19.6 Reflexive Supervision Exemplar

The Supervision policy (17.5) sets the framework for the Children and Families Division to implement an effective and consistent approach to social work and social care supervision practice.

Supervision and appraisal are the most important ways of ensuring that staff deliver a high standard of service, carry out their duties according to policy and procedures and meet departmental and divisional targets. Supporting staff through supervision helps to improve working practices and contributes to better service delivery and outcomes.

In order to deliver the very best services across children’s services we need the very best workforce who are well trained, highly skilled and passionate about their role.

High quality supervision is one of the most important drivers in ensuring positive outcomes for children and families who use our services. It has a crucial role to play in the development, support and motivation of the staff.

For supervision to be effective it needs to combine a performance management approach with a dynamic, empowering and enabling supervisory relationship.

The exemplar to guide supervision is set out below.