Better leadership, better care: How to strengthen leadership and drive quality in your organisation RCPA Annual Care Seminar 20 th November 2013 Debbie Sorkin Chief Executive, The National Skills Academy for Social Care

What this Presentation covers  Introduction: the role of the Skills Academy around leadership  Leadership; what we think it is, why we think it matters – especially now  What you can do to strengthen leadership: practical and affordable steps o Use The Leadership Qualities Framework o Recruit and select for social care values o Focus on development for everyone and continuous improvement o Measure something o Support your Registered Managers o Come together in a new social care landscape o Recognise and celebrate: stand up for social care  How everyone has a part to play: Leadership starts with all of us

Introduction: the role of the Skills Academy around leadership “The sector needs high-quality leadership at all levels... [it] is essential to the delivery of all the proposals in this White Paper.” Caring for our future: reforming care and support, July 2012 “[Social Care] lacks confidence. As a result it is timid in its vision and ambition for how adult social care services can be delivered.” Social Care: A Review. Dame Denise Platt, 2007  “There is a unique culture within social care....Social care is often positioned ‘in the shadows’. This is disempowering [and] has the effect of reducing confidence and stifling innovation.” Feedback from Skills Academy consultation on Leadership Strategy for Adult Social Care, 2012

Some traditions die hard...

The role of the Skills Academy: Leading on leadership in social care Specific remit to improve leadership and commissioning, and to support Registered Managers Employer-led: but as well as employers we also reach training providers, local authorities and other commissioners, alongside individuals Covering adult social care but also working with health and children’s services Membership body for individuals and organisations One of the largest membership bodies in social care Leadership programmes for all levels Endorsement for high quality trainers Backed by Department of Health Working with RCPA to support Registered Managers

Some of our Members Cheshire Homecare Services Ltd

Leadership: What we think it is Not just about authority at the top of organisations It’s a practical understanding – and awareness – about how you do what you do, and the impact on others So it’s about behaviours, and taking responsibility for them And it’s everyone’s business – people working at all levels in social care “People do not experience our values, they experience our behaviours.” Bill Mumford, CEO, MacIntyre

Leadership: why it matters, especially now : Good leadership can be a lifeline: it can help you deliver quality in difficult times Unprecedented mix of circumstances: demand, supply, structural change, cultural stasis – leading to: o Revenue challenges and funding pressures for employers – and for some, issues of managing growth/consolidation o Need to do more – and more complex - with less o Working with wider group of stakeholders – CCGs, public health, personal budget holders, housing, planning o Need for adaptability/innovation - reconfiguring services, working with new client groups, providing flexible care models o Need to re-inculcate the old virtues and values – dignity, compassion – emphasised especially post-Winterbourne, Mid-Staffs: see Cavendish Review, Driving Up Quality Code

What you can do to strengthen leadership: Use The Leadership Qualities Framework Guide to what good leadership looks like Describes what good leadership looks like in different settings and situations Defines good leadership for people at different levels: Front-line Staff Front-line Leaders Operational Leaders Strategic Leaders Basis in values and behaviours that follow on from them Grounded in everyday practice and written in plain English, so accessible to everyone Applicable in integrated services

The Leadership Qualities Framework: How it works Based on structure of NHS Leadership Framework Groups behaviours into seven areas, called Dimensions Five Dimensions relate to areas in which all social care professionals need to demonstrate leadership Two apply specifically to senior staff Each Dimension has four elements The LQF takes each element and gives a short description of what quality leadership looks like at different levels

The Leadership Qualities Framework: How it can help you in driving quality Essential tool for employers and employees to measure and strengthen leadership capacity Use for recruitment, performance management, appraisal and CPD Mapped to CQC Standards and Social Care Commitment Online self-assessments for benchmarking: 360° feedback: organisational assessment Commissioners and regulators can use as a guide/quality indicator

Example: using the LQF to strengthen Service Quality/Management: Dimension: Managing services Managing people Front-line Worker Supports colleagues, service users, families and carers to deliver high quality care and support. Is approachable, engenders trust and quickly builds rapport with others Front-line Leader Models and encourages staff to enable service users to gain real control over their care. Guides, directs and supports colleagues...maintains a personal style that engenders trust Operational Leader Maintains a personal style that gets the best out of others across the service...builds supervision and review processes that reinforce continuous improvement Strategic Leader Models exemplary behaviour that gets the best out of others, being prepared to lead cultural change needed

What you can do to strengthen leadership: Actively recruit and select for leadership behaviours and social care values: Use The Values-Based Recruitment Toolkit New initiative launched July 2013 Online toolkit for employers and managers Aims to place values-based recruitment in everyone’s reach ims to reduce isolation, better-equip Explains the approach and what it means for social care Examples of job ads Examples of interview questions Simple online personality profile tool being piloted by providers with candidates for front-line roles Link to LQF and other information sources

What you can do to strengthen leadership: See leadership as for everyone, see it as a craft, and develop it “...there are certain aspects that must be there in any leader: intelligence and emotional intelligence are two aspects, but you can teach skills, you can give people opportunity to develop leadership confidence. “ “So while you do need some basic core principles and values and intelligence, you can teach leadership.” Commodore Jake Moores, Head of Royal Naval College, Dartmouth: Skills Academy Seminar Series for Senior Leaders.

What you can do to strengthen leadership: Focus on behaviours and use coaching/reflective approaches Example: Front-Line Leaders Programme “I am now constantly assessing my own practice and have the means to better myself, which in turn creates a happier, smoother workplace, which most importantly improves the quality of service we offer.” Leadership development for front-line or first-time leaders Workplace-based: uses coaching and self- reflection, building self-awareness around impact on others and using outcomes as basis for action

What you can do to strengthen leadership: Measure something Use any of the seven Dimensions and the behaviours described in them You don’t need to be an academic or have a research grant Ask your Staff, Service Users and Carers/Relatives What is interesting to you? If you measure something interesting, you’ll find something interesting Just start – be a ‘positive deviant’

What you can do to strengthen leadership: Support your Registered Managers Background context: Everyday Excellence survey report, 2012

Support programme for Registered Managers from the Skills Academy New programme launched March 2013 Aims to reduce isolation, better-equip Registered Managers for their role, strengthen leadership confidence Expert online and phone advice on HR, legal and professional issues Online information and resources Membership group/community of practice Funding for local networks, workshops and action learning sets around the country – many in and around Somerset ‘Bottom-up’ approach – working with local groups, employers and care associations

What you can do to strengthen leadership: Come together in a new social care landscape Practice leadership - networks and forums of support, e.g. for Registered Managers Collaborative leadership - links with commissioners – health, social care, individual Community leadership - links with and for community groups and micro-employers: focus on assets and social capital

What you can do to strengthen leadership: Recognise, celebrate and influence: stand up for social care WorldSkills 2013 UK National Final Medal Winners, Caring Competition

What you can do to strengthen leadership: Recognise, celebrate and influence: stand up for social care Social care as key driver of local economies Social care as growth sector Social care as local employer Social care as community hub/link Social care as source of innovation Social care as source of good news stories for local media/MPs/ Councils/Health and Wellbeing Boards Social care staff as people to be celebrated

Summary: You can make leadership part of what you do every day  Leadership is about behaviours: taking responsibility for your own practice and addressing poor practice elsewhere  It follows that leadership can support great service quality, embedding it as everyone’s business  You can use the Leadership Qualities Framework and Leadership Starts with Me to instil and embed leadership behaviours which actively promote quality  There are lots of other free online tools and techniques to help you  There are resources for Registered Managers as part of the new support programme  You can embody what good leadership behaviours look like right here, right now  You can instil a high quality culture through celebrating great social care

Everyone has a part to play: Leadership starts with all of us. Because everyone can do something about changing what they do and how they do it. So everyone can be a leader to some degree. Everyone can have a go, and everyone can make a difference. And everyone can be a force for change.

The National Skills Academy for Social Care