The importance of developing leadership across the social care workforce is well recognised, especially considering the strong relationship between the quality of leadership and the quality of care.
By highlighting this issue, Skills for Care has asked managers what they think about the value added by investing in leadership development. Here we share the responses we’ve received, illustrating how developing leadership can transform the lives of individuals, teams and those receiving care and support.
What’s hindering your progress as a leader?
Many managers who’ve taken part in our leadership programmes told us that they had been unknowingly hindering their own progression. Elaine Hickling, for example, was given a significant promotion to a senior leadership role five months after completing our Moving Up programme.
“One of the key factors of the programme was believing in yourself and your abilities,” she says. “The course helped me to believe in myself and break down some of the barriers I had built.”
Hickling’s success was not a one-off. Some 60% of the managers who took part in our 2012-13 cohort of Moving Up, which aims to build a more diverse leadership profile in social care, had been promoted by 2014.
Similarly, Top Leaders, our development programme for senior leaders, enables participants to identify the leadership behaviours that can hinder success. Bernie Brookes, the programme facilitator, points to the value of focusing on the impact of your leadership style on others.
“During the Top Leaders programme, we look at what makes someone a capable leader in the eyes of others, and the learners give feedback to each other about their leadership style and how they come across.”
Why invest in your leadership development?
As the social care sector experiences continuing change and tightening budgets, the imperative to do more with less means it is increasingly important to be up-to-date with best practice and the most efficient ways of working. To achieve this, you may need to encourage your employer to invest in your development as a leader, or make the decision to invest in yourself.
Sonnet Care Homes – the recent winner of Skills for Care’s accolade for most effective approach to leadership and management – is a great example of what can happen when this sort of investment is made.
In 2014, one of Sonnet’s care homes was the subject of a Panorama documentary focusing on abuse of the elderly in care settings. At the time, Sonnet had just taken over operations of the home. It acted quickly; suspending staff, increasing training and reviewing its management structure.
The key factor in transforming the quality of care – and achieving an outstanding rating from the Care Quality Commission for its leadership earlier this year – was an unrelenting investment in an inclusive, values-based approach to leadership, which involved everyone in the organisation, including those receiving care and support.
As the Sonnet story suggests, with the right investment in developing leadership, you can turn things around at an individual, team and organisational level, and achieve real impact on the quality of care.
How can a well-led future be secured?
Securing a well-led future for all involved in providing and receiving care and support has never been more important. Leadership development for managers matters to ensure the provision of high quality, person-centred care for all those who need it.
The Skills for Care Well-led programme aims to meet this need head-on by providing leadership development support for social care managers working in the private, public or third sector. Designed in partnership with more than 100 registered managers, it is grounded in the reality of social care delivery and the day-to-day challenges of leading a care team.
Ayaz Lalani, area manager at iBC Health Care, who helped to design the programme, says it will support those in registered manager roles to meet current and future leadership challenges.
“Registered managers often work in isolation when faced with issues of accountability,” he says. “This mustn’t be accepted and must be challenged. Be there and attend the Well-led programme. These are the first steps.”
Are you ready to take the next steps?
If you’re looking to take the next steps to a well-led future, there are still limited places available on the Moving Up programme starting soon, and our Well-led and Top Leaders programmes starting early next year. To find out more, please email leadership@skillsforcare.org.uk.
Content on this page is produced and controlled by Skills for Care, sponsor of the Guardian Social Care Network leadership, learning and development hub
