Nurturing management key to building NQSW confidence, say social workers

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The first years post-qualification are daunting for any social worker.

It is the challenging transition from theory to practice, when practitioners find their footing with children, families or adults and shape their professional identity.

However, on top of this, they often face high caseloads, increasingly complex needs, and a loss of experienced staff to support them.

Community Care’s 2022 caseloads survey found social workers in their assessed and supported year in employment (ASYE) were overwhelmed by their caseloads and missing out on learning from experienced colleagues who were unable to offer support due to their own workloads.

It’s a tough environment to build professional confidence in or even solidify your decision to remain in the field. According to Department for Education workforce statistics, two-thirds of those who left the children’s sector in 2020-21 had been with their local authorities for five years or less.

So what could help new social workers navigate their first years post-qualification? We asked practitioners attending Community Care Live 2024 for their views.

‘Experienced managers need to nurture new practitioners’

Cassy, now head of safeguarding in a public inquiry, can still recall her nervousness when starting out 22 years ago.

“I was really nervous about being transparent with families or making phone calls in the office in front of colleagues,” she says. 

“There was just a general lack of confidence in speaking to families about difficult issues and things I was concerned about.”

The key components to building her confidence were, ultimately, her managers and colleagues.

“You need experienced managers and colleagues nurturing less experienced social workers, allowing them to model their skills and have enough time to learn and embed them in their own practice.”

‘Never be afraid to ask questions’

Even those with prior social care experience needed time to settle into the role.

Though she had over a decade of social care experience before qualifying, senior social worker Naomi says it took her a couple of years to feel fully confident in her new position.

She too credits her manager’s support for helping her find her footing as a practitioner.

“I’ve moved on to roles since where the manager hasn’t been supportive and that makes your job 10 times harder. If you’ve got a supportive, understanding manager, it’s very helpful,” she says. 

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“You also need colleagues you can turn to and who are comfortable saying, ‘You know what, I’ve been here 10 years but I don’t know that question, let me find out.’ It’s good to know that, no matter how experienced you are, not everyone knows everything.”

Hardey Barnett, an independent reviewing officer, also stressed that newly qualified practitioners should “never be afraid to ask questions”.

“I’ve been there before, where I don’t want to ask a question out of fear of being embarrassed,” he says.

“But these are opportunities for learning so always ask. Never be afraid because it can rock your confidence if you are left without answers. I guarantee there will be half a dozen other people in the room going, ‘Oh my God, thank you, I had no idea what that is.’”

‘Management has become more oppressive’

Yet, despite many praising supportive managers for helping them through their initial years in social work, Janet says today’s environment isn’t as nurturing.

An agency worker with over 30 years of experience, Janet believes the newly qualified experience is now undermined by constant changes in policy, pressure of complex caseloads and micromanagement.

“Management has become more oppressive, whereas before it was about caring and supporting each other. Now there’s this expectation that you should be able to just do the job from the start,” she says.

“It can eat away your confidence and how you feel about being a social worker if you’re working in an environment that feels quite stressful and micromanaged.”

Janet credits her first team, and working relationships with other professionals assisting in cases, for making her feel she had “made the right decision” as a newly qualified.

“It was always about knowledge sharing and being able to go to people and ask, ‘How do you do this?’ I could get the support and assistance I needed.”

Over the past 30 years, she has found that closeness rarely exists anymore within teams. Her solution is mentorships, where new practitioners can have someone to advise and support them who is independent of their management.

“We’re human beings as well and we take on a lot,” she says. “We’re involved in a lot of people’s trauma and lives and we have a certain level of control over them. But what is it doing to us as human beings? So I think mentoring could be a good thing – [having] someone who is experienced that can support newly qualifieds to build their confidence and make them feel they made the right decision.”

‘I had good supervisors but a poor manager’

Olle Chima, a social work lecturer who qualified in 1997, can empathise with practitioners who don’t feel supported by management when starting their careers.

“I remember feeling daunted, my risk awareness was so heightened. I was always terrified that I would miss something,” she says of her initial years as a children’s practitioner.

“But I also had a poor manager. When I raised an issue of concern once, he said, ‘Oh, don’t worry. I know we want to save all the children, but we can’t.’ I thought it was a terrible thing to say.”

Instead, it was her supervisors who walked her through the necessary procedures to address her concerns.

“They told me what to do, what to check for, and how to ensure I had crossed all the Ts,” she says. “For me it became about whether you have done everything practicable and lawful that you can do. And that’s enough.”

She cites psychologist Lev Vygotsky’s theory on learning environments as a lesson managers should carry with them when bringing newly qualifieds into their team.

“Vygotsky believed if you’re doing tasks alongside the child you should give them the space to do some difficult things on their own but still stand back [to help if need be],” she says. “It’s a great approach to have with new practitioners.”

“I always encourage that with students. You don’t have to do everything [on your own], you can always seek advice from senior practitioners. Because otherwise, they are just left anxious.” 

How long did it take you to build your confidence after qualifying?