace-based, coaching/reflective practice approach • Focuses on attitudes and behaviours: what leadership means in different situations, in relation to service users, colleagues and organisations: and on basis for action
Building leadership: measuring
Building leadership: coming together
Fundamentally about the sector valuing itself - entrepreneurial, competitive, key driver of local economies – and recognising the difference that social care makes, when done well, to people’s lives. Employers – linking with each other, acting as bridge across communities, engaging with commissioners.
Employees – new networks for Registered Managers.
Sector bodies above”.
exploring merger – Skills for Care and the Skills Academy - take your own leadership, don’t wait for it to “come from
Summary
• Why focus on leadership? Because it buys you space, time and quality when all of these are at a premium • Leadership in this context is about behaviours and culture • You can select for it and develop it; you can coach it and measure it • The sector is starting to take leadership into its own hands and value its own strengths • Outcome: gold standard, confident and flexible practitioners, who can operate in a variety of conditions and a range of teams, and – in future - across health and social care.
The National Skills Academy for Social Care www.nsasocialcare.co.uk