This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen
on .
It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
Why Sunderland wants to make sure its employees feel valued and supported
Sorry – the page you are looking for has been removed
(3 months later)
Social work may be a vocation but it has never been easy. Supporting and protecting vulnerable people is an emotionally challenging job, and increased pressure has made many social workers anxious about making the wrong decisions or about being blamed for failing a child.
This is because it was advertisement feature content that was published as part of a commercial deal and funded by an advertiser.
With this in mind, Sunderland city council is determined to do its best to support its social care workforce, both as professionals and as individuals. This April, it launches an academy that will initially offer training for newly qualified social workers completing their assessed and supported year in employment (ASYE), but will later be rolled out to the whole social care workforce. Kathryn Younger, the council’s organisational development manager, says: “The only way social care across the city will work is if we support all our teams, and all the different disciplines.”
It is Guardian News and Media policy to take down paid-for content at the end of these deals.
The academy will offer a number of specialist programmes, including induction modules for social workers on the ASYE programme. Training will be tied in with support, supervision and career progression, with the aim of promoting high levels of practice across all social care disciplines.
Click here for more on our commercial content guidelines.
As well as training courses, the academy will offer one-to-one coaching to enable individuals to reflect on their performance and development needs. Leadership coaching has been used across the authority for the past 18 months. It has, says Younger, “given people a real opportunity to focus on their own development and what they think is important to them in the context of their role”. It has mostly been used in response to organisational change or a particular issue – now, however, Sunderland is applying the approach to all levels in social care. Service managers are working with in-house leadership coaches to make sure that the academy’s programmes meet on-the-ground need.
If you want to contact someone about the page, you can email:
The training will reflect the council’s commitment to partnership working, says Younger: “Staff will have the opportunity to hear information and get learning from a full range of partners, including those from the healthcare sector and the police. It’s about stopping training in silos, and starting to look at all the different things that impact on the social care challenges we face in Sunderland.”
paid-content@theguardian.com
Face-to-face training will be supplemented by online courses, and the council is working with the University of Sunderland and other partners to develop appropriate materials. Some of this will involve research-based learning, says Younger: “It’s not just about what we can impart to staff – there’s an opportunity for them to go away, find out how things work on the ground and to bring that back.”
To continue reading, please visit the Guardian’s home page.
Sunderland is also to introduce a second supported year to run immediately following the formal ASYE. The year will include placements in partner organisations, such as local hospitals and GP practices, as well as continuing professional development, to make sure employees have a well-rounded introduction to a career in social work.
Once the academy is up and running, it will be expanded to incorporate the existing new starter induction for experienced social workers and a returners programme for social workers coming back to work after a lengthy absence (such as maternity leave or long-term sickness). There will also be an alumni programme running across all social care disciplines.
Councillor Pat Smith, portfolio holder for people’s services, says the council is at the beginning of a process of creating a more supportive and collaborative environment for employees: “We know there is a long way to go and a lot to learn in order to ensure our employees feel valued, supported and engaged. Our teams are vital to making Sunderland a safe and healthy place to live and as an employer we want them to be as proud of the contribution they make as we are.”
To support its new direction, the council is recruiting for three job roles: director for children and adults, chief social worker and head of children’s social services. The first of these will be a joint post with the clinical commissioning group (CCG), and the person appointed will be responsible for service-wide and city-wide intelligence commissioning. The role will include responsibility for both adults’ and children’s services, though the initial focus will be on children.
Chief social worker is a completely new role and the appointee will act as a head of professional practice – a role similar to that of director of nursing in the healthcare sector. Neil Revely, executive director of people services, describes it as a “conduit between frontline social work and senior management”.
The new head of children’s services will be responsible for children’s safeguarding and all aspects of children’s care.
Each appointee will be offered the opportunity to receive coaching, tailored to meet their requirements. Smith says that the council would like to “receive applications from people who are up for the challenge and are excited by our vision”.
Find out more about Sunderland’s current vacancies here.
Content on this page is paid for and produced to a brief agreed by Sunderland city council
