Be Inspired! Shirley Ayres Consulting

 The very act of leadership is making something happen. Are you ready to be the difference you want to see in the world?  

An innovative and groundbreaking development in leadership learning has just been launched by the Leaders Café 2020 which allows you to share the best ‘leadership thoughts’ across the world.

Leaders Cafe is a social enterprise that helps to reduce inequalities in leadership learning in the economy and society. This doesn’t mean reducing the quality of the learning. Their mission is to enable 20 million people at all levels of society to use their leadership potential to lead themselves and others by 2020. This will be achieved by providing access to compelling, world class and low cost learning through the innovative online Leaders Café. Experiential learning is conveyed via webcast technology. These webinars (web seminars) typically last no longer than 60 minutes and provide compelling learning through insightful storytelling rather than through models and methodology.

The Leaders Cafe Promise:

1. You get remarkable interactive leadership webinar learning at a price sustainable to you and us.
2. Invest as little as one hour a week in our interactive webinars, and you will think and lead like a pioneer.
3. As a social enterprise with no owners, profits are reinvested in YOU; to continue to give you more for less.
4. Your membership contributes directly towards learning chances for all.
5. Your membership helps positively to reduce learning inequalities for 20 million people by 2020.

The central ethos of the Leaders Café learning portfolio is that of Pioneering Leadership. The outcomes from participating in Leaders Café’s learning are people who understand what it means to collaborate with others, have an ethos of knowledge sharing and are co-builders of a better world. The cost of membership is kept low to widen participation and is sustainable to both the learners and to Leaders Café. Strategic partnerships – including coffee bar chains and international organisations. – will support the delivery of leadership development for millions of leaders and change agents globally.

You can join for free as an Associate Learner. Premium membership is just £100 per year. Apply the code BEINSPIRED when you check out from joining and you will pay just £80.

Welcome to the Leaders Café 2020

Where is the professional leadership in social work?

The Really Big Question – what makes an effective manager?

Tags: be inspired, Leadership and Management, Learning and Development, Social Work

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The official launch of the College of Social Work took place today at Community Care Live. Moira Gibb welcomed the new College as “An opportunity for social work to gain the authoritative and influential professional voice it deserves”

Social workers and people who use social work services are today being encouraged to shape The College of Social Work by taking part in a UK-wide consultation. You can join the online consultation on the College website. Events are also being organised in several regions in England. A total of 22 consultation sessions will be held; twelve events for social work practitioners and managers and ten for users of social work services and carers.

The College of Social Work will start functioning in the coming months; at present the College Development Group is ensuring that those vital contributions are being captured and given to the Interim Board of the College once it is established. The Development Group is overseeing the consultation, which starts today and runs until October.

The College Development Group Chair, Allan Bowman, stated that

“We’ve been looking forward to today because it’s when The College’s work can really begin. We need the input of social workers, people who use social work services and their carers. Their views will shape the way the College is run. We encourage everyone with views to come forward, either at the large number of events organised so that people can discuss their views, or they can go online and help shape their College.”

Some of the issues that can be discussed in the consultation include:

• Membership
• Purpose,  functions and activities
• Working with employers, regulators, and unions
• Continuing professional development

Through these consultation activities it is hoped that a shared understanding of the purpose and key objectives of the College will be developed, built on the direct contribution of social workers and the people who use social work services. The consultation process will also ensure that the design and plans for the College will meet needs of the profession now and in the future.

Welcoming the College Moira Gibb, Chair of the Social Work Reform Board said:

“A College of Social Work is an opportunity for social work to gain the authoritative and influential professional voice it deserves. It is important that from the outset the College speaks for the breadth of the profession and represents the views of all social workers. This consultation is a major opportunity for the whole sector to set the direction and control the future of the College. I urge all social workers, and those engaged with social work, to take this chance to help shape the future of our profession.”

The College is clear that it wants to have the input of everyone involved from across the UK and that it will cover all aspects of social work.

The College of Social Work website

Tags: advanced social work practice, college of social work, Leadership and Management, professional practice, research, scie, Social Work, social work is complex and challenging

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The Advanced Social Work Practice Network (ASWPN) is a group for social work practitioners, academics, employers and partner organisations who wish to support the development of professional leadership in social work. Members of the network share good practice and research, enhance opportunities for the continuing professional development of advanced practitioners and discuss topical issues which impact upon the delivery of quality social work services.

ASWPN aims to:
• Facilitate employers to become learning organisations which recognise the value of advanced practice for promoting excellence in social work.
• Encourage employers to support Continuing Professional Development opportunities at advanced level
• Engage employers and other stakeholders in the training needs of their advanced social work practitioners and the development of advanced level PQ programmes
• Advocate for improved funding structures for Post Qualifying (PQ) education in general, and the higher level awards in particular, to support the professional development of advanced practitioners
• Support the development of advanced practice positions such as Consultant Social Workers, particularly in the new Children’s Trusts and health and social care partnerships.
• Develop the research capacity of advanced social work practitioners through partnerships with the Social Care Institute for Excellence, Research in Practice and Making Research Count to embed research and advanced practice in social work
• Promote the recommendations of the Social Work Task Force, the children and adults workforce development agenda, the Social Work Reform Board. and innovative policy initiatives including Every Child Matters and Transforming Adult Social Care.

Join ASWPN to share information about advanced social work policy initiatives, reports, practice guidance, practitioner research and interesting events. We look forward to hearing your thoughts and comments about the policies, research and practice which are really making a difference to the promotion of excellence in social work practice.

If you are new to LinkedIn the following post will be helpful – Is social work ready for the social media revolution? How to become LinkedIn

If you work with children and young people in care you may also like to join this group on LinkedIn

Tags: advanced social work practice, Leadership and Management, Learning and Development, linkedin, post qualifying awards, research, Social Work

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“We have enough people who tell us the way it is – now we need a few more people who can tell us how it can be!”

A brief roundup of some of  the topics we will be featuring in 2010 

The Advanced Practitioner – managing your career

“Find It Here” – the launch of the first comprehensive Directory of online resources for people supporting children and young people in care

The Big Ideas survey – share your thoughts about how we can improve social work and social care 

Integrated Working – what stops care and health working together?

The e-Learning revolution and social media – a new approach to improve the skills and knowledge of staff in the care sector?

What makes a good employer? A simple audit tool which reveals whether your employer demonstrates that staff really are the most important resource in the organisation.

New Partnerships – Shirley Ayres Consulting will be joining up with a number of organisations who are committed to driving up standards in social work and social care.

Leadership and Management in Social Care – has the investment paid off?

An undervalued and unrecognised resource? - the launch of an exciting new website for grandparents.

Introducing Blastbeat Education UK a not for profit company that has developed a fun & exciting Music & Multimedia Business progamme offered to young people and schools around the world. Blastbeat promotes and encourages young original songwriters & musicians, supporting youth communities on a local & global level, empowering young people to create social enterprises creating community and social capital to help bring about change for the good of society.

Quality Assuring Training  – do the increasing number of quality marks and standards really make a difference to the unregulated training in the care sector?

Stress busters – See life from a different angle.

BASW and the new National College for Social Work

“The insurmountable difficulties of today are the solved problems of tomorrow.” ~ Cardinal Heenan

Tags: advanced social work practice, be inspired, care sector, elearning, encouraging innovation, integrated working, Leadership and Management, Learning and Development, quality assurance, Social Work, Stress busters, training

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Watching the second part of “Can Gerry Robinson fix Dementia Care Homes?” it was painful to acknowledge the vulnerability of people with dementia.  This was balanced by the visionary leadership shown by Anne Fretwell and the commitment of the staff at Merevale House. The home has an inspiring focus on person-centred dementia care and a passion for empowering residents by providing opportunities to live their lives with meaning, dignity and respect.  (photo credit Merevale House)

The issue of inspired and passionate leadership is a challenge for the whole of the care sector. There is an urgent need to develop strategic performance management systems which will drive quality and improve care services. A very clear message from the programme is the importance of education and training for staff. Fortunately there are an increasing number of  accessible and free specialist training resources and my previous post identified a number of online resources. I would also recommend the innovative Social care TV dementia videos

Dr Carol Komaromy, a senior lecturer in health studies and one of the Open University academic advisors to the programme, writes: “People who live in care homes for older people are often hidden from the public view. Coping with the complex care demands of people with dementia requires a high level of skill and compassion and yet carers are often underpaid and the value of what they do remains unrecognised. The programme highlights the need for specialist training and the difference this can make to the experience of living with dementia. It is a sad indictment of society that providing care resources for people with dementia seems to have a low level of priority. More than this, as the series shows, there is so much more that could be done even within limited resources.
“I would argue that a culture of care would need to support paid carers in a direct engagement with the needs of people with dementia and recognise that they are also people with diverse emotional needs who need to feel supported and valued. While it is clearly the case that protocols and resources need to be in place for this to happen, homes need to shift to a culture of care that places people with dementia at the centre. A key element in making this happen is education and training.”
The Open University has produced a free leaflet, Dementia Care: Sustaining The Person Within, to accompany the programmes. It lists the help and support available when making decisions affecting the care of people with dementia and can be ordered through the following link 

The Commission for Social Care Inspection provided the first public benchmark for quality in care homes in what had been a largely unregulated sector. I hope that the Care Quality Commission (CQC) recognises the important role of the care homes inspectorate and provides the resources to strengthen their role and extend their remit. Since staff are the biggest cost and the most vulnerable to cutbacks is it time for a review of the CQC regulatory requirements for staffing and qualifications? An equally urgent question is whether local authorities should refuse to place residents in dementia homes rated as “poor or adequate by the CQC.

In this digital age I believe that all care homes should have internet access for resident and staff. The SCIE get connected investment project for adult social care is distributing £12 million to registered providers of adult social care in England to assist them with their information, communications and technology. They will focus on providers who do not have good access to the internet. The initiative is to allow those who use, visit or work in adult social care services to benefit from the learning, knowledge and access that the internet can bring.

In the next 20 years over a million of us will have dementia, we need a serious debate about our expectations and aspirations for the care which will be provided to one of the most vulnerable groups in society. 

Part Two of “Can Gerry Robinson fix Dementia Care Homes?”  can be seen on BBC iplayer 

Telling Tales About Dementia – Experiences of Caring which is edited by Lucy Whitman explores how it feels when someone clsoe develops dementia? How do you cope with the shock, the stress and the grief? Can you be sure that you and your family will receive the support you need? In Telling Tales About Dementia, thirty carers from different backgrounds and in different circumstances share their experiences of caring for a parent, partner or friend with dementia. They speak from the heart about love and loss: ‘I still find it hard to believe that Alzheimer’s has happened to us,’ writes one contributor, ‘as if we were sent the wrong script.’ The stories told here vividly reflect the tragedy of dementia, the gravity of loss, and instances of unsatisfactory diagnosis, treatment and care. But they contain hope and optimism too: clear indications that the quality of people’s lives can be enhanced by sensitive support services, by improved understanding of the impact of dementia, by recognising the importance of valuing us all as human beings, and by embracing and sustaining the connections between us.

Tags: alzheimer's disease, be inspired, dementia, education and training, families, Leadership and Management, older people, social care, vulnerable adults

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The formal launch of the final report of the Social Work Task Force will take place on Tuesday 1 December 2009 at Central Hall, Westminster.  This event will be the first opportunity to hear the contents of this report. Registration is required by Thursday 26 November.
This report will set out in detail the recommendations to Government for a programme of comprehensive reform of the social work system in England. Delegates at this event will be the first to hear the contents of the report, as well as a presentation by Moira Gibb, Chair of the Social Work Task Force, and to hear the Government’s response. Members of the Task Force will explore the contents of the report and answer questions. Register here

Indications about the final recommendations:
• The profession needs a stronger, more coherent voice
• A new organisation to support social work which could take the form of a National College for Social Work (interesting to contemplate the future roles of the GSCC, Skills for Care, Children’s Workforce Development Council, Social Care Institute for Excellence and the National Skills Academy for Social Care)
• Different progression routes and career pathways for social work – (management should be one of a number of routes)
• Development of the Advanced Professional Social Worker role
• The importance of high quality CPD (and presumably implications for the current GSCC PRTL)
• A post-qualifying framework which is linked to career progression 
• Support for social workers in improving their basic skills, where required (how basic?)
• Reforms to include guidance on supervision and caseloads
• Recommendations about the ICS and the need for development of IT systems which support social workers as well as providing management information
• A pre-qualifying year and a license to practice
• Closer collaboration between employers and educators (since these partnerships already exist at qualifying and post-qualifying level it will be interesting to see how the recommendations will promote more effective joint working).

Social Work Task Force Website

Tags: advanced social work practice, cwdc, DCSF, education, gscc, ICS, Leadership and Management, Learning and Development, post qualifying awards, professional practice, scie, skills for care, Social Work, social work skills

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Lin Graham-Ray, Hammersmith and Fulham’s designated nurse consultant for looked-after children, has scooped the top prize at the Nursing Standard awards* when she was named the nation’s nurse of the year.
 
Lin won the award for her work to improve services for looked after children in the borough. Lin and her team worked on a project to redevelop looked-after children’s health plans, so that they include wellbeing activities to boost self-confidence and happiness, in addition to vaccinations and health checks.

“In the past, health reports may have simply recommended eye tests or immunisations,’ Lin explains, ‘but I want people to do whatever they can to help these children achieve optimum health – not just tick the box that they’ve been to the dentist or had their immunisations. I think we’ve all realised that there’s more to health than just vaccinations – looking after the well being of our children is just as important. Prescribing activities like baton-twirling helps boost confidence which can really make a difference to their lives and it means that they’re healthier and happier”.

There are currently around 60,000 looked-after children living in the UK.  Many looked after children have experienced abuse and neglect and have extensive health needs. Their educational achievement is much lower than that of their peers and they are four times more likely to have a mental disorder.

As the borough’s lead nurse for looked-after children, Lin’s post is funded by NHS Hammersmith and Fulham and the council. She provides a range of health advice and support to the borough’s 230 children in care. 

Looked-after children nurses like Lin support these young people by building their trust, carrying out health checks and answering their health and well being questions. Lin realised that the health and well being of these young people needed to be addressed more systematically and creatively. The children had complex lives with frequent changes of home and school. Lin introduced a scheme assigning a lead health professional to each young person, with a personalised care pathway and plan.

Lin said: “The feedback we get from young people is helping to continually improve the service. For example, when out on visits we now wear jeans because the children told us that we’re more approachable and easier to talk to in casual clothes.”

Sarah Whiting, Managing Director of NHS Hammersmith and Fulham, said: “ By developing new projects and initiatives like the ones produced by Lin and her team, we’re improving care and making sure that our patients lead happy and healthy lives.”

Lin contributed to the recent Government office for London publication “Supporting the Health and Well being of London’s Looked After Children – Learning from Emerging Practice” available here

*Established in 1988, the Nursing Standard Awards identify outstanding achievement and promote excellence and innovation in nursing care. Around 3,000 nurses are nominated for the honours every year.

Tags: be inspired, health and well being, integrated working, Leadership and Management, Lin Graham Ray, looked after children, looked after children nurse, nurse of the year, Social Work

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Are there lessons for social work in this recent posting on the HR website? As the debate rages about how to improve social work services on the front line the big question for me is how we empower and motivate staff to deliver consistently high quality services. What needs to change to encourage innovation and creativity amongst such a diverse workforce?

The lack of leadership is constantly quoted as a major problem for care services but what sort of leadership is required?  Is leadership different from management? For me an emphatic YES. Leaders use passion and ideas to lead people. Leadership is about creating change.

We have known what the problems are in social work for many years so what is stopping change from happening? There is a consistency in the key messages and recommendations contained in the plethora of government reports following major failures in the care system.

Five ways to make a difference in your organisation:

Step One

Listen, communicate and engage with your workforce.

Step Two

Make a reality of the oft quoted phrase “Our people are our greatest asset” by developing, implementing and monitoring your workforce development strategy

Step Three

Encourage, nurture and grow your staff by offering a range of learning opportunities which take advantage of new technology.

Step Four

Get rid of the blame culture and encourage the senior management team to foster debate and encourage new ways of thinking and approaches to seemingly intractable problems. Do not be afraid of critical friends.

Step Five 

Recognise and develop the unique skills and talents of your workforce. Actively seek and encourage feedback and let everyone know how their thoughts and comments are making a difference to the delivery of services.

‘Talent’ may be HR’s buzz word du jour but a poll conducted for Human Resources finds that only 9% of workers think their business uses this word to describe its people.

Nearly 70% of respondents to the survey, by Harris Interactive, say talent is not an expression used. Asked if they think their employers see them as talented individuals, 42% of workers say no and a further 23% are not sure. Just 16% say yes, but only as a means to an end – so employers can get more work out of them.

A mere 11% say they are personally regarded as ‘the future’ of their organisation, with nearly half (48%) saying ‘no, not all’ to this question. Some 55% of the 1,187 employees polled say that, to their knowledge, their skills are not recorded on any talent management system.

Women are significantly more likely than men to say their organisation uses the word talent (75% vs 63%). They are also more likely to say they are not regarded as the future in their organisation (50% vs 47%).

View the comments at

http://www.hrmagazine.co.uk/news/bulletin/weeklyupdatebulletin/article/911942/?DCMP=EMC-Dailynewsalert

Tags: connecting with your staff, creativity, critical friend, empowerment, encouraging innovation, Leadership and Management, workforce engagement

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An intriguing new development from MacMillan Cancer Support. Learn Zone is a treasure chest of useful information including a Leadership & Management Toolbox. All the L&M Toolbox information and resources are suitable for any leader or manager and are not specific to cancer care.

Spend a few minutes online registering with them and your reward is full access to the Toolbox where you will find:

• A place where you can access quick and practical resources to support your knowledge and skills development.

• An online source of high-quality leadership and management development resources, in a range of different media, from Harvard Business School, Ashridge Business School and 50 Lessons.

• A resource for you to access whenever you like, wherever you are.

• A comprehensive set of materials covering a broad range of generic leadership and management knowledge and skills.

• A collection comprising everything from short video interviews with international leaders and brief book reviews to academic journals, substantial learning guides and multimedia modules.

• Issue of the Month – each month a particular L&M issue or topic will be highlighted and links provided to a range of resources in the toolbox.

In addition to the L&M Toolbox, the main MacMillan Learn Zone site gives you free and easy access to a wide variety of online resources, e-learning programmes, professional development tools and information about MacMillan’s latest learning and development opportunities related to cancer

care. For more information visit www.learnzone.macmillan.org.uk to register and start using their online resources.

Once registered  yu may be interested in completing the self evaluation for social workers. The personal development self-assessment tool is set out as a series of gears for you to adjust, allowing you to assess your competencies in relation to your specific professional role. You can save each assessment and return to it as often as you want. You can also print out a summary overview.

Definitely worth a visit!

Tags: a wide variety of online resources, e-learning programmes, evaluate your social work skills, free access, Leadership and Management, professional development tools

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The Philosophy of Shirley Ayres Consulting 

The Japanese have a word “Kaizen” which translated means “the gathering of the wisdom of the people” The Be Inspired website was launched to provide an independent and innovative web based resource for social work and social care. We are committed to supporting individuals and organisations to make connections and partnerships across sectors and disciplines.

We are very aware that in the 21st century organisations need to find different ways to engage, excite and energise their stakeholders. This doesn’t just mean communicating well – it means having a good story to tell. Our approach, which is underpinned by a commitment to empowerment through knowledge, links the latest marketing and new technology to promote excellence in the social work field.

Social work has many good stories to tell. It is the ultimate paradox that the communication skills so vital to effective social work are not reflected in the marketing and promotion of the care sector as a whole. We need to motivate and engage with politicians, service users, funders, investors, providers, media and other relevant groups to ensure that society values and adequately funds the social work and care services which support the most vulnerable people in the community. For more information about our consultancy services contact info@shirleyayresconsulting.co.uk

How we work

Engaging, listening, discussing, carrying out interviews, providing workshops, undertaking desk and field research

Identifying significant patterns and themes and developing a strategy based upon the key issues with agreed outcomes

Implementing identifying relevant outputs and outcomes the development of a communications strategy

Handing over ownership to the organisation through training, mentoring, presentations and reports.

Evaluation, assessing how the ideas are working in action, making suggestions for improvements.

We work most effectively with organisations who are actively seeking to challenge and change the way they deliver their services. These organisations recognise that the way to stand out from the crowd is to stand for something original and unique. Inspiration is shared through a vision and values. info@shirleyayresconsulting.co.uk

The Team 

Shirley Ayres began her social work career with a national children’s charity establishing innovative community based projects for troubled and troublesome young people. She was awarded an international scholarship in the 1980’s and completed post-graduate studies at the Law School Sydney University, Australia.

In the 1990’s Shirley held the position of Chief Officer at GLPQ, a charity and company limited by guarantee responsible for the post qualifying education and training of social workers in London. GLPQ became a nationally recognised and independent voice for the challenges confronting social work practitioners in an increasingly diverse landscape.

In 2005 Shirley established a new knowledge and communications consultancy. Her work draws upon her qualifications and experience in social work, marketing, ethics, criminology, leadership and management. She works with a growing number of associates who provide complementary skills, knowledge and expertise. This enables the consultancy to provide unique perspectives into the development of innovative responses to the challenges facing an increasingly complex and disconnected society. 

Shirley is a respected commentator on issues of communication and diversity in the care sector. She is particularly interested in the challenges of securing the meaningful co-operation of diverse stakeholders including people who use service users and carers. She is currently involved in a number of ventures exploring the potential of the internet and Web 2 technology to enable communities of interest to connect and network more effectively. shirley@shirleyayresconsulting.co.uk

Peter Loizou has lead responsibility for the development and design of a number of Web 2.0 developments including the Be Inspired website. He has specialist knowledge of data collection and analysis in the care sector. He has undertaken research to support the development of strategic partnerships and the implementation of a major workforce mapping exercise in social work and social care. peter@shirleyayresconsulting.co.uk

James Souttar is a communications consultant with extensive experience of public, private and not-for-profit sectors. These include charities and social enterprises, Sector Skills Councils, Professional Skills for Government, and a number of universities. In 2005, the University of Middlesex awarded James an Honorary Doctorate in recognition of his work in leading their rebranding. james@shirleyayresconsulting.co.uk

Marcia White is an experienced journalist who has worked on every major magazine and newspaper covering the sector, including: Guardian Society, Community Care, CareandHealth Magazine, Skills for Care London PQ Bulletin and SCLondon. Formerly managing editor of CareandHealth magazine she has an in-depth knowledge of the care sector and the policy drivers underpinning the development of the mixed economy of care and the relationships between the statutory, private and voluntary sector.  marcia@shirleyayresconsulting.co.uk

Cheryl Lewis has substantial experience in the voluntary and public care sector. Her background is in advocacy, focusing on the delivery of high quality person centered services and solutions. Her strengths are in her insights and capacity to connect with individuals and groups using her highly developed interpersonal skills. Cheryl has a particular focus on strategic perspectives, which will translate into improved performance management. She has a personal and professional commitment to lifelong learning and education.  cheryl@shirleyayresconsulting.co.uk

Tags: About Us, be inspired, connecting, engaging, Leadership and Management, our philosophy, partnerships, shirley ayres consulting, Social Work, values and vision, wisdom and knowledge

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