Responsible Social Work Practice
Peter Drucker has been described recently as “the most important management thinker – expert of our time”, who attests that the biggest challenge of the 21 st century is “knowledge – worker” productivity.
The concept “Knowledge-Worker” is used by Drucker to describe people who were educated and trained to do knowledge work. They are expected to know more about their jobs than their bosses. As a result, according to Drucker, “they must be managed as if they were volunteers, because they are not motivated solely by money. Knowledge workers need to feel satisfaction from their work, to believe in the company's mission and to see results. Otherwise, since they own their “means of production,” which is their knowledge, they can leave at anytime.”
Knowledge workers are a company's assets and assets should grow. What does this mean for social worker managers, the organization's assets? Our primary dilemma becomes how to craft a plan to attract and retain this described social work staff in today's competitive market.
Not unlike the corporate world, the social work workforce as we once knew it is in the midst of a dramatic transformation. Quality experienced workers are able to move from one organization to another, often with as much as a 20% increase in pay. Thus, the incentive to be satisfied with the 3-4% annual raise becomes much less desirable. These workers are increasingly able to negotiate their way from one job to the next since they are constantly being wooed. Like private industry, we must begin to think outside of “the box” as it relates to social work retention.
Additionally, during these times when the social work profession is facing a multitude of challenges, extreme competition for a diverse staff and a shrinking labor pool of experienced skilled workers, an organization's recruitment plan becomes another crucial element. Executives and managers who hire are molding their organization's future management teams. The dilemma is to find, hire and keep the best employees amid an atmosphere of distrust and skepticism. Today's managers have to utilize both formal and informal hiring strategies, while resisting the risk to settle on hiring inferior workers. There is an expression that says, “Eagles don't flock. You have to find them one at a time.” Therefore, recruiting “eagles” is everyone's job. It is our task to develop strategies to help all of our staff to accept this role. In addition, statistics show that the cost associated with replacing a worker is 2 and ½ times the departed worker's salary.
Managing Responsibility
While the goal of responsible social work practice is to have social workers spend the major portion of their time in direct care activities, there are many challenges in meeting this responsibility. We need to figure out what the benchmark is at each of our agencies. What percent of time is spent in direct practice, at meetings, education and administrative functions? These “management” calculations are essential for us to make decisions and judgments as it regards how cost cutting effects care and at the same time be mindful that more expense does not equal better service delivery.
Documentation – “IF IT IS NOT WRITTEN, IT IS NOT DONE”
At a recent NASW leadership training workshop, the keynote speaker stated “In God we trust. All others bring data”, as she addressed issues of accountability.
Recording what we do means more than what is required for our contracts, training, or our audits. We as social worker managers, supervisors, staff, and students must all befriend data in order for that data to be utilized to support the responsible distribution of resources, which includes consumer sensitive services, diverse staffing, training, planning for the future and supplies to provide the greatest benefit to all.
We social workers must write about our practice and share our ideas and experience with colleagues, the larger community, and the media. We are aware that psychologists and psychiatrists are noted for sharing their practice and accomplishments, while we as social workers are primarily focused on service delivery. Social work voices must be included in every aspect of practice literature! It helps us to support evidence-based practice which measures our effectiveness and outcomes. Additionally, we as social workers have an on-going responsibility to add our practice wisdom to the literature base.