Community engagement: managers’ viewpoints

Managers are invaluable for their support of fieldwork placement for social work students. This chapter examines factors that influence managers’ decision-making towards student placement provision, a role which has traditionally been overlooked in the literature. Understandings were gained from fifteen non-statutory managers gathered in a qualitative study in New Zealand. Māori and non-Māori managers were interviewed twice, with a three month interval between data gathering. Four themes of organisational, cultural, student and relational factors are considered for their influence on provision. Findings suggest the importance of student quality and their ability to make connections with local indigenous communities and reciprocity in relationships between educational institutions and social service agencies

Workers into Managers: Developing Leadership Competence of Production Unit Managers

This study analyses the competence gaps of lower-level managers in a typical manufacturing plant in Germany that had recently introduced a teamwork structure. Results indicate that the managers have difficulties with their new leadership-related tasks. Higher levels of leadership competence are found to be associated with better acceptance as a manager by superiors, but not by subordinates, better interaction with both subordinates and superiors, and with higher job satisfaction. Finally, a quasi-experiment shows that a combination of workshops and individual coaching had measurable effects on leadership competencies and partly improved identification with the managerial role. In terms of methodology, a new format of self-assessments is suggested for a more valid measurement of competencies. --Leadership skills,first line managers,training,experiment

What are Some of the Most Important Capacities Needed to Build Accountability in Managing HR Processes?

The old-fashioned perception of the role of managers was focused on transactional work, and the practice of building manager capacities was focused on helping managers complete routine tasks such as filling out review forms and conducting regular appraisals. Now the expectations of managers have changed. As leaders in the organization, it is critical for managers to know what the company’s priorities and objectives are in order to align these strategies to what the company needs its managers to do. Managers are accountable for roles in fulfilling overall organization goals. Managers are further expected to perform these cyclical tasks alongside and at the same time as they are expected to fulfill the organization goals at a strategic level

Public sector managers of human services : their challenges and strategies : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Social Work at Massey University, Manawatu, New Zealand

Middle managers of human services in the public sector have a unique role that allows them to be part of the lives of clients and their families by implementing the strategic vision of political leaders. The expectations of middle managers can be complex and contradictory and therefore challenging. This research identifies the challenges middle managers of human services in the public sector encounter and the strategies that they have developed to deal with these. The support that senior managers in public sector organisations can offer to their middle managers in this process is also discussed. The study is qualitative and placed in a post-modernist position and social constructive perspective. Data is collected through the use of semi-structured interviews and examined using an interpretative thematic approach. The analysis identified a range of challenges for middle managers in the public sector and strategies these managers use to deal with them. Interestingly a number of identified challenges are also identified as a strategy depending on the support middle managers receive from the senior managers in their organisation. The findings identify that a strong strategic vision needs to be in place in public sector organisations to develop clear roles and responsibilities for middle managers with allocated resources. Middle managers need access to training, supervision and networking to deal with additional challenges such as changes in funding and information management. Recommendations are made to public sector organisations to support the development of effective strategies to deal with the challenges identified by their middle managers. Recommendations are made to middle managers in the public sector to prioritise and advocate for their own needs and requirements as they do for their clients and their staff. This research will support both senior and middle managers in public sector organisations in finding strategies to support middle managers to fulfil their role effectively