Supervision of Professionally Qualified Staff

Being employed as a professional when employed by some arm of the Public Service can involve a clash of organisational and professional values.

For some people, especially those who do not have to supervise others, the professional values are paramount and any clashes are usually manifested as suspicions or resentment of the 'bureaucracy' with some claims that the client is the main arbiter of professional activity and not the organisation that employs the worker. Some others go so far as to hold professional guidelines and standards as 'more authoritative' than organisational rules.

For some people, especially those who have supervisory functions the clash is more obvious. Their very status and authority as a supervisor is conferred by the organisation that in turn requires appropriate commitment and behaviour from them. For some people the conflict between organisational requirements and professional standards can become a dilemma and in some cases lead to what may be termed an 'identity crisis' for a professional officer supervising others. This 'crisis' can be further aggravated if the expectations from the organisation or its perceptions of 'supervision' are not clarified and where necessary differentiated from any specific professional connotations that the word holds, for example in counseling.

The first step of assisting professional staff is to help them to understand, grapple with and eventually be able to articulate the differences between "professional supervision" and more generic "staff supervision". A second and more difficult process then needs to take place which is to assist them to take their ability to understand and articulate their understanding of the differences and apply them to their practice.

Day to day staff management issues such as planning, delegating, resolving conflict take place within the staff management or supervision process. However they can also take place within the professional supervisory process.

For example, when a staff member demonstrates unwillingness to undertake certain tasks by 'classifying' them as sub-professional, non-professional, or even anti-professional, the supervisor has to have a very clear understanding him or herself about why such tasks are required of everyone within an organisation and why professionals are not exempt.

Monitoring the performance of professional staff also raises some important issues for many staff and supervisors. If, for example, the whole essence of being a qualified professional is considered to lie in the ability to exercise judgment and professional competence then how can feedback be given and received without assailing the subordinate's professional integrity?

Supervision also contains within it the essential element of the person designated as the 'supervisor' having some responsibility to assess and advise the person being supervised about learning and professional development.

Knowing the difference between helping the staff member learn the skills that are required to work within the laws governing the bureaucracy of an organisation and expanding the skills required by their professional roles is another area of potential conflict for both the supervisor and the supervisee. Having to tell someone that they are not as skilled as they believe they are and that they need further training or experience, is a situation that can threaten an individual's perception of self, rather than be seen as a helpful comment to assist that staff member to learn and grow and develop.

Supervisors are on tricky ground with generic staff management issues in this realm and when it extends to professional areas of the work, the risk increases dramatically, especially if there is a difference of opinion between the supervisor and the supervisee about the extent of the supervisor's skills and experience.

I would like to start a multilog (as distinct from a dialogue) with all of the people out there who are employed as social workers, but do not have access to supervision, either professional or administrative nor the time to reflect on their practice in situ at work.

Since I will not be paid for this interaction let the principle of 'caveat emptor' prevail, however I can say that getting professional advice for free, from someone with 20+ years of experience, professionally qualified and a masters degree in social work with a thesis on outcome oriented social work is not to be sneezed at.