Profession social services manager
Social services managers have the responsibility for strategic and operational leadership and management of staff teams and resources within and or across social services. They are responsible for the implementation of legislation and policies relating to, for example, decisions about vulnerable people. They promote social work and social care values and ethics, equality and diversity, and relevant codes guiding practice. They are responsible for liaising with other professionals in criminal justice, education and health. They can be responsible for contributing to local and national policy development.
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Personality Type
Knowledge
- Psychology
The human behaviour and performance with individual differences in ability, personality, interests, learning, and motivation.
- Legal requirements in the social sector
The prescribed legislative and regulatory requirements in the social sector.
- Social sciences
The development and characteristics of sociological, anthropological, psychological, political, and social policy theories.
- Social justice
The development and principles of human rights and social justice and the way they should be applied on a case by case basis.
- Customer service
Processes and principles related to the customer, client, service user and to personal services; these may include procedures to evaluate customer's or service user's satisfaction.
- Business management principles
Principles governing business management methods such as strategy planning, methods of efficient production, people and resources coordination.
Skills
- Manage staff
Manage employees and subordinates, working in a team or individually, to maximise their performance and contribution. Schedule their work and activities, give instructions, motivate and direct the workers to meet the company objectives. Monitor and measure how an employee undertakes their responsibilities and how well these activities are executed. Identify areas for improvement and make suggestions to achieve this. Lead a group of people to help them achieve goals and maintain an effective working relationship among staff.
- Apply decision making within social work
Take decisions when called for, staying within the limits of granted authority and considering the input from the service user and other caregivers.
- Evaluate social work program's impact
Gather data to allow the assessment of the impact of a program on a community.
- Comply with legislation in social services
Act according to policy and legal requirements in providing social services.
- Handle conflicts
Mediate in conflicts and tense situations by acting between parties, such as service users, important others like families, and institutions, striving to effect an agreement, reconciliate, and resolve problems.
- Undertake continuous professional development in social work
Undertake continuous professional development (CPD) to continuously update and develop knowledge, skills and competences within one`s scope of practice in social work.
- Manage social crisis
Identify, respond and motivate individuals in social crisis situations, in a timely manner, making use of all resources.
- Accept own accountability
Accept accountability for one`s own professional activities and recognise the limits of one`s own scope of practice and competencies.
- Contribute to protecting individuals from harm
Use established processes and procedures to challenge and report dangerous, abusive, discriminatory or exploitative behaviour and practice, bringing any such behaviour to the attention of the employer or the appropriate authority.
- Monitor regulations in social services
Monitor and analyse regulations, policies and changes in these regulations in order to assess how they impact social work and services.
- Provide safeguarding to individuals
Help vulnerable individuals assess risks and make informed choices by proving information on indicators of abuse, measures to avoid abuse and steps to take in the case of suspected abuse.
- Establish daily priorities
Establish daily priorities for staff personnel. Effectively deal with multi-task workload.
- Work within communities
Establish social projects aimed at community development and active citizen participation.
- Promote social awareness
Promote the understanding of dynamics of social relationships between individuals, groups, and communities. Promote the importance of human rights, and positive social interaction, and the inclusion of social awareness in education.
- Cooperate at inter-professional level
Cooperate with people in other sectors in relation to social service work.
- Follow health and safety precautions in social care practices
Ensure hygienic work practice, respecting the safety of the environment at day care, residential care settings and care at home.
- Review social service plan
Review social service plans, taking service users' views and preferences into account. Follow up on the plan, assessing the quantity and quality of services provided.
- Show intercultural awareness
Show sensibility towards cultural differences by taking actions which facilitate positive interaction between international organisations, between groups or individuals of different cultures, and to promote integration in a community.
- Consider economic criteria in decision making
Develop proposals and take appropriate decisions taking into account economic criteria.
- Carry out social work research
Initiate and design research to assess social problems and evaluate social work interventions. Use statistical sources to connect the individual data with more aggregated categories and interpret data relating to the social context.
- Promote social change
Promote changes in relationships between individuals, families, groups, organisations and communities by taking into consideration and coping with unpredictable changes, at the micro, macro and mezzo level.
- Maintain records of work with service users
Maintain accurate, concise, up-to-date and timely records of the work with service users while complying with legislation and policies related to privacy and security.
- Advocate for social service users
Speak for and on behalf of service users, using communicative skills and knowledge of relevant fields to assist those less advantaged.
- Demonstrate leadership in social service cases
Take the lead in the practical handling of social work cases and activities.
- Listen actively
Give attention to what other people say, patiently understand points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times; able to listen carefully the needs of customers, clients, passengers, service users or others, and provide solutions accordingly.
- Analyse community needs
Identify and respond to specific social problems in a community, delineating the extent of the problem and outline the level of resources required to address it and identifying the existing community assets and resources that are available to address the problem.
- Address problems critically
Identify the strengths and weaknesses of various abstract, rational concepts, such as issues, opinions, and approaches related to a specific problematic situation in order to formulate solutions and alternative methods of tackling the situation.
- Manage budgets for social services programs
Plan and administer budgets in social services, covering programmes, equipment and support services.
- Perform risk analysis
Identify and assess factors that may jeopardise the success of a project or threaten the organisation's functioning. Implement procedures to avoid or minimise their impact.
- Promote inclusion
Promote inclusion in health care and social services and respect diversity of beliefs, culture, values and preferences, keeping in mind the importance of equality and diversity issues.
- Influence policy makers on social service issues
Inform and advise policy makers by explaining and interpreting the needs of the citizens to enhance social service programs and policies.
- Communicate with social service users
Use verbal, non-verbal, written, and electronic communication. Pay attention to the specific social service users' needs, characteristics, abilities, preferences, age, developmental stage, and culture.
- Perform public relations
Perform public relations (PR) by managing the spread of information between an individual or an organisation and the public.
- Apply socially just working principles
Work in accordance with management and organisational principles and values focusing on human rights and social justice.
- Manage ethical issues within social services
Apply social work ethical principles to guide practice and manage complex ethical issues, dilemmas and conflicts in accordance to occupational conduct, the ontology and the code of ethics of the social services occupations, engaging in ethical decision making by applying standards of national and - as applicable - international codes of ethics or statements of principles.
- Communicate professionally with colleagues in other fields
Communicate professionally and cooperate with members of the other professions in the health and social services sector.
- Set organisational policies
Participate in setting organisational policies that cover issues such as participant eligibility, program requirements, and program benefits for the service users.
- Adhere to organisational guidelines
Adhere to organisational or department specific standards and guidelines. Understand the motives of the organisation and the common agreements and act accordingly.
- Deliver social services in diverse cultural communities
Deliver services which are mindful of different cultural and language traditions, showing respect and validation for communities and being consistent with policies regarding human rights and equality and diversity.
- Assess social service users' situation
Assess the social situation of service users situation balancing curiosity and respect in the dialogue, considering their families, organisations and communities and the associated risks and identifying the needs and resources, in order to meet physical, emotional and social needs.
- Apply change management
Manage development within an organisation by anticipating changes and making managerial decisions to ensure that the members involved are as less disturbed as possible.
- Manage stress in organisation
Cope with sources of stress and cross-pressure in one's own professional life, such as occupational, managerial, institutional and personal stress, and help others do the same so as to promote the well-being of your colleagues and avoid burn-out.
- Prevent social problems
Develop, define and implement actions that can prevent social problems, striving for the enhancement of the quality of life for all citizens.
- Use person-centred planning
Use person-centred planning (PCP) and implement the delivery of social services in order to determine what the service users and their caregivers want, and how the services can support this.
- Implement marketing strategies
Implement strategies which aim to promote a specific product or service, using the developed marketing strategies.
- Evaluate staff performance in social work
Evaluate the work of staff and volunteers to ensure that programs are of appropriate quality and that resources are used effectively.
- Involve service users and carers in care planning
Evaluate the needs of individuals in relation to their care, involve families or carers in supporting the development and implementation of support plans. Ensure review and monitoring of these plans.
- Work in a multicultural environment in health care
Interact, relate and communicate with individuals from a variety of different cultures, when working in a healthcare environment.
- Advocate for others
Deliver arguments in favour of something, such as a cause, idea, or policy, to benefit another person.
- Apply holistic approach within social services
Consider the social service user in any situation, recognising the connections between micro-dimension, meso-dimension, and macro-dimension of social problems, social development and social policies.
- Apply quality standards in social services
Apply quality stardards in social services while upholding social work values and principles.
- Build business relationships
Establish a positive, long-term relationship between organisations and interested third parties such as suppliers, distributors, shareholders and other stakeholders in order to inform them of the organisation and its objectives.
- Relate empathetically
Recognise, understand and share emotions and insights experienced by another.
- Manage government funding
Monitor the budget received through government funding, and ensure there are enough resources to cover the costs and expenses of the organisation or project.
- Report on social development
Report results and conclusions on society's social development in an intelligible way, presenting these orally and in written form to a range of audiences from non-experts to experts.
- Build helping relationship with social service users
Develop a collaborative helping relationship, addressing any ruptures or strains in the relationship, fostering bonding and gaining service users` trust and cooperation through empathic listening, caring, warmth and authenticity.
- Manage fundraising activities
Initiate fundraising activities managing the place, teams involved, causes and budgets.