Transcript Kansas Workforce Initiative

Kansas
Relating Supervision to
Workforce Outcomes
Justin Thaw, MSW
Excellence in Supervision Conference
September 22, 2011
Child Welfare Workforce
Challenges in Kansas
•Continuous social work vacancies
•High turnover due to demanding and stressful nature of work
•Impact of vacancies/turnover on families and workers who stay
•Social work graduates often unprepared for child welfare work
•Privatization introduces unique challenges:
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Competition for staff
Stringent staffing/licensing requirements
Contract changes
Resource implications
Insufficient and fragmented workforce data
Kansas Workforce
Initiative
A 5-year cooperative agreement between
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services,
Administration for Children and Families, Children’s
Bureau and The KU School of Social Welfare
“To improve safety, permanency and wellbeing outcomes for children by building the
capacity of child welfare professionals and
improving the systems that recruit, train,
supervise, manage and retain them.”
Kansas Workforce
Initiative
Partners:
 Five Child Welfare Community Based Service Providers
 Tribal Child Welfare Service Providers
Key Stakeholders:
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Children’s Alliance of Kansas
Kansas Family Advisory Network
Kansas Council on Social Work Education
Administration for Children and Families Children’s Bureau
Kansas Workforce
Initiative
Major components include:
• Kansas
Child Welfare Scholars Program
(BSW/MSW traineeships)
• Agency-driven Workforce Initiatives
-Informed by Agency-specific Comprehensive Workforce
Profiles and Comprehensive Workforce Plans
• Statewide Workforce Initiatives
-Informed by a Statewide Comprehensive Workforce Profile
and Comprehensive Workforce Plan
• Collaboration with NCWWI Activities
Overview of
Agency-driven
Workforce Initiatives
Part 1: Complete Agency-specific Comprehensive
Workforce Profile (October 2009-February 2010)
Part 2: Develop Agency-specific Comprehensive
Workforce Plan (spring 2010)
Part 3: Carry-out Agency-driven Workforce Initiatives
(summer 2010-2012)
Part 4: Evaluate and measure impact on workforce and
client outcomes (2012-2013)
“Supervisors who interact with
subordinates as professionals and
encourage child welfare staff to share
responsibilities for organizational
vision and leadership and to continue
personal and professional
development increase the likelihood
that a worker will remain employed in
child welfare.”
Workers who Remain in Child Welfare:
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Have high quality supervision/leadership
Have high supervisor and coworker support
Have supervisors who facilitate their learning
Have supervisors who support worker’s practice
Report more guidance from their supervisor
Have a strong sense of security and emotional
closeness with their supervisor
• Feel assured that they can rely on their supervisor for
tangible support
Workers who Remain in Child
Welfare:
• Feel more positive about the role of their supervisor
and have a more favorable view of their supervisor
• Have supervisors who are more competent in doing
their job, are more concerned with the worker’s
welfare, acknowledge the worker when they have
done a good job, help the worker complete difficult
tasks, and are warm and friendly when the worker is
having problems
Child Welfare
Outcomes
Retention
Supervision
Turnover
Interpersonal
Task Assistance
Interaction
Social & Emotional
Support
Burnout
What Supervisor Dimensions
Influence Retention?
Task Assistance
Social and
Emotional
Support
Interpersonal
Interaction
Viewing Tips
• Focus on what the supervisor is saying
and doing
• Reflect on the powerful influence of these
simple behaviors
• Think about other ways these skills can be
used
Task Assistance
Add video clip web address
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Provide assistance with tasks
Offer work-related advice and instruction
Coach workers
Support training and learning
Social and Emotional Support
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Add video clip web address
Listen as workers discuss job difficulties
Recognize emotional needs
Acknowledge and reward good work
Make supportive statements
Clarify role and responsibilities
Encourage help seeking
Encourage positive thinking
Be warm, friendly and respectful with workers
Interpersonal Interaction
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Add web address to clip
Project a sense of emotional closeness
Encourage staff to share the organizational
vision
Encourage a sense of competence
Interact as professionals
Encourage co-workers to support each other
Supervision and Staff Retention
Dimension 1: Task Assistance
– supervisor provides tangible, work-related advice and instruction to workers
• Leads to: Empowerment, Organizational citizenship, Behavior, Job
Satisfaction, Retention
Dimension 2: Social and Emotional Support
• Leads to: improved Well-being, Organizational Commitment, Job
Satisfaction
Dimension 3: Interpersonal Interactions
– worker’s perception of the quality of the supervisory relationship
• Leads to: Sense of competence and personal accomplishment,
Organizational Citizenship, Behavior, Job Satisfaction
Mor Barak, Travis, Pyun, and Xie, 2009
Synthesis prepared by Munson, 2010
Effective Supervision
Task Assistance
Empowerment
Organizational
Citizenship Behavior
Job Satisfaction
Retention
Social & Emotional Support
Well-being
Organizational Commitment
Job Satisfaction
Interpersonal Interaction
Sense of Competence &
Personal Accomplishment
Organizational Citizenship
Behavior
Job Satisfaction
Impact of Supervision on Staff
Retention
Overall Findings
• Dimension 1: Task Assistance, had greatest impact on
positive worker outcomes.
• Dimensions 2 & 3: Social and Emotional Support and
Interpersonal interaction were associated with:
– Reduced worker anxiety, stress, depression, somatic
complaints, burnout, intention to leave, and turnover
Mor Barak, Travis, Pyun, and Xie, 2009
Synthesis prepared by Munson, 2010
Implications for Workforce
Improvement
• Stress the importance of effective supervision
• Support positive supervisor-supervisee
relationships
• Allow for frequent, mandatory supervisory
sessions
• Provide supervisory trainings on providing
effective task assistance, building strong
supervisory relationships and increasing
supervisory support for workers
Ready to Act? Here are some
ideas to get you started…
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Start small.
Create a routine.
Get someone else involved.
Track your actions.
Ask for feedback.
Involve your team.
Other ideas??
Kansas Workforce Initiative
www.kwi.ku.edu