Background

Investment in staff working within youth justice is critical to help them develop and improve. Practitioners need to be well led and managed, professionally qualified where appropriate, competent and knowledgeable about effective practice, and highly motivated to achieve the best possible outcomes for the children under their supervision, in what is often the most challenging time of their lives.

The IDEAS model sets out the interconnected knowledge, skills, attitudes and personal qualities which the research evidence suggests are all part of what it takes to be an effective practitioner.

Summary of the evidence

Engaging and empowering staff

The quality and impact of the work with children is very much dependent on practitioners being empowered to develop positive relationships with them and other key stakeholders.

Find out more about the relationship-based practice framework

It is thus vital that staff benefit from ongoing investment, developing their professional knowledge, expertise and autonomy. Attention also needs to be given to creating positive and fulfilling working environments, with an increasing body of evidence demonstrating the benefits of employee engagement. Engaged employees with high wellbeing are more attached to their organisation than those with lower wellbeing, and higher employee engagement has been found to correlate with greater productivity. Organisations should thus strive for high levels of staff satisfaction and engagement, with positive relationships across all levels and staff proud of the organisation as a place to work and highly motivated to deliver positive outcomes. There are links to self-determination theory which highlights the importance of autonomy, competence and relatedness to people’s motivation, happiness and wellbeing. There is also an overlap with the SCARF model of employee engagement.

Effective supervision of practitioners

Supervision provides individual practitioners with a safe space to reflect on their practice as well as affording them an opportunity to develop their skills and knowledge. Effective supervision can also help build emotional resilience and wellbeing, which is paramount when faced with the challenges of a difficult and demanding role. A 2019 review of the evidence for what works and what does not work in the supervision of youth justice practitioners concluded that there is a need to shift from performance management (performance indicators, outputs and outcomes) to supervision based upon skills development. The literature review identified accountability, education and support as the key themes of evidence-based supervision.

There is also evidence to support the use of reflective supervision – a person-centred approach providing protected time for reflection by practitioners – which can help to deliver the following benefits:

• higher standards of practice
• higher levels of morale, engagement and productivity
• higher levels of confidence
• continuous learning, creating greater opportunities for ongoing improvement
• reduced anxiety and fewer mistakes
• a better working environment to retain existing staff and attract new ones
• a stronger sense of professionalism.

Research shows that when staff make progress towards goals that matter to them, they feel more engaged and motivated. Reflective recognition can thus be helpful in providing insights into what matters most to staff while also helping them to stop and reflect on their achievements, how they have addressed challenges, and how they have made progress.

In order for supervision to be effective, managers need to build relationships with individual practitioners. The following two key skillsets are required:

• the process-oriented skills of role clarification and ‘contracting’ a working alliance with staff
• the interpersonal skills of conveying positive regard, active listening and generating a feeling of warmth, trust and safety. The attributes of openness, honesty, being fully present and using humour are vital to creating an environment to share practice experiences and receive feedback.

It has been found that managers using a mix of these skills promote creativity, feelings of safety and belonging, and increase staff retention and thus continuity of care for children.

A learning culture and growth mindset

The most effective organisations act as continuous learning environments with a culture of support and critical reflection, and staff continually looking for ways to develop and improve. Practitioners with a growth mindset have a desire to explore, learn and understand, and to keep up to date with new developments – they are curious. They will reflect on and review their thinking, persist in the face of setbacks and obstacles, recognise the need to make consistent efforts to continuously develop, embrace challenges, learn from constructive feedback, and find lessons and inspiration in others’ success. They recognise that there may be different ways of doing things and are willing to explore different options.

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Last updated: 10 March 2023