Since 2013, Cafcass has been rolling out a new approach to supporting and developing talent in the organisation. The talent management programme has provided new opportunities for staff to develop their skillset and realise their ambitions.
Continuous learning and development is paramount in any profession. As the social and legislative environments in which social care organisations operate change, social workers, managers and corporate support staff all need to be able to adapt existing skills and knowledge, and learn new ways of working to continue to perform effectively. Yet despite this, social work organisations have historically struggled to provide enough development opportunities for their workforce.
The 2014 Social Lives survey, for example, found that despite career development opportunities being the joint second biggest “pull factor” for a social worker joining a new employer, 40% said they do not have access to the training and development they need. An overwhelming 76% of those who responded said they would like access to additional learning resources. Social workers want to enhance their capabilities but all too often are not provided with the tools and resources they need to do this.
Ensuring this is not the case for its staff, Cafcass, the largest employer of social workers in England, has embedded a culture of learning and development through a new talent management strategy, where 80% of staff now say their training needs are met. This has ultimately supported practice improvement for the benefit of the children and families it works with.
A range of training related to frontline skills is available for all social workers at Cafcass. This includes a comprehensive package of national induction training for new starters, run in small flexible group sizes across the country. Workshops are available on specific topics such as interviewing, child protection and decision making and court skills, as well as the legal roadshows which are led by the Cafcass legal team and focus on legal topics and legislative updates.
There are also opportunities for staff to understand more about the cultural and diversity issues that may impact on service users in their areas, with sessions on gang violence, dyslexia and eastern European families, among others. These skills are further supported with an e-learning platform called mySkills, which allows practitioners to access online modules on a wide range of practice topics as and when they need to.
An approach based on strengths
Cafcass’ approach to talent management underpins the organisation’s core priorities, linking the operating framework and wider workforce strategy, and setting out our commitment to realising the potential of all staff .
“At Cafcass we recognise that every member of staff contributes to the quality of service that we provide. We have introduced a strengths-based approach to learning and development which offers individuals the opportunity to do more of the things they enjoy and can excel in, as well as learning new skills and knowledge,” says Julie Bury, senior human resources business partner for learning and development. “For example, someone who is strategically minded may be involved in a project group, or if they enjoy developing others they may become a mentor for one of our graduates or apprentices. This way, they are using their strengths to make a positive contribution by completing work projects and supporting the learning of others while gaining additional development opportunities themselves that they otherwise may not have access to.”
This strengths-based approach is integrated into all strands of the new strategy, which includes leadership and management development. Bury says, “Cafcass, having 43 offices across England, needs our leaders and managers to create a consistent culture that offers support and challenge to staff, to ensure we deliver the best service we can to children wherever they may be in the country. We now have an internally delivered management development programme and work with Sheffield Hallam University to deliver inspirational leadership development.”
Both programmes have been received positively: since 2013 73 management development workshops have been delivered to 660 individuals, and 98% of attendees have rated them as good or excellent. Popular pieces of learning which managers have used after attending the workshops include using the various tools and questionnaires with their teams, sharing learning at service areas management team meetings and reflecting on learning to improve leadership practice.
Emerging talent
Another aspect of the strategy is emerging talent, established for high performing employees with potential and aspiration. Individual goals and targets are agreed with the employee, and a personal, bespoke development plan is put in place, supported by one-to-one coaching focused on helping them achieve their development aims.
There are 151 members of staff on the programme; 75% have said their skills have developed because of Emerging Talent. One of these is Amanda Braund, who has recently been promoted to service manager: “Emerging talent really helped me prepare for my next steps in Cafcass; I felt really supported throughout [the process].” Her personal development plan included accessing management training modules, supervising and supporting colleagues and attending Family Justice Board meetings to gain exposure to partnership working. Amanda’s Emerging Talent success story is one of many; one third of staff have achieved a promotion while others have had access to development opportunities to help them develop and excel in their role.
Providing better outcomes for children
While Cafcass had succeeded in providing new development opportunities for staff, for the new strategy to be successful this development had to be feeding back into the service and benefiting the children and young people that Cafcass support day in day out. The evidence produced so far indicates it has.
In 2014, Ofsted assessed Cafcass as good with outstanding leadership, with the new talent management strategy being recognised in the inspection report as contributing to improvements in frontline practice:
“Cafcass has successfully invested in training and development and embedded a culture of effective performance management … Training has improved the sharp end of practice.”
Sharing approach beyond Cafcass
Cafcass is keen to share its approach on increasing the focus on development across the social work sector and beyond, and has hosted a number of learning events with other organisations. Bury comments, “I find it incredibly useful to share experiences with colleagues both within the public and private sector as there is always something else we can be doing to extend our approach to developing and engaging our staff.”
Most recently, the Cafcass London private law team has delivered free training workshops for local authorities on report writing skills, with 110 social workers already registered and every session booked out until September.
For those wanting to find out more about Cafcass’ approach to talent management, or opportunities to join the organisation, contact Recruitment@Cafcass.gsi.gov.uk.
Content on this page is produced and controlled by Cafcass, sponsor of the Guardian Social Care Network children’s services hub.
