Review objectives from Week 4, notes from class, and “The Supervisory Process” in Ch. 7 of Management of Human Service Programs.

Write a 1,050- to 1,400-word paper that presents how key elements of the supervisory process are influenced by theories of motivation. Consider how this information may be applied within the Learning Team’s ideal organization.The teams ideal organization is “The hands up organization” (THUO) which provides housing for homeless families.

• Clarify the salient roles of the supervisor who draws from an empowerment approach to achieve organizational effectiveness.
• Provide a brief overview of the theories of motivation presented in the textbook that will work best in the development of you ideal organization.
• Discuss why these strategies were selected. Specifically, what are the anticipated benefits? What are the anticipated challenges?
• Identify how the principles of motivation will be applied in an empowerment environment.
• Explain how motivation theory supports an organizational culture wherein clients play the role of collaborative, active participants in agency decision-making processes.

Format your report consistent with APA guidelines.

Building Supervisory Relationships

Chapter Outline

Supervisory Roles

The Supervisory Process

Clinical Supervision

The Relationship in Clinical Supervision

Case Supervision

Clinical Supervision from a Multicultural Perspective

Theories of Motivation

Content Theories

Process Theories: Expectancy Theory

Applying Theories of Motivation

Management by Objectives as a Motivator

Organizational Behavior Modification

Reward Systems

Power and Influence

Participative Decision Making as a Supervision Approach

Challenges in Supervision

Making the Transition to the Supervisory Role

Summary

The supervisor who oversees the work of other staff members is a key link between organizational expectations and the provision of services. Most human service professionals find themselves playing at least limited supervisory roles throughout their careers. Some carry out supervision in the context of a managerial role, but many supervise the work of a limited number of direct-service staff.

The distinction between managerial and professional supervision may be less important to supervisory effectiveness than the quality of the relationships that the individual supervisor is able to create. A model for supervision should be broad enough to accommodate the subtle role differences within the supervisory relationship. Such an all-encompassing model must take into account issues related to the supervisee’s motivation, the supervisor’s relational style, the relevance of power and authority, and the special problems inherent in human service settings.

Supervisory Roles

Today’s human service supervisor must fulfill several roles and functions to ensure efficient and effective services to clients. First and foremost, the supervisor, by virtue of the position, is an organizational leader. In this role, supervisors possess positional authority that allows them to facilitate supervisees’ motivation and activity toward the accomplishment of organizational goals and objectives. This general purpose of supervision is accomplished through the supervisor’s assumption of three corollary roles and functions: manager, mediator, and mentor. Together with and anchored by the leadership component, these dimensions bring to fruition a dynamic model of human services supervision.

As a manager, the human service supervisor must develop knowledge and skills in the areas of planning, budgeting, organizing, developing human resources, and evaluating programs. In today’s world of organizational accountability, the administrative, or managerial, function of supervision has attained significant importance. The supervisor is responsible not only for his or her own performance but ultimately for the performance of his or her supervisees as well. In fact, supervisory performance is usually measured in terms of the performance of the supervisor’s unit or team of supervisees. The supervisor is accountable to the organization and has an important role to play in ensuring positive outcomes for the agency’s clients.

As a mediator, the human service supervisor is at the nexus between the two primary technologies found in the human service organization: the technologies of administration and direct practice. It is where the two technologies meet that service goals are operationalized into functional service objectives. It is the responsibility of the supervisor to mediate between and articulate the two technologies in a manner that satisfies the requirements of both in the efficient and effective delivery of services. As a mediator, the supervisor is the link between administration and direct services, between policy formulation and policy implementation. A critical function of the mediator role involves the facilitation of successful relationships within the supervisor’s own group and between the group members and people in other units of the organization. When necessary, the supervisor may serve as a mediator between supervisees and the organization’s environment, including clients and other service providers. This role requires considerable skills in decision making and conflict management as well as sensitivity to the needs of clients, staff, and the organization. It also leads at times to the supervisor feeling that he or she is “caught in the middle.”

In addition to fulfilling the roles and executing the functions of leader, manager, and mediator, the human service supervisor also assumes the role and function of mentor to his or her supervisees. As leader, the supervisor is concerned with the morale, productivity, and job satisfaction of subordinates, including their integration into the agency and their identification with agency mission, goals, and objectives. As manager, the supervisor must deal with the day-to-day administrative tasks of planning, coordination, and evaluation. As mediator, the supervisor attends to the negotiation of relationships among staff members and between staff and other internal and external organizational units. As mentor, the supervisor’s main responsibility is the professional growth and development of his or her supervisees.

It is in the mentor role that the supervisor has the best opportunity to provide individual emotional and psychological support to subordinates as well as to impart knowledge and help develop skills to enhance service delivery. This important role and function reflects the supervisor’s commitment to professional values and ethics in service to clients and to the assurance that those values and ethics are reflected in the supervisees’ practice. In this capacity, the supervisor differentially socializes the supervisees to such professional norms as fostering client self-determination, being nonjudgmental and objective, and protecting the confidentiality of case information. As mentor, the supervisor also helps workers develop self-awareness of their own feelings and responses to clients and the various issues that clients present.

The Supervisory Process

Across supervisory roles and settings, a supervisor’s key tasks are likely to include the following:

· Providing encouragement and support for the supervisee

· Building motivation

· Increasing the mutuality of individual and organizational goals

· Enhancing the supervisee’s competence in service delivery

· Carrying out ongoing assessments of the supervisee’s success in fulfilling his or her responsibilities

· Providing prompt and objective feedback designed to enhance the supervisee’s professional development

Of course, the nature of the supervisory relationship depends on the specific situation, especially on the supervisee’s needs and developmental level. It is unrealistic to think that one supervisor could form the same kind of relationship with each of his or her supervisees. In fact, the relationship with each supervisee changes over time as the supervisee grows in competence and independence.

In the context of a collaborative interaction, the supervisor and supervisee should select both the objectives toward which the individual is expected to strive and the goals of the supervisory process itself. It is important to have clarity concerning both the supervisee’s work objectives and the supervisor’s role in providing support and assistance.

It is helpful to think of the supervisee’s needs in terms of the Hersey, Blanchard, and Johnson (2007) situational leadership model, which emphasizes the concept of readiness. Readiness encompasses the degree of willingness and ability the individual demonstrates. Willingness is “a combination of the varying degrees of confidence, commitment, and motivation” (Hersey et al., 2007, p. 476), whereas “ability is determined by the amount of knowledge, experience, and demonstrated skill the follower brings to the task” (p. 477). Both willingness and ability are clearly relevant to the supervisory process. The supervision needs of a “high-readiness” supervisee can be expected to differ significantly from those of an individual who needs active assistance either in the development of ability to perform or in the enhancement of willingness to learn.

In human service settings, the equivalent of the less “ready” worker is simply one who does not have a fully developed set of goals, methods, and motivations for carrying out specific tasks that relate to client needs or organizational mission. The major factor is not the supervisee’s length of time on the job or years of training but rather his or her readiness to function independently. A specific supervisee may need additional task supervision to gain competence in a new area, or he or she may simply prefer a close working relationship with the supervisor. Whether the level of readiness is defined in terms of abilities or personal needs, the supervisor’s goal should be to help the worker move steadily toward increased autonomy. A supportive supervisory relationship can form the basis for moving the individual from a stance of dependence to one of independence.

Throughout the supervision process, the supervisor and supervisee work together to specify objectives, clarify the criteria against which progress will be measured, and identify movement from one stage to the next. The supervisor must also specify his or her own contributions to the relationship, ensuring that the degree of personal support and task-oriented training needed will be offered. The supervisory contract involves recognizing both the supervisee’s work objectives and the supervisor’s contribution toward meeting them. As the worker becomes increasingly competent, the relationship may move away from a high task orientation to a more supportive interaction and, finally, to increased delegation and autonomy.

Skilled supervision is needed in the joint selection of goals in the attempt to find commonality between the supervisee’s individual needs and the agency’s or program’s mission. When dealing with a professionally competent supervisee, the supervisor should place a high priority on seeking a set of goals and objectives that are acceptable to both parties of the supervisory dyad. These goals must be based on a recognition of changing client needs, with both supervisor and supervisee attempting to determine what amount and kinds of services the specific worker can reasonably be expected to provide. The degree to which additional training or support is needed should also be specified. Most important, the supervisor should accept that, once agreement about goals and objectives has been reached, the mature supervisee should be allowed to work in an autonomous fashion.

Yet autonomy does not mean isolation. Throughout the supervisory process, the relationship between supervisor and supervisee remains important. Although the need for active intervention may lessen, the supervisory dyad thrives in an atmosphere of trust and supportiveness. The supervisee in a human service setting is learning not just to perform tasks but to use the self as an instrument for helping others. That process implies a need for continual growth and nondefensiveness. In human service organizations, workers should be, and usually are, motivated by high needs for achievement and effectiveness. Their continued motivation—whether they are professionals, paraprofessionals, or volunteers—depends on the degree to which their jobs can be enriched and the degree of involvement they feel in the ongoing work of the program.

Clinical Supervision