Advancing social work professionalism: Standards for management and leadership in Aotearoa New Zealand

Authors

  • Mike Webster University of Auckland
  • David McNabb Unitec Institute of Technology
  • John Darroch

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.11157/anzswj-vol27iss3id5

Abstract

In 2004, management was recognised by the International Federation of Social Workers (IFSW) as one of 13 ‘core purposes’ of the global profession. Taking that recognition as a starting point, this article advances the notion that the pre-eminent function of management in social work organisations is to serve, advocate for and integrate the remaining 12 pur- poses. We further propose that these 12 purposes express the profession’s commitment to human rights and social justice as social work’s distinctive values – that social justice has an organisational dimension. 

Proceeding from that philosophical base, this paper introduces a research project to develop standards for social work management and leadership uniquely designed for Aotearoa New Zealand. The authors suggest that the IFSW core purpose statement informs and underpins the project. Standards developed by the profession in the United States and England are reviewed and elements drawn from those sources assessed for potential application to New Zealand. The concepts of leadership and management are examined to determine whether they are interchangeable terms, while noting that in the two overseas jurisdictions leadership is privileged. The article concludes by way of an introduction to the preliminary findings of the research project for future treatment.

Author Biographies

Mike Webster, University of Auckland

Mike teaches social work organisations and management in the School of Counselling, Human Services and Social Work at the University of Auckland. He is a registered social worker, and the convenor of the ANZASW managers and leaders interest group. 

David McNabb, Unitec Institute of Technology

David is a registered social worker and a Lecturer in the Department of Social Practice at Unitec Institute of Technology in Auckland, where he was formerly Head of Department. He is President of the Council for Social Work Education in Aotearoa New Zealand. 

John Darroch

John is a social work student currently doing his Master’s at Auckland University. He has a passion for issues of social justice and how the social work profession can be a force for change.

References

Aotearoa New Zealand Association of Social Workers. (2008). Code of ethics (Rev. ed.). Christchurch: Aotearoa New Zealand Association of Social Workers.

Attwood, M., Pedler, M., Pritchard, S., & Wilkinson, D. (2003). Leading change: A guide to whole systems working. Bristol, UK: Policy Press.

Bass, B. M., & Avolio, B. (1993). Transformational leadership and organizational culture. Public Administration Quarterly, 17(1), 112-121.

Bass, B. M., & Bass, R. (2008). The Bass handbook of leadership: Theory, research, and managerial applications (4th ed.). New York, NY: Free Press.

Beddoe, L., & Duke, J. (2013). Continuing professional development of registered social workers in New Zealand. Aotearoa New Zealand Social Work Review, 25(3), 35-49.

Bennis, W., & Nanus, B. (1985). Leaders: The strategies for taking charge. New York, NY: Harper & Row. Bronfenbrenner, U. (Ed.). (2005). Making human beings human: Bioecological perspectives on human development.

Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Burns, J. M. (1978). Leadership. New York, NY: Harper and Row.

Colbert, A. E., Judge, T. A., Choi, D., & Wang, G. (2012). Assessing the trait theory of leadership using self and observer ratings of personality: The mediating role of contributions to group success. The Leadership Quarterly, 23(4), 670-685. Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2012.03.004.

Coulshed, V., Mullender, A., with Jones, D., & Thompson, N. (2006). Management in social work (3rd ed.). Hound- mills, UK: Palgrave Macmillan.

Fayol, H. (1967). General and industrial management (C. Storrs, Trans.). London: Pitman.

Fisher, E. A. (2009). Motivation and leadership in social work management: Areview of theories and related studies. Administration in Social Work, 33(4), 347–367.

Grint, K. (2005). Problems, problems, problems: The social construction of ‘leadership’. Human Relations, 58(11), 1467-1494.

Harington, P. R. J., & Beddoe, L. (2014). Civic practice: A new professional paradigm for social work. Journal of Social Work, 14(2), 147-164.

Hassan, A., Waldman, W., & Wimpfheimer, S. (2013). Human services management competencies: A guide for non-profit and for profit agencies, foundations, and academic institutions. Los Angeles, CA: The Network for Social Work Management.

Hood, C. (1991). A public management for all seasons? Public Administration, 69(1), 3-19.

Hopkins, K. M., & Hyde, C. (2002). The human service managerial dilemma: New expectations, chronic challenges and old solutions. Administration in Social Work, 26(3), 1-15.

Ife, J. (2010). Human rights and social justice. In M. Gray, & S. A. Webb (Eds.), Ethics and value perspectives in social work (pp. 148-159). Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan.

International Federation of Social Workers. (2004). Code of ethics. Berne, Switzerland: International Federation of Social Workers.

Jarvis, P. (2009). Learning to be a person in society. Abingdon, England; New York: Routledge. King, A. (1993). From sage on the stage to guide on the side. College Teaching, 41(1), 30-35.

LaMendola, W., Ballantyne, N., & Daly, E. (2009). Practitioner networks: Professional learning in the twenty-first century. British Journal of Social Work, 39(4), 710-724. doi:10.1093/bjsw/bcp023.

Lees, A., Meyer, E., & Rafferty, J. (2013). From Menzies Lyth to Munro: The problem of managerialism. British Journal of Social Work, 43(3), 542-558.

Lewin, K. (1952). Field theory in social science: Selected theoretical papers. London, England: Tavistock.

Local Government Authority. (2014). The standards for employers of social workers in England. Retrieved from http:// www.local.gov.uk/documents/10180/6188796/The+Standards+-+updated+July+01+2014/146988cc-d9c5-4 311-97d4-20dfc19397bf

Mackenzie, R. (1969). The management process in 3-D. Harvard Business Review, 47(6), 80-87. Marsh, J. C. (2005). Social justice: Social work’s organising value. Social Work, 50(4), 293–294.

McLaughlin, H. (2009). What’s in a name: ‘Client’, ‘patient’, ‘customer’, ‘consumer’, ‘expert by experience’, ‘service user’—what’s next? British Journal of Social Work, 39(6), 1101-1117. doi:10.1093/bjsw/bcm155

McNabb, D. (2014). 30 years’ membership and a 50th birthday—where to next for ANZASW? Aotearoa New Zealand Social Work Review, 26(2&3), 61-71.

McNary, L. D. (2003). The term ‘win-win’ in conflict management: A classic case of misuse and overuse. Journal of Business Communication, 40(2), 144-159.

Miller, P., & Rose, N. (2008). Governing the present: Administering economic, social and personal life. Malden, MA: Polity Press.

Munro, E. (2010). The Munro Review of child protection—part one: A systems analysis. London, England: Department for Education.

Munro, E. (2011). The Munro Review of child protection: Final report. London, England: Department for Education.

National Association of Social Workers. (1996). Code of ethics. Retrieved from http://www.naswdc.org/pubs/ code/code.asp

Norman, R. (2001). Letting and making managers manage: The effect of control systems on management action in New Zealand’s central government. International Public Management Journal, 4(1), 65-89.

Northouse, P. G. (2010). Leadership: Theory and practice (5th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Osborne, S. P., & Brown, K. (2005). Change and innovation in public service organizations: Planned and emergent phe- nomena. Managing change and innovation in public service organizations (pp. 3-10). Abingdon, England; New York, NY: Routledge

Payne, M. (2005). Modern social work theory (3rd ed.). Chicago, IL: Lyceum.

Payne, M. (2014). Modern social work theory (4th ed.). Basingstoke, England: Palgrave Macmillan.

Quinn, R. E. (2002). Becoming a master manager: A competency framework (3rd ed.). New York, NY: Wiley.

Social Work Inspection Agency. (2010). Guide to leadership: Taking a closer look at leadership in social work services.

Edinburgh, Scotland: Social Work Inspection Agency.

Senge, P. M. (1997). The fifth discipline. Measuring Business Excellence, 1(3), 46-51.

Sewpaul, V., & Jones, D. (2005). Global standards for the education and training of the social work profession. International Journal of Social Welfare, 14(3), 218-230.

Smith, L. T. (2005). On tricky ground: Researching the native in the age of uncertainty. In N. K. Denzin & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), The Sage handbook of qualitative research (pp. 85-107). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Social Work Inspection Agency. (2010). Guide to leadership: Taking a closer look at leadership in social work services. Edinburgh, Scotland: Social Work Inspection Agency.

Social Workers Registration Board. (2008). Code of conduct for social workers (2nd ed.) Retrieved from http://www. swrb.govt.nz/code-of-conduct.

Social Workers Registration Board. (2014). The SWRB 10 core competence standards (2nd ed.) Retrieved from http:// www.swrb.govt.nz/policy

Stewart, C. (2013). Resolving social work value conflict: Social justice as the primary organizing value for social work. Journal of Religion & Spirituality in Social Work: Social Thought, 32(2), 160–176.

Taylor, F. W. (1967). The principles of scientific management. New York, NY: Norton.

The College of Social Work. (2012a). Advanced and strategic level descriptors. Retrieved from http://www.tcsw.org. uk/uploadedFiles/PCF13NOVAdvancedLevelDescriptors%20(2).pdf

The College of Social Work. (2012b). Domains within the PCF. Retrieved from http://www.tcsw.org.uk/uploaded-

Files/PCFDomainsNOV.pdf

The College of Social Work. (2012c). Professional capabilities framework for social workers. Retrieved from http://www. tcsw.org.uk/resources/reform-resources/#pcf

The College of Social Work. (2012d). The Professional Capabilities Framework: Advanced and strategic level descriptors. London, England: The College of Social Work. Retrieved from http://www.tcsw.org.uk/uploadedFiles/ PCF13NOVAdvancedLevelDescriptors%20(2).pdf

The Social Work Taskforce. (2009). Building a safe, confident workforce: The final report of the social work taskforce. Re- trieved from http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20130401151715/https://www.education.gov.uk/ publications/standard/publicationdetail/page1/DCSF-01114-2009

Trnka, S., & Trundle, C. (2014). Competing responsibilities: Moving beyond neoliberal responsibilisation. Anthro- pological Forum, 24(2), 136-153.

Webster, M. (2014). A vision for social work leadership: Critical conceptual elements. In J. Duke, M. Henrickson &

L. Beddoe (Eds.), Protecting the public – Enhancing the profession. E tiaki ana i te hapori – E manaaki ana i nga mahi

(pp. 79-92). Wellington, New Zealand: Social Workers Registration Board.

Wimpfheimer, S. (2004). Leadership and management competencies defined by practising social work managers

– An overview of standards developed by the National Network for Social Work Managers. Administration in Social Work, 28(1), 45-56.

Zaleznik, A. (2010). Managers and leaders: Are they different? In J. McMahon (Ed.), Leadership classics (pp. 86-98). Long Grove, IL: Waveland Press.

Zhang, Y., Lepine, J. A., Buckman, B. R., & Feng, W. E. I. (2014). It’s not fair ... or is it? The role of justice and leader- ship in explaining work stressor-job performance relationships Academy of Management Journal, 57(3), 675-697.

Downloads

Published

2015-09-01

How to Cite

Webster, M., McNabb, D., & Darroch, J. (2015). Advancing social work professionalism: Standards for management and leadership in Aotearoa New Zealand. Aotearoa New Zealand Social Work, 27(3), 44–56. https://doi.org/10.11157/anzswj-vol27iss3id5

Issue

Section

Articles