8.3 Staff Supervision and Appraisal

REGULATIONS AND STANDARDS

1. Who this Procedure Applies to

This procedure applies to all employees and other workers working in the home (including the Home’s Manager, temporary, contracted, seconded, ancillary and agency staff).

2. Who Supervises

‘Supervisors’ are usually those in line management at the next level; thus care staff will usually be supervised by Team Leaders and, in turn, Team Leaders will be supervised by Home’s Managers.

3. Frequency of Staff Supervision

All staff are provided with regular supervision as follows:

All staff employed by the company for 6 months or more must receive at least one and a half hours of one to one supervision each month;
New staff (who have been employed for less than 6 months) must receive one to one supervision at least fortnightly during the first 6 months of their employment;
Agency staff and those employed infrequently to cover staff absences must receive one to one supervision no less frequently than after each 8 shifts worked in the home.

4. Convening

The supervisor is responsible for convening supervision sessions. The meetings must usually be held in private although it may on occasions be appropriate to invite another manager or consultant.

5. Recording

5.1 Supervision Records

The Home’s Manager must keep a written Supervision Record detailing the following:

The date, start and finish times of supervisions;
Responses to and methods of working with children;
Work with any child for whom the staff member is a key worker or has responsibility for;
Any matters/concerns relating to lone working; see Lone Working Procedure, the staff member’s role, including their accountability, in fulfilling the home’s Statement of Purpose;
The staff member’s work in fulfilling the placement plan for individual children
Degree of personal involvement, feelings, concerns and stress;
Staff development and training;
Feedback on performance;
Guidance on current and new tasks, including the setting and maintenance of standards; and
Personal issues which may impinge on the member of staff ’s ability to carry out their duties effectively.

Under each heading the participants must take the opportunity to review previous objectives, agreements, plans and expectations, discuss any matters of concern or interest then agree and record what needs to be achieved/done before the next supervision.

The supervisor and supervisee may also agree to use an agenda and/or checklist for the purposes of structuring supervision sessions.

5.2 Changing the Record

If the staff member believes that information contained in the supervision record is inaccurate, incorrect or misleading about a matter of fact, s/he may ask for it to be corrected or changed.

Records must be changed where an opinion/assumption has been expressed on the basis of inaccurate or incorrect information.

The supervisor should make any agreed changes. If there is disagreement between the supervisor and the supervisee, the next line manager should be contacted and will make a decision.

The supervisor does not have to change his/her record if certain of its accuracy. However the outcome may be that a separate record is inserted showing that the supervisee disagrees and offers a counter view/opinion to sit alongside the original.

If the staff member remains unhappy s/he can use the Grievance Procedure.

6. Appraisal

All staff have their performance individually and formally appraised at least annually by their line manager. The employee's personal file contains a record of the appraisal showing the level of performance achieved, targets are set for the coming year, and the agreed training needs are implemented through the staff members Personal Development Plan. The plan is monitored quarterly during supervision sessions to ensure targets are being met.

Preparation documentation will be sent out to staff six weeks prior, returned within two weeks, to facilitate the process.

End