sustainable beginnings:the perspective of the social work practitioner
The extent to which social workers are able to practice effectively may be linked in part to the quality of their beginning experiences in the agency. Good beginnings for practitioners are of interest to the social work profession, management and the government, given the current challenge of maintaining a sustainable and viable workforce of qualified social workers in England. At local level, best practice amongst social work managers is to promote effective staff recruitment and retention. A key element of this process is the effective induction of newly appointed staff.
This paper draws on a small qualitative research project in England which, over a period of twelve months, looked at the induction processes for newly appointed social workers who were predominantly newly qualified and entering child care practice in a statutory agency for the first time.
Semi-structured interviews raised issues such as how staff were introduced to the work and to the organisation and the extent to which learning was reinforced within the supervisory relationship. Social workers were asked about the main pressure points of their beginning practice and how they felt they balanced work and personal/family commitments. Their perceptions of support they received within the organisation and also factors which helped to promote professional development were also recorded. Whilst the study is relatively small the findings have a resonance with broader workforce studies.