Supervisory Practices in Child Welfare

Module 2: People Management Instructor’s Guide

Activity 2: Practice #1 – Inspire Loyalty and Trust

Purpose: To define the concepts, loyalty and trust, and to explore the supervisor’s part in generating high-trust environments.

Time: 60 minutes

Objectives: Through this activity, the supervisor will:

1.  Identify and discuss factors that inspire loyalty and trust in the workplace.

2.  Through a group exercise, and based on material presented, develop strategies for building trust in their work units.

3.  Write an action plan for applying one of the trust-building strategies learned through the class exercise.

Materials: (change below as needed)

·  Participant Workbook

·  Flip chart and markers

·  Projector

·  PowerPoint file

Sequence: (of topics/exercises) / Time
Factors that Influence Loyalty and Trust / 25 minutes
Strategies to Increase Trust in Your Unit / 30 minutes
A Formula for Success / 5 minutes
Activity 2: Practice #1 – Inspire Loyalty & Trust (Total Minutes = 60)
Method / Script / Tips/Notes /
Factors that influence loyalty & trust (25 min)
Slide #1 / “People Management Practices”

Integrative Statement

/ “In Domain I, we talked about the supervisor’s roles and the impact of a supervisor’s relationships with workers on worker turnover.
Remember, workers leave a manager, before they leave a job.
The psychosocial conditions under which you and your workers operate are critical to worker satisfaction, motivation and retention.
In this activity, we’ll examine the first Practice in our Model: Inspire Loyalty and Trust”

Ask:

/ ·  Do you agree that a supervisor has a role in inspiring loyalty and building trust in his/her relationships with staff?
·  What is Loyalty?
/ Chart responses to questions. / Make a private note of responses that reflect “obedience”

Ask:

/ ·  “Does Loyalty mean Obedience?”
·  “What can go wrong in an organization when loyalty is misconstrued to mean rote (mechanical) obedience? / Explore the “yes” responses

Key Points

/ ·  “Too often when supervisors and/or managers talk about loyalty they’re talking about team players who will implement decisions with little or no challenge.” (Hanft, 2005)
·  Loyalty becomes a code word for intellectual servitude, what Adam Hanft of Inc. Magazine calls an “obedience culture.”
·  Obedience cultures suppress ideas.
·  Obedience cultures have a negative impact on critical thinking and suppress employee motivation. / Adam Hanft - From: Inc. Magazine, April 2005

Ask:

/ ·  So, how do we view Loyalty without running into the trap of thinking it is just obedience?
Slide #2 / / Ken Petress, Ph.D. Professor Emeritus of Communication
University of Maine at Presque Isle

Do:

/ ·  Review definition of loyalty.
·  Focus on the term “commitment”
·  Elaborate on the phrase “to remain dedicated”
·  Contrast the terms obedience and dedication
·  Clarify the objects of loyalty in the definition (relationship, group, organization, idea) and connect them to the supervisors’ work life.
Slide #3 /
Key Points / ·  Loyalty as dedication to something begins with you.
·  Supervisors as leaders must hold and consistently operate upon a core set of principles and values.
·  Loyalty as dedication to relationships is about your dealings with your staff – the way you consistently value and respect them.
·  Loyalty as dedication to your organization means a commitment to remain dedicated to DYFS vision and values in the protection of children. / There must be alignment between behavior and expressed values – Walk the talk.
Draw connections with Core Values from Domain I; and Core Conditions in Domain III:
·  Genuineness,
·  Empathy and
·  Respect

Ask:

/ ·  Is there a connection between loyalty and trust?
·  What is it?
Slide #4 /

Ask:

/ ·  So, what is Trust in the workplace?
Slide #5 /

Say:

/ “Trust means confidence – confidence that others’ actions are consistent with their words, that the people with whom you work are concerned about your welfare and interests apart from what you can do for them, that the skills you have developed are respected and valued by your coworkers and the larger organization, and that who you are and what you believe truly matter in the workplace.” / Rogers, Robert and Sheryl Riddle. “Trust in the Workplace.”

Do:

/ Set Up Group Exercise:
·  Draw a T chart on the easel.
·  Label the left column “Loyalty.”
·  Label the right column “Trust.”

Ask:

/ ·  “From your experience, what factors do you think influence whether loyalty and trust exist in a work unit between a supervisor and his/her staff?”

Do:

/ ·  Break class into groups
·  Have them respond to the question above and chart their responses on an easel sheet divided as above.
·  Groups must select a reporter.
·  Give 7 minutes to list factors for each loyalty and trust.
·  Call time and have groups report out.
·  Chart common answers on the easel.
·  Emphasize those factors in alignment with Slides #5 and #6.
·  Introduce the next slide as the result of research on the nature of high trust v. low trust work environments. / Note:
Supervisor/worker trust relationships are parallel to what supervisors want workers to establish with their clients.
Slide #6 /

Ask:

/ Is there a “trust gap” in your unit? Your LO?
Key Points / ·  Loyalty, trust, commitment – are intangibles.
·  Know they exist, or not, through behaviors and dynamics in the unit.
·  trust gaps exist where workers feel betrayed – everyday factors that contribute to feelings of betrayal are:
o  misalignment between words and deeds
o  not sharing information
o  not involving others in decisions that affect their lives
o  expectations left unmet
o  feeling taken advantage of
o  creativity suppressed
o  not sharing resources
o  not respecting other peoples’ skills/talents or judgments
o  not keeping one’s word
o  talking behind each others backs/character assassination
·  Betrayal flows in both directions (up and down)
·  Integrity and consistency contribute to an environment of trust.
·  Everyone embraces a core set of values – and these values genuinely guide their work.
·  Opportunities for advancement are open and available to everyone.
·  Information is freely shared
·  Workers have a vote in decision-making – they are actively involved in designing their destiny
·  Group rather than individual goals are emphasized.
·  The workplace is free from harassment.
·  Leadership demonstrates behaviors CONSISTENT with the values of the organization. / .
Point out and emphasize

Say:

/ “These are all factors which influence the creation of an environment of trust in the workplace.
Research has shown that some of the most important factors center around: 1) commitment to a set of values; and 2) management’s behavior that is consistent with those values.
Further, the extent to which workers can contribute to the decisions which affect their work life, is the extent to which they feel invested in their leadership, and can thus trust them.”
Strategies to Increase Trust in Your Unit (30 min.)

Ask:

/ ·  What happens in this agency? Do these factors exist in DYFS?
·  In your LO?
·  In your units?
·  Why/why not?

Do:

/ ·  Refer to the list of characteristics of “Low Trust Environments” on Slide 6.

Ask:

/ ·  Do any of these items characterize your work environment?
·  How did that happen? What’s beneath it?

State:

/ “This next slide summarizes the conditions that need to exist to have an environment of trust in your workplace. We need to examine how, as supervisors, we can use this information to guide our actions toward building an environment of trust.”
Slide #7 / / Next exercise builds on this slide. Leave it up for the conversation.
Key Points / ·  Note that trust is built through:
o  Establishing and maintaining personal integrity;
o  Shared rather than personal goals;
o  Alignment of worker values with the agency’s vision and values – workers “own” the vision – they support it.
o  Supervisory behavior consistent with agency vision and values;
o  An inclusive work environment, free from harassment and discrimination;
o  Participation in decision-making that effects ones’ work life;
o  Fairness in assignments, personnel decisions, and the way performance is rewarded and/or corrected. / Walk the talk.
All values associated with our case practice model.
Genuineness, empathy & respect
Involvement
leadership

Ask:

/ “So, if this slide represents your goal…How do you get there? What kinds of strategies and practices to you employ to build a unit characterized by these factors?
Let’s take a look at that…”

Do:


Say:

/ ·  Have participants stay in former groups.
·  Explain that the group activity is to brainstorm strategies for building (or strengthening) trust in their units through taking action on the bullets in slide #7.
·  Keep Slide #7 visible during the exercise.
·  Paraphrase the bullets and explain the task as follows:
“For the next 10 minutes, identify, discuss and list strategies you can use to
o  Get your workers invested in shared goals for the unit and agency.
o  Align workers’ and agency vision and values – get them to “own” the vision and values.
o  Ensure your conduct is consistent with the vision and values. Model the values for your workers.
o  Involve your workers in creating an atmosphere free from discrimination and harassment.
o  Include your workers in more decision-making.
o  Ensure you exhibit equitable practices in assignments and other personnel matters.
·  Distribute flip chart paper to each group.
·  Permit 10 minutes for groups to brainstorm strategies.
·  Have groups report out.
·  Provide instructive feedback on strategies.
·  Acknowledge creative approaches. / These statements are linked to the bullets on slide #7.
Use Slide #7 as the prompt, or copy bullets at left on an easel sheet.

Say:

/ “A lot of good ideas have surfaced in this activity.
Following our teaching model of applying the learning, you may decide to make a commitment to implementing one of the strategies your groups have just created and shared as one of your two required Action Plans. / Mention this and suggest that anyone who is interested in do so should copy some of the strategies down in their notes.
A Formula for Success (5 min.)

Say

/ “To bring this discussion of loyalty and trust to a close, I’d like to share a story with you about the way a former president of IBM, Tom Watson Sr., handled a situation with an employee – a way which illustrated how he lived the values of the organization.
Watson, and IBM, believed that the development of people is a critical value in an organization. Here’s how he handled a worker who made a costly mistake…”

Do:

/ ·  Have participants follow along as you read the scenario with Tom Watson Sr., former president of IBM.

Ask:

/ ·  What do you think about this story?
·  Do you place a high value on developing your workers? If so, how do you handle their mistakes?
·  Have you ever looked at your employees’ mistakes from this frame of reference?

Say:

/ “According to Rogers and Riddle, President and Vice President of DDI International, how well leaders build trust is a function of several factors.”

Slide #8 /
Key Points / ·  Leadership Competence – capable in managing organizations – units – competing priorities. Not just technical competence.
·  Action Orientation - willing to make decisions and take action
·  Belief in People: McGregor’s Theory Y management – People have a need to do a good job, are fundamentally honest and can be trusted. They deserve to be treated with dignity and respect and can be committed to what they are involved in. Tom Watson’s belief in his employee was clear through his actions.
·  Open Communication – that is positive, open to others ideas, where the supervisor listens actively and isn’t afraid to disclose, or to involve workers in decisions that effect their work life.
·  Consistent behavior – otherwise known as – “Walking the Talk.” Simply put, it means behaving in the same way, day to day, in a manner that shows you are:
o  loyal, or dedicated, to your own core set of principles
o  valuing your relationships with your workers, and
o  supporting the agency vision and values.

Sources:

Rogers, Robert, and Sheryl Riddle. “Trust in the Workplace.” Development Dimensions International. Sept. 2006. http://www.ddiworld.com/pdf/ddi_trustmonograph_mg.pdf

Bowman, Dave. “The Five Best Ways to Build – and Lose – Trust in the Workplace. TTG Consultants. Sept 2006. http://www.ttgconsultants.com/articles/trustworkforce.html

V2: 1/2007 Module 2 Activity 2 Page 1 of 1