Research and Development Officer for Research in Practice Claire Williams manages the SWORD Project – which aims to improve resilience for employees in social care organisations. She caught up with Sam Clayton, Head of Effective Practice and Quality Assurance at North Yorkshire County Council, in November 2021, before the third opening of the SWORD survey. Sam, who was part of the original change project group that led to the development of the SWORD tool, here reflects on how SWORD has been a helpful tool for North Yorkshire County Council, and how the council plan to use it annually to support wellbeing.
What is the SWORD tool?
The SWORD tool includes a diagnostic survey which opens twice yearly in spring and autumn and enables the collection and analysis of data from social care workers across organisations to assess organisational health and highlight priority areas for improvement.
The SWORD workbook offers targeted, evidence-informed tasks and strategies to support organisational improvements and develop conditions to better support social care worker wellbeing.
What can leaders do to support resilience?
Sam explains how the change project helped to shift the perspective away from individual responsibility for resilience and focussed on the importance of emotional intelligent leadership. The workshop sessions helped to identify the skills, knowledge and values that leaders need to create the conditions to support people in their organisation to build and sustain resilience.
What elements of the SWORD framework have been particularly helpful?
Sam explains how the idea of a Secure Base can help thinking about how teams work together effectively – which in turn supports how practitioners work with children and families. She also looks at how the idea of Secure Base complements their practice model and collaborative approach in North Yorkshire.
Another element of the SWORD framework that Sam discusses is Learning Organisation and how an embedded learning culture within an organisation can support people and bolster resilience throughout their entire careers.
Sam considers the importance of the Wellbeing element of the framework. Sam discusses the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic and how it has exacerbated issues such as mental health difficulties, poverty and domestic abuse and how this has created more challenges for practitioners. SWORD has helped to get a view of how people are feeling in the organisation so leaders can provide the right support.
How does SWORD differ to other surveys?
Sam explains how SWORD supports the collection of rounded feedback across the whole workforce and how this differs to other surveys such as the Social Work Health Check. She also looks at how SWORD findings can feed into bigger organisational strategies and plans such as recruitment and retention or career pathways.
Sam hopes that North Yorkshire will use the tool each year as an independent ‘temperature-check’ for the organisation. She explains that it is a useful way to see where improvements have been made or whether there are new areas where support should be targeted and prioritised.
About SWORD
The aim of SWORD is to help leaders and managers to create the conditions that enable workers to sustain and develop resilience. Five key domains provide the structure for the survey and workbook:
- Secure base – making sure social workers have a secure base within which to operate.
- Sense of appreciation – promoting a culture in which all members of staff feel appreciated.
- Learning organisation – ensuring that learning and development is at the heart of an organisation.
- Mission and vision – co-producing and communicating a clear mission and vision.
- Wellbeing – prioritising the wellbeing of a workforce and taking a systemic approach to reducing stress and enhancing job satisfaction.
As part of our national delivery programme we have also released five short videos which discuss each of these domains and highlight some of the tasks and strategies in the workbook to help leaders to create the conditions that enable workers to sustain and develop resilience.
SWORD has been co-produced with the Research in Practice network in a project led by Professor Gail Kinman, Birkbeck University of London, and Dr Louise Grant, University of Bedfordshire. The workbook has been co-authored by Dr Kelly Alexander, University of Bedfordshire, to include Adult Services and ensure applicability across the whole social work profession.
The Social Work Organisational Resilience Diagnostic (SWORD): Video learning resource
The Social Work Organisational Resilience Diagnostic (SWORD), is a survey and online workbook designed for use across the whole social work and broader social care profession. Five key foundational principles (KFPs) or domains provide the structure for the survey and workbook. These five videos discuss each of these domains and highlight some of the tasks and strategies in the workbook to help leaders to create the conditions that enable workers to sustain and develop resilience.
The Social Work Organisational Resilience Diagnostic (SWORD): Workbook
We’re delighted to announce a brand new version of the Social Work Organisational Resilience Diagnostic (SWORD), online workbook designed for use across the whole social work and broader social care profession.