Organisational learning cultures

Most social service organisations face many pressures however, an organisational learning culture and good implementation skills can go a long way to support effective supervision.

Training or policy changes alone do not impact sufficiently. Approaches that are teachable, learnable, doable and readily assessable are needed. The use of data and collaboration with local and national stakeholders can help to develop capacity to guide, sustain and scale up. Structured improvement cycles can support local teams to identify barriers and generate potential solutions.

The application of standards and ethics to support the early career development of NQSW’s practice is well set out here against the background of supervision and professional development practice. These resources will not be of full value to people who use services through either improved practice or benefits for the workforce without local implementation activities. This must include supervisors and be situated in a wider commitment toward learning cultures.

Ongoing development and reflective practice for supervisors may perhaps feel exposing at first but also may become energising for both supervisors and NQSWs.

Innovation and change

The Active Implementation Research Network (AIRN), points out that innovation does not need to be a new practice but one that you are using for the first time. They define active implementation as being about “socially significant outcomes where populations benefit from high fidelity use of an innovation”.

persevering in using interventions carefully (fidelity) when new is effortful and may feel clunky or awkward. This is where new practices may fall down without organisational support. Impact for service users can be seen when new practices are operationalised so they are;

• Teachable
• Learnable
• Doable
• Assessable
• Scalable in practice

Reflective questions for you as the supervisor

• Can you think of a culture change exercise that worked well in a social work setting you experienced? List some aspects that made it effective.
• How could these be applied to supervision and learning cultures in your organisation?
• What could you commit to working on over the next 6 months to improve your practice as a supervisor supporting NQSWs?
• Try expressing these as SMART goals.
• Specific – What particular new supervision practices will you adopt.
• Measurable – How will you know if you’ve made changes e.g. feedback.
• Achievable – What’s a reasonable period to evidence above innovation.
• Relevant – Aligned to development goals individually and locally.
• Timeframe – Try a 3-6 month period to report on goals.
• Have a discussion with a colleague who is also using these materials or even your own manager so you have a sense of accountability. You could work these into your own annual appraisal cycle and professional learning record.

Information and links

• Please remember that clicking these links will take you to pages and resources external to the SSSC NQSW website.
• You can read about the CELCIS approach to good implementation here Active Implementation: making a meaningful difference
• You can read about the AIRN approach mentioned in this resource here AIRN – Active implementation overview
• We recommend another dedicated SSSC website for more information and resources on supporting and leading change SSSC Step Into leadership

This is the final resource in the series for supervisors. You can also explore the resources for NQSWs, the learning development materials that can be adapted for your organisation and the templates for supervision.

You may want to remind yourself about the overall approach to the NQSW supported year in Scotland.

A variety of models

Many different models help explain the interaction between stakeholders and the different functions of supervision. Supervision policies often refer to a three or four-function model of supervision. Morrison (2010) identified management, professional, and developmental aspects and added the role of mediation in recognition of the role of supervisors. He saw supervisors as the main link between frontline workers and management structures. 

These multiple dynamics of supervision are set out by Kettle (2015), who highlights that a “task-focused approach fails to take account of the interaction between these functions,” or to “situate the dynamics of the supervisory process within the wider organisational or inter-agency context”.

Proctor (2008) advocates a three-part supervision model that has been influential, and these terms are often discussed in wider literature including the very helpful SSSC Supervision Learning Resource (SSSC, 2016).

The key domains are shown in the table below.

Proctor (2008)

Developing different methods of supervision

A learning organisation will use multiple methods to support staff development rather than expecting everything to be provided by a line manager in individual supervision (Tsui, 2017). This may incorporate peer and group approaches, mentorship as well as consultation and coaching. Peer group work is explored in the training outline for NQSWs. The supervisor training sessions included on this website has a focus on individual models that help to take account of multiple needs.

Heron (2001) set out a model which helps us think more about the variety of interventions that might happen in supervision. Both authoritative and facilitative interventions are needed but some of the facilitative needs may also be achieved in peer-group work (particularly cathartic and catalytic interventions).

Heron (2001)

Developmental models

There are several developmental models which are helpful when thinking about the domains of motivation, autonomy and awareness in supervision.

As with all models, it aids our thinking rather than having a linear or universal application. Factors including career history, such as a prior experience of the care sector, may impact our developmental journey.

The categories set out in the table below are adapted from a model advanced by Stoltenberg and McNeill (2010).

adapted from Stoltenberg and McNeill (2010)

Reflective questions for you as a supervisor

• Think about how the developmental model set out above also applies to you a supervisor.
• Identify which stage you think you are at in your supervisory journey and what supports you might need to develop further.

Go to supervisor resource 13 – The seven-eyed model of supervision

Creating a safe space

Research with supervisees has highlighted the importance of supervisors being trustworthy, supportive and caring; available but boundaried; sensitive to supervisee’s needs; and able to create a safe atmosphere where perceived errors can be disclosed and learned from (Hawkins & McMahon, 2020).

Creating a safe and positive atmosphere may include considering:

• Where supervision happens including phones, noise and interruption
• Being away from usual workspaces to switch from reactive modes
• Responsibility for timing and agenda of the session  
• Intervening when initial chat leads to avoiding the agenda

A supervisor facilitates learning and just like another kind of educator in a class setting would consider, many of these aspects relate to the open and receptive emotional and mental state required for true reflection and development. The NHS Scotland (2011) toolkit for creating learning opportunities argues that managing your own state and the state of a learner are key to effectiveness though effortful.

Managing boundaries

For a supervisee that uses a lot of time superficially describing case activities in sessions it might mean allowing that within an agreed boundary. The supervisor might then be gently curious about whether the detail of tasks shows a desire to win approval for hard work or discomfort with the reflective analysis. Conversely someone feeling distressed about an aspect of casework is unlikely to focus on an agenda until that issue has been discussed.     

Contracting for each supervision relationship sometimes gives way to carefully developed organisational policies to which staff must adhere. However, if that does not cover negotiation around responsibilities and roles, session formats, regulatory and accountability issues and the supervisory relationship those things still require individual attention.

Such areas for discussion might include;

• Issues with colleagues, managers & organisation
• Themes arising in a supervisees work
• Strong feelings e.g. supervisees have felt anger or embarrassment
• Professional goals and individual learning plans
• Self care, stress levels, time-management, workload
• Personal issues that impact work or vice versa
• When a supervisee feels awkward about a piece of work
• Potential ethical issues e.g attachment & possible loss of objectivity

Virtual supervision

While familiar to many in remote and rural locations in Scotland, virtual working has recently become valuable for almost everyone since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic. There are key tips from research across the globe about improving the quality of online supervision:

• Strong internet connections (wired connection to broadband routers)
• Having a backup plan for failed connection (retries followed by phone call)
• Consider use of headphones to improve audio quality and increasing confidentiality
• Having the camera level with your face improves eye contact and sense of listening 
• Be about an arm’s length from the camera, as this will offer the best quality image
• Discussions about environment including use of virtual backgrounds for additional privacy
• Making sure your face is well lit, with no strong light behind you eliminates a silhouette
• Try to look at the webcam at least some of the time, particularly at emotive moments
• Once image is clear, well lit and framed consider turning off self-view to reduce distraction
• Reduce intensity when appropriate by screen sharing useful tools from your web browser 

There are also a number of useful reflections on managing the session and the content and transfer our interpersonal skills to virtual sessions. This includes beginnings and endings and more time for ‘checking in’ so participants are in the right state for reflection. It’s important to talk about how the online medium assists or hinders your own communication style and how it impacts working with any strong emotions. Supervisors may have learned to withhold too many non-verbal cues of approval or concern in order to give space to the supervisees process. However online practice may require more expression of empathy and connection in non-verbal cues particularly at beginnings and endings.  

Information and links

• Research in Practice – Supervision conversations using remote-working technology
• The above guidance is generally helpful for our increasingly online world both in rural working, reducing travel, time burdens and reducing climate harms. However, many supervisors at this time will still be considering their provision in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic.
• SSSC has also made available a resource to think about wider issues of leading in a crisis. This includes sections on managing grief and change, self-leadership and use of supervision, mentoring and coaching in the online environment. There is also detailed guidance covering ethics in social work practice during the pandemic with those using our services.  
• SSSC – Leading in a crisis
• Scottish Government – Covid-19 safe and ethical social practice

Useful ideas

• Consider the way you currently negotiate and review supervision including how parties prepare.
• How does this help avoid describing casework activities and enable reflective, meaningful and difficult conversations?

Go to supervisor resource 12 – Supervision models

Welcoming diversity

Welcoming diversity, creating a space for individual learning needs and development of new staff in a complex field of practice takes deliberate effort. Balancing this with the use of a supervisor’s professional and any line manager authority are some of the challenges of professional leadership.

Acknowledging protected characteristics, assumed cultural norms and values, with supervisees, supports the core values of anti-oppressive practice in social work.

It is important to ask about and understand subjective experience. Individual characteristics should be acknowledged even when they seem self-evident. For example, there is still a disproportionate number of male managers when 80% of social workers are women and either ignoring or overcompensating for such dynamics can impact confidence and trust.

Supervisors create a space that welcomes the use of self in our work with people using services. This might include the incorporation of LGBTQIA identities and any dynamics felt by the supervisee even if not observed by the supervisor.

Negotiation and contracting also helps when exercising multiple roles. For example, the need to offer restorative supervisory support around disability dynamics that arise in the role if raised by supervisees, while as a line manager needing to offer a clear process for any necessary employee adjustments.

“We have started using individual contracts and reflecting on supervision histories. That has allowed deeper conversations to talk about what people feel they need and the signs if they are not doing well but to the case-discussion focus is a difficult default to shift”.

Local Authority Manager

Issues such as gender, disability and sexuality that must be acknowledged in a helping relationship such as supervision. Another example of inclusion, because of excellent practice in challenging discrimination and removing barriers to training and professional roles, we are thankfully seeing more people in the workforce with lived experience of care services.

The Promise Scotland recognises that the workforce is also made up of survivors of trauma. Those with lived experience must be supported to be part of the workforce and nurture their instinct to give back, but there must be recognition of the pain that may accompany that involvement.  

Cultural issues are significant factors in supervisory relationships. Responsibility for working with that difference is shared by both parties, whether these are diversities of major cultural or faith communities, experiences of first generation Scots or workers from Scottish traveller backgrounds. Cultural diversity should be welcomed rather than subsumed by professional or role expectations.

Using our power in facilitating learning and development

The container for development is primarily the relationship rather than the content according to Lakey (2020). To facilitate rapport and trust he urges that we can make even obvious diversity issues explicit including gender, class, age and minority issues.

He suggests rather than assuming a shared understanding due to professional identity we must acknowledge organisational power and how, for different people, that may have a greater or lesser impact in their engagement. His approach applied to supervision and professional development suggests that unpacking the NQSW’s stance toward supervision and previous experiences along with emotional and learning styles ​are essential to build a strong container that allows for real development.

Acknowledging and working with those issues might give rise to resistance but going towards this can allow for real change rather than performing a role.

How do good leaders engage?

• Value diversity
• Validate importance of relationships
• Are approachable and responsive
• Model Good Practice
• Support, Coach and mentor
• Are Active and Purposeful

Enablers of leadership

• People feel supported, valued and respected
• Work and achievements are acknowledged
• People have a voice and are treated fairly
• There is a culture of reflection, learning and development

These ideas are drawn from the resource SSSC – Enabling Leadership

Personality styles are another factor of diversity pertinent to the learning and development task of supervision. Models often identify where we might be on a continuum informed by our ongoing trait, development, or even attachment styles.

Some traits sound like they would be more desirable however our relationships and organisations need variety. There are many models describing personality types including the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. One of the most widely applied models of describing personality is the five-factor (Goldberg, 1990) or OCEAN model.     

• Openness to experience (inventive/curious vs. consistent/cautious)
• Conscientiousness (efficient/organized vs. extravagant/careless)
• Extraversion (outgoing/energetic vs. solitary/reserved)
• Agreeableness (friendly/compassionate vs. challenging/callous)
• Neuroticism (sensitive/nervous vs. resilient/confident)

Another model of understanding diversity particularly regarding learning and development is the Multiple Intelligences Theory of Howard Gardiner. This gave rise to the more popular book on Emotional Intelligence by science journalist Daniel Goleman (1995). These can be helpful for considering the strengths and differences between supervisors and NQSW learning styles.

In working with and leading others we become vulnerable and at times may feel de-skilled given our perceived experience or seniority. A social worker who has been has applied vulnerability research to leadership roles is Brene Brown. Her work became widely known following her 2010 TEDx Houston talk, The Power of Vulnerability.

In 2019 she filmed a longer talk for Netflix which you can search for titled ‘A Call to Courage’. Brown argues that we need to work with vulnerability in all our relationships using simple self-talk such as ‘the story I’m telling myself is’… This acknowledges the way we use explanatory stories to understand our relationships but these stories may trigger our threat-protection system. This can be highly relevant to issues for supervisors of feeling they must present as confident in order to reassure supervisees or have authority to lead teams. In Call to Courage Brown says without vulnerability and tolerance of failure it’s impossible to have creativity and innovation in an organisation.

Useful ideas

• Imagine an ethical dilemma arise of an NQSW who is feeling stuck with a risk-averse mother of a young disabled man called Robert. Robert identifies as gay and wants to be supported to go to appropriate venues and activities to seek a relationship, his mum is worried and the support provider is also hesitant.
• What types of intervention could be used to support the NQSW to unpick the mother’s fears, the provider’s hesitance and their own views about the standard of ethical values and rights-based practice and the ethics of self-determination?
• How could you help them to plan interventions?
• Developed from the British Institute of Human Rights case study of ‘Robert’.

Go to supervisor resource 11 – Good supervision (including virtual practices)

Support and autonomy

A key issue to explore in supervision can be how to offer support, develop autonomy while avoiding creating dependency. Difficulties in the supervisory relationship at the beginning may be related to hidden concerns, including adjustment to a new role or developing trust.

Sorting out what styles are usual for the supervisee and what may be signs of difficulty needs to take place in a trusting relationship, particularly when new workers want to impress their competence to a line manager and are mindful of oversight.

This emotional work takes time which could be squeezed out by a focus for both parties on casework details. One option is to acknowledge that covering all aspects in one supervision session can be difficult, so using an alternating focus or mentoring and peer groups can be helpful to ensure all aspect of supervisee’s needs are covered over time.

Some supervisors raised concerns during test sessions for this resource that the ‘restorative’ mode (see more on this in the supervision models resource) may lead to a counselling mode that is not always appropriate or the supervisor does not feel trained for. If personal needs were having a significant and repeated impact on the NQSW role, the supervisor must at least feel confident to identify this and signpost the supervisee to other appropriate resources.  

Transparency is helpful and even subtle ‘gear’ changes in a supervisor’s style, e.g. when moving from a more relaxed and supportive style to introducing a little more structure or challenge may need to be explained beforehand. Clearly agreeing where the responsibilities lie, what is optional and what the expectations and organisational scrutiny are, can help the supervisee.

Thinking about each person’s learning style could be helpful. If the supervisor has a strong reflective style and the supervisee has a strong activist style it will take some negotiation to avoid conflict. Peer groups for supervisors may be one tool that can support best practices.

Supervision records

There are compliance issues to consider in relation to keeping supervision records and notes. Supervisors and NQSWs should ensure that all local and national guidance and regulations are followed in respect of discussion and decisions recorded.

Supervisors may also make a record of supervision which would be agreed by the NQSW. Although subject to the local policies and regulations noted above, making secure and confidential process notes for supervision and reflective learning purposes which are later safely destroyed can be considered, as long as all direct work with people using services is appropriately recorded.

Limits to confidentiality are very often covered by detailed organisational policies and all registered social workers should be mindful of the Codes of Practice for social services workers and employers and their duty to report breaches as part of public protection ethics and maintaining public trust in the profession.

Difficult conversations

Although it can be hard to deal with difficult tasks and conversations, delays often make situations more challenging, as we may be seen to have created acceptance by not acting sooner.

If difficult conversations can be normalised and less threatening they will be an effective way of supporting the personal development of the NQSW. They can also be expressed as part of a comprehensive individual learning plan.

Tracy (2004) encourages us to tackle the most difficult tasks first, which he argues reduces anxiety and increases later productivity.

Helpful ideas for managing difficult conversations:

• Contextualise any concerns in terms of the supervision contract
• Specify if feedback is personal reflection or managerial view
• Keep the message simple
• Stay with any awkwardness to be sure a message is received
• Balance any critical reflection in the round with other good work
• Plan to revisit it later or set SMART goals (see ‘implementation’ section (link)

A supervisee who feels unprepared for criticism may be initially defensive so plan to work with any resistance and treat it gently by repeating and refocusing. Giving critical feedback is a delicate balance. Apologising when you get it wrong sets an example of realistic leadership with imperfections. If we were never to get it wrong, perhaps we would reflect if we are staying too safe.

Most interviews for job roles now require behavioural examples for any of the key criteria, similarly, asking for a change with an employee should also use specific behavioural examples. The DESC model by (Bower & Bower 1991 cited in Davys and Beddoe 2020), is one approach to help plan this. The four steps are:

Describe the behaviour you want to be changed

Expressing your concern

Specifying the behaviour you want

Setting out the Consequences or reason the change is required

Useful ideas

• Recall a person you have witnessed managing a difficult conversation well.
• Identify any useful techniques or phrases used and the interpersonal style and body language that helped the message come over clearly without being vague or critical.

Go to supervisor resource 10 – Diversity, power and professional development

Learning and development for supervisors

First-line supervisors identified a lack of training availability often meaning reliance on a variety of personal experiences when starting to supervise, (Patterson 2019).

In the absence of development opportunities, supervisors might default to their preferred approaches to supervision risks a mismatch with the learning style of the supervisee. Initially, the need to be helpful and provide answers is a strong driver. This can also partly align with the developmental stage of some NQSWs.

Learning styles and developmental supervision models are both further explored in the training session outlines. Patterson reflected that further practice often led to more awareness of the skills of containment and resisting the tendency to move too swiftly into problem-solving.

In pilot training for these resources, it was found that having a variety of models to draw on and discussing this at the beginning of a relationship can help both parties negotiate. Such negotiation or contracting helps regularly prioritise tasks, such as giving appropriate advice and guidance, worker development strategies or support to restore from the regular emotional and ethical challenges of the role.

Becoming a supervisor

As social workers we are already attuned to concepts of development which can be useful for NQSW’s and supervisors alike. In the section on ‘supervision models’ (link) there is an outline of the developmental model of supervision. Another model specific to supervisors (Davys & Beddoe 2020), sets out three phases of becoming a supervisor, making connections and integrating theory and style.  

Becoming a supervisor involves issues such as a focus on the role and concerns about appropriate skills can lead to authoritative or problem-solving styles with difficult situations. Supervisors are however often motivated to learn new skills.

Making connections involves being more embracing of the supervisor’s own style, recognition of individual differences and a focus on the supervisees skills with a range of interventions and balanced use of authority.

Integrating theory and style where the focus becomes greater trust in one’s own practice wisdom, self-monitoring and reflection on supervision practice with greater ability to focus on process and contain distress.    

There is also a caveat that it is impossible to meet the needs of all supervisees and it is important to have a range of options available. This can include those set out in other sections including consultation, mentoring and coaching.    

A highly relevant article on the needs of first-line supervisors (Patterson 2019), was published in the Aotearoa New Zealand Social Work Journal where the whole edition was dedicated to supervision issues. It is available online at the following link and is ‘informed by over 10 years’ involvement in a teaching role with social service managers and supervisors in Scotland’.

Useful ideas

• Supervising the supervisors: What support do first-line supervisors need to be more effective in their supervisory role?
• Read the above article paying particular attention to concepts such as:
• Time pressure leading to problem-solving rather than developmental supervision.
• Skills of containment to explore below the surface dynamics.
• Risks of splitting line management from reflective supervision.
• Challenges of paying attention to process in addition to content.
• Reflect on your own experience of these issues and what you might do going forward in response.
• Reflect on your own experience of these issues and what you might do going forward in response.
• Note ways in which you think you need support and development for your supervisory role and bring this to the next meeting with your own manager.

Information and links

• Davys, A., & Beddoe, L. (2021) Best practice in professional supervision: A guide for the helping professions (2^nd ed.). London: Jessica Kingsley.
• Patterson, F. (2019) Supervising the supervisors: What support do first-line supervisors need to be more effective in their supervisory role? Aotearoa New Zealand Social Work 31(3), 46–57.

Go to supervisor resource 9 – Managing boundaries in supervision

What social workers need

Key findings from recent research advocates that social workers need;

• Positive working conditions to provide good services
• Professional development time for reflective supervision
• Manageable caseloads and a consistent approach to allocation
• Support to reduce stress and improve wellbeing

You can read about this recent research from BASW here BASW Social Worker wellbeing and working conditions

You will also find specific links to national resources on wellbeing and resilience at the bottom of this page.

Other helpful guidance including the IRISS Insight on Achieiving Effective Supervision (Kettle, 2015) identifies that good supervision happens when part of a broader learning culture with the following features: 

• Regular reviews of problems provide learning opportunities 
• Organisational commitment to continuing professional learning
• Space is made for professional autonomy and discretion
• The emotional impact of social work practice is recognised 

There is increased awareness of the impact of secondary trauma from supporting people who use our services and the impact that this can have.

Approaches need to ensure that supervision covers the spectrum of worker needs whether in the individual relationship or a mixture of approaches including mentoring and structured peer groups. In balance with this ‘compassion satisfaction’ (Alkema et al, 2008), is a complementary concept to that of compassion fatigue, which energises us in our role by seeing positive changes for people who use services.

Wellbeing and resilience

The transition from university into practice may be empowering for some but others may experience challenges in adjusting to new responsibilities and increased workload. Supporting NQSW’s to manage this transition with feelings of growing capacity and competence is an important task for supervisors.

Adamson et al (2014), argue that coping behaviours and work life balance are essential parts of maintaining wellbeing in a profession where the use of self is our core resource.

Researchers identified several burnout factors in social workers including vicarious traumatisation and compassion fatigue. This could lead to high worker turnover which negatively impacts the whole workplace and perpetuates a cycle of adversity, (Alkema et al 2008).

The research supports the view that, despite working in adverse conditions, social workers also experience high levels of job satisfaction, a phenomenon they term as compassion satisfaction.

As in practice we do have to put in boundaries from time to time when something exceeds either our mandate, our skills or an aspect of the relationship makes offering extended support a less than ideal fit.

This may include knowing about local resources for workers including Employee Assistance Schemes and access to de-briefing support, telephone and face to face counselling options. In the case of anonymous referral options to employee support services, it would be useful to include this in any contract at the outset of a supervision relationship. If assistance options are contained in the organisational policy, you might provide a copy ensuring the support information is accessible and clear.

Following a few years of research, BASW has also produced a good practice toolkit for wellbeing and working conditions. This helpfully separates responsibilities for:

• Social workers in direct practice
• Social work supervisors and practice leaders
• Teams, team leaders and managers
• Senior managers and organisational leaders
• Professional organisations & Trade unions

Information and links

• There is also a National Wellbeing Hub for all frontline social services workers and some current work is under development for specific social work resources being included there.
• National Wellbeing Hub National Wellbeing Hub for people working in health and care
• Adamson, C., Beddoe, L., & Davys, A. (2014). Building Resilient Practitioners: Definitions and Practitioner Understandings, British Journal of Social Work, 44 (3), 522-541
• Alkema, K., Linton, J.M. & Davies, R. (2008). Self-Care, Compassion Satisfaction, Compassion Fatigue, and Burnout Among Hospice Professionals. Journal of Social Work in End-of-Life & Palliative Care, Vol. 4(2) 2008
• BASW Social worker wellbeing and working conditions
• BASW Social Worker Wellbeing – Good practice toolkit
• IRISS – Resilience Hub
• Kettle, M. (2015). Achieving effective supervision. Insight 30: IRISS.

Shared by other NQSWs

• OpenLearn Supporting and developing resilience in social work

Reflective questions for you as a supervisor

• Think about a time in your professional development journey where you may have felt extremely stressed or struggled to cope with demands.
• Write down what protective factors helped you to recover from that.
• Consider how you might encourage supervisees to create their own list of what supports they could benefit from to prevent acute stress or burnout.

Go to supervisor resource 8 – Support needs of supervisors

Learning from reviews across practice settings

In the aftermath of the Victoria Climbié tragedy a serious case review was conducted by Lord Laming (2009) who focused on social worker wellbeing, emotional costs of the work as well as supervision practices.

“There is concern that the tradition of deliberate, reflective social work practice is being put in danger because of an overemphasis on process and targets, resulting in a loss of confidence amongst social workers.”

Laming (2009)

The Care Inspectorate (2019) regularly consider aggregated learning from case reviews. This highlights that sufficient support for workers is needed to be confident and competent. This includes “robust and regular supervision that enables constructive challenge and time to reflect on practice and develop skills.”

The most comprehensive reviews occur when there have been extremely serious harms to vulnerable children or adults. In the case of social work these have often identified a break down in procedures (including appropriate supervision), meaning opportunities for intervention to prevent serious harms were missed.

In the overview for supervisors on this website, there was a reference to the Victoria Climbie enquiry which had significant findings for supervision in social work settings. Scottish case and learning reviews have also had findings around supervision adequacy.

Organisational and strategic leadership for learning and supervision

The National Child Protection Leadership Group provide strategic oversight and mechanisms for improvement regarding child protection across Scotland and have addressed reoccurring issues. These include organisational support and compliance with good quality supervision and support that addresses the scope of professional discretion and identifies training and development needs of practitioners. 

Indirectly related to social work but useful for reflecting on professional development issues was the prolonged and serious failure of care at Mid Staffordshire NHS Trust. The UK government review had findings for supervision for allied health professions saying: “Regulation is no substitute for a culture of compassion, safe delegation and effective supervision.

Putting people on a centrally held register does not guarantee public protection. Rather it is about employers, commissioners and providers ensuring they have the right processes in place to ensure they have the right staff with the right skills to deliver the right care in the right way”. (Department of Health 2013, s5.22). 

Another example is the case of Sharon Greenop, who lived with physical disabilities and was tragically killed by her sister. The South Ayrshire review had findings around the provision of supervision, accessibility of senior staff and extreme workload pressures contributing to critical errors in recognising adult protection issues.

Culture change

A number of reviews have commented that social work needs to maintain core values and practices which may have been diluted through reorganisation of services as the public sector has tried to do more with less in recent decades.

An example of such culture change was observed when students on a UK social work leadership course exhibited resistance to engaging in an experiential module focusing on reflective practice. This was felt to be connected to a stronger identification with wider public sector management approaches rather than core social work reflective supervision practices, (Ruch, 2012).

Useful ideas

• Identify your own examples, where good supervision supported positive outcomes for people who use services and where something went wrong or opportunities for improvement was missed.
• Consider which supervision factors impacted this.

Go to supervisor resource 6 – Professional knowledge in supervision

Professional identity and social work values

The development of a professional identity based on social work values is important for NQSW and closely linked to job satisfaction. Supervision can also play an important part in supporting the development of values and professional identity.

Recognition of the need for protected time and space for focused reflection, particularly for supervisors, needs to be embedded in social services including both experiential training for supervisors as well as further recognition of the value of team and group supervision (Hawkins et al., 2020).

We include some ideas to think about professional identity here and some relevant links to reports and research in this area.

The importance of professional identity

Increasing specialisation of social work roles, health and social care integration and alignment of children and families social work with education departments have all raised awareness of professional identity issues particularly regarding post-qualifying learning with a recent SSSC report citing the “predominance of shared learning can contribute to a loss of professional identity and a dilution of learning specific to the social work role” (SSSC, 2019).

Changes in the organisational context for practice

NQSW’s should be supported to maintain the contribution of their professional training, values and ethics even when practising in generic assessment or intervention roles in integrated multidisciplinary teams. This includes having access to supervision with a social work supervisor where the line manager is not a registered social worker.

As mentioned in our What is supervision? resource, social work has been evolving for over a century and an important part of developing a professional identity is connecting with the development and wider state of the profession beyond individual localities and roles. This may include connections with local, national or global social work organisations and awareness of what their stance on supervision is.

The International Federation of Social Workers (IFSW) highlights the responsibilities of employers which includes a framework for supporting good practice that takes account of ethical principles and ensures “effective induction, supervision, workload management and continuing professional development” (IFSW).

The social work interest group of Unison Scotland developed a position statement for professional supervision in social work in 2006, which states that professional supervision involves:

• Quality Assurance, including accountable and evidence-based practice.
• Learning and Development, including developing individuals personally and professionally and ensuring that the Social Worker and agency maintain up to date knowledge about research, evidence and practice.
• Support, including identifying resources to respond to stressful situations and constructive challenge in the interests of client, worker and agency.
• Shared decision-making, including ensuring peer and management review of professional decisions and mutual learning and development.

The supervision policy of the British Association of Social Workers (BASW),suggests these key needs of social workers: 

• Receiving regular, planned, individual professional supervision from registered and appropriately experienced social workers
• Having routine opportunities for peer learning and discussion in the workplace and through professional networks.
• Developing and maintaining relevant skills, knowledge and understanding to do their job through continuing professional development.

Reflecting on supervision and professional identity

Reflective questions

• Listen to the Helpful Social Work podcast on supervision. Then reflect on the questions that follow.
• What do you think about quality being measured by whether the NQSW feels they are making progress?
• How does the NQSW influence the agenda to use the time in the best possible way for them?
• How does the NQSW behave differently afterwards?
• What might you do differently as a result of reflecting on these ideas?

Information and links

• Please remember that clicking on these links will take you to websites and resources which are external to the SSSC NQSW website.
• Hawkins, P., McMahon, A., Ryde, J., Shohet, R., & Wilmot, J. (2020) Supervision in the helping professions (5^th ed.). London: Open University Press.
• SSSC (2019) Post qualifying learning in social work in Scotland
• Iriss Rediscovering and mainstreaming community social work in Scotland
• IFSW IFSW effective and ethical working environments policy statement
• UNISON UNISON statement on social work supervision
• BASW BASW supervision policy

Go to supervisor resource 5 – Learning from reviews of practice

Professional knowledge for social work

Supervision is an important component of shaping professional knowledge and development as an NQSW’s practice develops. Professional knowledge is drawn from theories, research findings and practice experience (Drury Hudson, 1997).

These form of knowledge include theoretical knowledge, personal knowledge, practice wisdom, procedural knowledge and empirical knowledge.

There is more information on professional knowledge in supervision and a suggested learning exercise here.

Using knowledge for practice

The Institute for Research and Innovation in Social Services (IRISS), argues that practice wisdom integrates a wide range of knowledge. This will include theories and relevant research to our own thoughts and feelings in response to casework. Study participants reported that evidence was relevant information from case histories, notes, observations and reports from other professionals but less from theoretical or research sources.

NQSW’s can benefit from support to maintain their awareness of research knowledge and to become skilled at making connections between casework activities and the human factors that inform their decision making.

You can also highlight the fantastic resource from IRISS for NQSWs on Navigating Evidence.

Supervision is not the only way for workers to develop their professional knowledge and other methods are often used to complement staff development. Tsui et al (2017), argues that a “future path of supervision will be a form of organisational learning, where social workers rely not only on supervision, but also mentorship, consultation and coaching”.

Coaching models are frequently more action oriented and may be particularly useful to balance strong reflector and theorist learning styles. A popular coaching model covered in the learning resource is the GROW model.

You can find out more about these models in the Coaching Learning Resource from Step Into Leadership.

Please also see How Social Workers learn in the workplace and our guide to supporting NQSW professional learning and development.

Useful ideas

• Consider how your supervision can help NQSW’s strengthen their own learning from practice.
• You may also consider how can you support NQSW to access new knowledge and how the organisation can benefit from NQSW’s experiences.

Go to supervisor resource 7 – Wellbeing and resilience needs of NQSWs