Personal Leadership Development as a Strategic Manager

Unit 7001V1 Assignment: Personal leadership development as a strategic manager.

Word Count: 3,362

February 2019

[1 A-C] The senior management role is one generally encountered within large companies with a number of hierarchical layers. The strategic senior manager role is both diverse and complex, and must possess multiple skills, to be open and transparent, distribute responsibility and ensure your team is aligned with the company ethos, have a robust understanding of external regulation and internal policies, be innovative, creative but ensure good understanding of potential threats to the business and plan for this. A 2015 PwC study of senior executives, 6000 in total [10 principles of strategic leadership, by Jessica Letich, David Lacefield and Mark Dawson] suggests that strategic leaders are more likely to be women, this research does appear factual within the care sector.  Senior leadership in the care sector appears to be female dominated industry and not gender neutral. Do we continue to assume men are not interested in careers with a caring component?  On study found that women tend to define career success as an interest in intrinsically rewarding role, personal achievement, self-development, and work life balance, whereas men tend to view success as high salaries, moving up the cooperate ladder, achieving status [Sturges 1999, Women’s leadership development strategic practice for women and organisations, Margaret M Hopkins, Deborah A O’Neil, P349, P2]. Strategic skills possessed by either gender who are successfully fulfilling the role of senior manager is a complete understanding of the companies’ mission statement, goals and strategies, these are to be fulfilled by managing the environment, developing others, directing the business both internally and externally. As stated in research by Hughes et al (2004) strategic leadership requires different skills and perspectives than operational leadership because it is; broader in scope, future focused and change orientated [CMI Hughes et al cited on P7 para.2].

I am amazed to see people running companies who do not have the creativity to

respond in a dynamic environment. In an unforgiving, fast-paced business climate,

you are infinitely better prepared if you are a creative person. Good communicators

have an enormous advantage over poor communicators because so

much of running a company is inspirational, external and internal, that is,

inspiring your employees, shareholders, industry analysts, and customers.

—Craig Conway

My role at CSFC (Calcot Service For Children) is, Operation Director. I believe I have a part in every aspect of the company. My role is to manage the implementation of the company mission statement, support the strategic direction, business growth and provide excellent leadership. The role is varied and ultimately it is to ensure high standard if consistent care, therapy and education in accordance to government legislation, regulations and sector standards, and the policies and procedures of CSFC. In my current role I have over 2 years’ experience and 14 years’ previous experience in residential childcare, the majority being at managerial level.   

The strategic objectives of CSFC have been developed from our vision and mission statement, these are; 

Vision

‘Time to Heal’

Mission statement

At Calcot Services For Children we aim to create a warm, caring, family style ethos and our home is set up as such. Our homes are welcoming places where the individual needs of the children are placed at the centre of all we do. We aim to provide children in our care a ‘Time to Heal’

Strategic Objectives

By including strategies and potential barriers to the table above I am able to analyse the strategic context [CMI PG4] of the long-term future success of the company strategic objectives. I and senior managers in general should acknowledge the changing events in any sector can further impact on the successful, implementation of the strategic objectives, so employing the strategy dynamics [J.Moncrieff] to respond to threats both externally and internally ensures I am preparing a dynamic, interactive, responsive to the emergent issue plan. For successful planning I must understand it is driven by the people, this can create issues as people bring their prior learning, experiences, assumptions and beliefs [Is strategy making a difference? J. Moncrieff, pg1 (strategy formation)] not only new people employed into the service but the ideas and the willingness/unwilling of the current workforce to embrace the above plan. This leads to the discussion of assessing my own level of skills, knowledge and experience in this area.

[1 D-E] By using the Mintzberg (1989) [CMI pg9] model I am able to identify the skills gap in relations to relationships with others inside and outside CSFC, these relationships are priority for the future strategic direction of the company. Using this model, I am able to identify and match the right role for the right situation. *Note these are aligned with company strategic objectives (S.O) above  

[2] Through identifying my learning style (Honey and Mumford) Activist, I am now equipped with my learning style preference. The new knowledge will be useful when creating my PDP. Using the Mintzberg (1989) model I have identified skills gaps linked to the objectives. 

By incorporating the personal development planning cycle process [CMI PG28] into my PDP planning I am able to develop a structured plan which will contribute to CSFC objectives thus linking to the mission statement.   

Personal Development Plan

Date:03 Feb 2019

Identified area of development 1

To complete the DDP level 2 training course and become a DDP & PACE expert within 6 months.

This is the be transferred into practice to increase direct care staff members exposure to and understanding of therapeutic childcare delivery, to include participation to training and consultation in;

Dyadic Developmental practice (DDP) and PACE (ALL)

Attachment Theory

Completing and cascading this training to each service which improve my communication skills and ensure I am disseminating information which will improve the lives of the young people in our care. This will reduce incidents, impact on turnover and ensure the company vision and mission statement is adhered to.

Deeper therapeutic knowledge of the workforce.

Tools and Opportunities to support this area of development

BACP registration

Completion of level 1 DDP

Resources such has books, DVD and seminars

Attend and complete DDP level 2

What actions will I take to support development?

Attend Seminar in April 19 on DDP

Arrange sessions with each home to ensure the learning is embedded into every day practice.

What actions will my manager take to support development?

Funding DDP level 2 training - £895 plus the time off to complete

Allow each home an initial 6 hours to start the role out

Target date

August 19 to be embedded into company

Comments from lime manager…

Identified area of development 2

To build and maintain a professional network in Learning Disabilities. This will develop my interpersonal skills outside CSFC. 

Building my own professional network will expand our outreach and interactions within the Learning Disabilities community. LD homes have only been in place for 2 years out of the 28 years CSFC has been established.

Tools and Opportunities to support this area of development

Current list of PA's

HOC to put together the referrals data base

Events to showcase our LD expertise

USP for LD - I will need to develop this, what makes us different than the lead provider? - Strategic skills development

NASS accreditation

What will I do?

Marketing strategy for LD services.

Branding for LD services

SOP’s to be reviewed, reformatted in line with the USP of our LD services, what makes us different from Priors court for example?

Website information needs to be updated with further emphasis on our LD work.

Contact all SEN teams to develop relationship

LD newsletter

eshots

open day events

What will my manager do?

Permit the creativity required for SOP changes

Eshot design approval

allow small budget for LD events

Develop and agree marketing strategy

Target Date

within 4 months

Comments

[A3] My personal development is of high priority and should be reviewed and updated on a regular basis. The reason for the review and evaluation is not only important to reach both personal and organisational goals but to gauge how successful I feel my development has been in reaching these goals. This will include reviewing the CPD documented updates I have completed in relation to each PDP goal. The PDP will be updated once the progress has been identified and tools and opportunities have been utilised, making a holistic evaluation I can then decide have all the developmental objectives been achieved. On a month by month basis with my Managing Director we will review my PDP with me, this must be an honest and potentially critical evaluation of whether I have met identified development. I will complete this process using the CMI tool [para 4, p52]

• The activities undertaken, how you felt about these activities,
• The new knowledge you have learned
• How your behaviours has changed over time as a result of learning
• The results you can now achieve by completing the development 

Using the first identified developmental area above, To complete the DDP level 2 training course and become a DDP & PACE expert within 6 months with this tool I am already seeing the impact this development goal is having on my own practice as I am actively self manging my learning through reading and research, this is followed by the initial cascade of knowledge in two service’s team meetings. On a month by month basis I will review the effectiveness through incident reduction numbers and lower staff turnover. The complete measurement will be captured following all staff training, recording systems change and being confident in a deeper therapeutic knowledge of the entire workforce.

[4A] Employee welfare entails everything our company provide in our people led organisation. This includes salary, staff perks/benefits, environment and working conditions to its ethos. 

At CSFC we offer competitive salary as well as;

 Sleep in allowances of up to an additional payment

 Bonus scheme for Ofsted Outstanding

 Bonus for employee recommendations

 An excellent training program

 Access to employee perkbox with discount code and employee engagement platform.

 Access to 24 hour employee support hub

 Employee engagement events, this includes regular team events and company events.

 Access to tuska car loans

 Childcare vouchers

 Access to health shield

 Access to online workout and wellness classes.

 Continuous professional development

 Team / Peer support programmes and fully supportive management infrastructure [exert taken from CSFC job advert for TRCW]

This all comes as an additional cost to the company however as stated in the first line of this section, we are a people’s led organisation. The children and young people in our organisation have received inadequate and often abusive, inconsistent care so it is of vital importance our employees commit. If an employee feels satisfied and well looked after then they will be content in their roles and highly productive. An organisation’s own welfare is tied directly to the welfare of its employees, suppliers and customers [para 3, page 65 CMI]

[4B] According to the Meyer and Allen Model of Organizational Commitment, organisational commitment is divided into three dimensions: affective, continuance, and normative commitment (Meyer and Allen, 1991).

Affective (affection) commitment refers to the employee’s emotional commitment to their job, this means the employee most likely relate to the company framework and value base.  (Meyer, & Allen, 1991) This research links ‘Impact on organisational values’ [Para4  page 59] Values at work are increasingly important because;

• We work in stressful times, and they give us guidelines for our behaviour.
• Because it is highly competitive world and they help show our customers how we are different from other companies, and potential staff how we differ from other prospective employers because they will say “there is value here”.
• People are increasingly aware of organisational value and look for them, frequently choosing one organisation over another because of their values.
• They provide the basis for achieving culture change.
• They help enable people and organisations to succeed.
• They impact on professional practice. [Para 4, page 59 CMI]

Continuance commitment – this is a fear of loss. The employee may feel leaving the company would be a greater feeling loss than the benefit your main gain from the new job role.     

Normative Commitment - refers to the employee’s feeling of obligation to remain with the company. The employee may feel they would like to pursue a new role with better opportunities, benefits and pay but remain feelings comes from obligation, has the current company paid into training for you, given the employee time off when in going through a difficult time?

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By understanding and applying the model above and the impact on organisational values you have a greater understanding of teams and individual’s commitment to the company. You can use the model to motivate and energise individuals by encouraging affective commitment to those who fall into continuance or normative commitment. This will have a positive impact on the company objectives as people will feel happier, motivated and committed to their roles, reducing turnover and in my industry reduce incidents and bring consistency to our young people.

[4C] Creating a positive working environment is integral to the success of any company. Ensuring your workforce is satisfied and they are fully invested in the mission statement brings value to their work. This satisfaction and happiness in the role will bring many benefits to the company such as employees being loyal, giving good feedback to others, recruitment, retaining top talent, high work productivity, less stress and sickness leave which all impact the bottom line thus creating more revenue and ensuring the longevity of the company. This links into CSFC company objectives of 5% cost conversion for reinvestment into the services and expansion of new, innovative services for children and young people.

[4D] According to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs [impact on achievement, pg 66 para 3-5, CMI] humans have a fundamental need to associate with something they feel proud of, something which sits in line with their own belief system. Maslow represented this need and several others in a hierarchical pyramid, he stated the needs have order and people always focused on the lowest need in the moment, for example if you are hungry you would require your physiological need met, if you are concerned about low pay then your physiological and safety and security needs may feel threatened. This links to human values, to get your needs met you may believe you must work hard to ensure you and your family have your physiological needs and safety needs met, if these two basic needs are met then you can focus on meeting the other identified needs such as love needs, esteem needs and self-actualisation. Company values should closely link to human values, by the company values contributing to the team members welfare the team member will contribute to the company welfare by showing commitment, feeling proud and motivated in their work and feel a sense of achievement when reaching the common goal.  

Bibliography

1. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/232509932_Women's_leadership_development_strategic_practices_for_women_and_organizations
2. https://www.strategy-business.com/article/10-Principles-of-Strategic-Leadership?gko=25cec
3. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/105348229190011Z
4. http://csfc.co.uk/