Good supervision = good staff performance
I HAVE to admit to being a great advocate of supervision so it is no surprise to my team that it's a recurring theme! Looking back over my working life I can see just what a difference it makes when we receive high quality supervision, but was it always like that...
Going back 20 years, like many people working in care today, I was juggling a part-time role as a care assistant in a local residential home, alongside caring for my young family. I enjoyed working with the resident sand I know they valued me but there was no supervision, just a list of tasks to get through on my shift. More-importantly, there was absolutely no feedback from my manager, so I had no idea if I was doing a good job.
We know from research that positive feedback is more than just making someone feel good - it actually helps that employee maintain a high level of performance. Ten years ago I was working as part of the training team in a supportive living scheme for young homeless people aged 16-25. Again there was no formal one-to-one supervision and yet we were working with vulnerable young people with very high support needs. I look back and ask the question: “How much more effective could we have been if we had received one-to-one supervision?”
Let's look at a positive experience - the one that really made me take supervision seriously. I was about to start work with a Mental Health Trust on a year-long project and I was sitting at home reading through the contract. I have to admit to feeling a bit put out by the line: “You will receive fortnightly one-to-one supervision”. My first thought was: “Don't they trust me to do the job?” followed by: “I don't need supervising!” Fortunately a friend of mine popped in for a coffee and chat and asked about my new role and I said casually: “Oh it's great, I'm just not sure about this line in the contract that says I have to have fortnightly supervision.”
She immediately retorted with some force: “Supervision is your right - make sure you get it!”
I was completely taken aback. As a then recently-qualified social worker she had, and still has, strong views on supervision! But it opened me up to a very different way of thinking about supervision. Just as well for I was about to be supervised by someone much younger than me and with limited knowledge of the work I was delivering!
But I learnt a valuable lesson - if your supervisor wants you to succeed and listens with intent to what you say, asks challenging questions and follows through on the actions then supervision becomes a very meaningful experience. Of course, I too had to play my part as the supervisee but looking back I know the project would not have been a success without my supervisor's support and constructive feedback.
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