Supervision
Critically reflective supervision is essential for effective social work. This is supported by various influential reports, such as the Munro report (see References) that considers it ‘the cornerstone of good practice’. This section identifies:
- why frequency and quality of supervision is important
- how supervision contributes to an organisation’s effectiveness
Reflective supervision will ensure that the organisation’s primary goal is met through the day-to-day work of its practitioners. It is important to help establish good relationships between supervisors and supervisees. Supervision should:
- help practitioners to do their very best work
- promote skilled, evidence-informed practice
- support thorough risk assessment and careful analysis
- encourage effective decision-making and strategic planning
- prioritise the wellbeing of workers
Employer standard 4: Wellbeing serves as a supportive resource for supervision, clarifying roles and responsibilities and prioritising practitioner wellbeing.
Some evidence-informed insights are available in an international review of the effectiveness of supervision in child and family social work and adult social care by Carpenter. A more recent review of research on reflective supervision by Ravalier provides additional insights (see References for both reviews).
There are no definitive conclusions on ‘what works’ in reflective supervision. However, there is emerging evidence highlighting the importance of supervision for improving outcomes at organisational and individual levels. Some evidence suggests that effective supervision may improve direct practice and lead to better outcomes for people who access services.
Hearing from people who access services about the quality of service they experience can provide useful evidence of how effective supervision is. Supporting them to understand what supervision is helps people who access services understand why it’s important and what to expect.
Research in Practice produced a useful guide about supervision for people who use adult social care services which could be adapted for use in your organisation. Achieving this standard can benefit the entire organisation. It will help employers to fulfil their responsibility of safeguarding the welfare of people who access services. This standard contributes to meeting additional standards, such as the Employer standard 1: Strong and clear social work framework and Employer standard 4: Wellbeing.
Improve critical thinking and job performance
Effective supervision links to social workers’ positive perceptions of their critical thinking skills. This can improve job performance. Organisations that offer a no-blame, reflective learning culture help staff to discuss errors and learn from them.
Increase job satisfaction with supervision
There are likely to be higher levels of job satisfaction in working environments with regular expert supervision. Job satisfaction and direct practice in adult and children’s social care are further improved if supervision concentrates on gaining new skills. Job satisfaction is also likely to improve:
- practitioners' wellbeing
- their ability to manage their workload effectively
- staff retention
Supervision helps social workers with resilience
Positive relationships with supervisors help keep social workers in their roles. Social workers who believe they receive high quality supervision are also more likely to stay. Supervision helps social workers manage the emotional demands of practice. It will also:
- reduce the risk of stress and burnout
- contribute to emotional resilience
- increase commitment to stay in an organisation
- improve emotional wellbeing
Given the current challenges with retention in social work, providing quality supervision is a potential strategy to encourage people to remain. An increased emphasis on the quality and frequency of supervision is a potential strategy to stop practitioners leaving.
Supervision should be part of an anti-racist strategy
Effective relationship-based supervision is particularly important when supporting minority group social workers.
A survey of UK minority group social workers by What Works Centre for Children’s Social Care (in References) highlights experiences of heightened scrutiny. They can face negative assumptions about their skills based on ethnicity, despite being given higher workloads.
Ten percent of respondents reported considering leaving the profession due to racism. This underlines the need for all social work supervision to be supported by an anti-racist strategy.
Improving how your organisation is perceived by its workforce
Social workers who take part in reflective supervision are more likely to see their organisations as prioritising their wellbeing and personal development. Also, reflective supervision will acknowledge the individual contributions they make.
Effective supervision is linked to practitioners’ views that the organisational culture promotes evidenced-based practice. This will create a sense of individual self-reliance. This can improve staff retention and the organisation’s reputation.
Increasing practitioners’ feelings of safety and wellbeing
Social work organisations have a moral obligation to manage employee wellbeing. Under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 employers have a legal duty of care to protect the physical and mental health of their employees. This extends to supporting employees’ mental health and removing or reducing stress.
Frequent reflective supervision helps achieve this by creating a sense of psychological safety.
Practitioners should feel ‘emotionally held’ (Ferguson in References).
This reduces the risk of psychological distress and burnout and guards against the negative impact of unresolved emotions and distress on professional practice.
Improvements in direct practice skill
Systematically-informed social work supervision is likely to improve relationship-building skills and ‘good authority’ skills. When supervision concentrates on shaping direct practice it helps improve outcomes for people who access services. There is also evidence suggesting a connection between effective supervision and improved relationships with families as well as better family functioning.
Supervision improves participation of people who access services
Evidence suggests that effective supervision can:
- improve participation of people who access services
- increase positive feedback
- reduce complaints
- give confidence to people who access services
Improve analysis and planning
Evidence suggests practitioners who receive effective supervision show improvement in their ability to plan evidence-informed practice approaches with families. Effective supervision also leads to improved skills of critical analysis and better planning using appropriate approaches. Defining what makes ‘good’ supervision is challenging. This can hinder efforts to identify and measure supervisory practices beyond standard requirements. Despite this, promising practices are emerging.
Identifying barriers to effective supervision highlights the broader organisational dynamics and informs action planning. Organisations may encounter challenges managing the emotional demands that come with safeguarding and promoting the wellbeing of people who access services. Analysing impact helps inform future plans.
References
This is the list of research and evidence sources used to produce this section. Publicly available links are included.
Bostock, L., Patrizo, L., Godfrey, T., & Forrester, D. (2022). Why does systemic group supervision support practitioners’ practice more effectively with children and families? Children and Youth Services Review, 142, 0190-7409.
Carpenter, J. S. W., Webb, C. M., & Bostock, L. (2013). The surprisingly weak evidence base for supervision: Findings from a systematic review of research in child welfare practice (2000-2012). Children and Youth Services Review, 35(11), 1843-1853.
Chiller, P., & Crisp, B. R. (2012). Sticking around: Why and how some social workers stay in the profession. Practice: Social Work in Action, 24(4), 211–224.
Collins-Camargo, C., & Royse, D. (2010). A study of the relationships among effective supervision, organizational culture promoting evidence-based practice, and worker self-efficacy in public child welfare. Journal of Public Child Welfare, 4(1), 1-24.
de Greef, M., Delsing, M. J. M. H., & McLeod, B. D. et al. (2019). Supervisory alliance: Key to positive alliances and outcomes in home-based parenting support? Journal of Child and Family Studies, 28, 993–1004.
Ferguson, H. (2009). Performing child protection: Home visiting, movement and the struggle to reach the abused child. Child & Family Social Work, 14(4), 471-480.
GOV.UK. (n.d.). Writing about ethnicity.
Harkness, D. (1995). The art of helping in supervised practice: Skills, relationships and outcomes. The Clinical Supervisor, 13(1), 63–76.
Health and Safety at Work Act. (n.d.). UK Government.
Kavanagh, D. J., Spence, S. H., Strong, J., et al. (2003). Supervision practices in allied mental health: Relationships of supervision characteristics to perceived impact and job satisfaction. Mental Health Services Research, 5, 187–195.
Kinman, G., & Grant, L. (2016). Building emotional resilience in the children and families workforce: An evidence-informed approach. Dartington: Research in Practice.
Lloyd, C., King, R., & Chenoweth, L. (2002). Social work, stress and burnout: A review. Journal of Mental Health, 11(3), 255-265.
Marrable, T., & Lambley, S. (2016). Exploring service user involvement in adult health and social care supervision. In Bostock, L. (Ed.), Inter-professional staff supervision in health and social care. Brighton: Pavilion Publishing.
McFadden, P., Campbell, A., & Taylor, B. (2014). Resilience and burnout in child protection social work: Individual and organisational themes from a systematic literature review. British Journal of Social Work, 1–18.
Mor Barak, M. E., Travis, D. J., Pyun, H., & Xie, B. (2009). The impact of supervision on worker outcomes: A meta‐analysis. Social Service Review, 83(1), 3–32.
Ruch, G. (2007). Reflective practice in contemporary child care social work: The role of containment. British Journal of Social Work, 37(2), 659-680.
Ruch, G. (2009). Post-qualification child care social work: Developing reflective practice. London: Sage.
Shier, M. L., Turpin, A., Nicholas, D. B., & Graham, J. R. (2019). Dynamics of a culture of workplace safety in human service organizations: A qualitative analysis. International Social Work, 62(6), 1561–1574.
Toasland, J. (2007). Containing the container: An exploration of the containing role of management in a social work context. Journal of Social Work Practice, 21(2), 197-2007.
Webb, C., & Carpenter, J. (2012). What can be done to promote the retention of social workers? A systematic review of interventions. The British Journal of Social Work, 42(7), 1235–1255.
What Works Centre for Children’s Social Care. (2022). Anti-racism report.
Wilkins, D., Lynch, A., & Antonopoulou, V. (2018). A golden thread? The relationship between supervision, practice, and family engagement. Child & Family Social Work, 23(3), 494–503.
Yoo, J. (2002). The relationship between organizational variables and client outcomes: A case study in child welfare. Administration in Social Work, 26(2), 39–61
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Research in Practice
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Published: 30 October 2024
Last updated: 04 November 2024
Published: 30 October 2024
Last updated: 04 November 2024