RESEARCH AS A BASIS FOR

LEADERSHIP
Jessica Pauletig, Natalie Kershaw, Matthew Wengrowich
SOWK 645

WHERE

IS RESEARCH BEING EFFECTIVELY

UTILIZED?

SICK KIDS TORONTO CASE STUDY

Sick Kids Hospital in Toronto has successfully

used research to develop a leadership role for
Social Workers within the hospital.

A case study reviewing the history of Social Work

within the hospital was done by reviewing the
history from 1990-2010

(McNeill & Nicholas, 2012)

Initial resistance due to beliefs surrounding the

role of research in practice.

Traditionally viewed research and practice as

functionally different arenas (Kondrat, 1992) and
as such integrating the two is impractical since
there is a lack of research experience among
clinical staff (Johnson, 1997).

(McNeill & Nicholas, 2012)

Recognized the need for including PhD trained

researchers to compliment more clinically based
BSW/MSW practitioners (Mendenhall, 2007)

Need for in vivo practice informed research to

heighten capacity for priority setting and
application of knowledge (McMillen, Lenze,
Hawley, & Osborne, 2009)

(McNeill & Nicholas, 2012)

PHASE 1 (1990-1993):
RESEARCH INTRODUCTION AND INCUBATION

The hospital utilized a university researcher to

conduct literature reviews on the impact of
pediatric health concerns on children and their
families to look at best Social Work interventions.

This spurred interest among staff in regards to

what research could offer practice.

(McNeill & Nicholas, 2012)

PHASE 2 (1994-1996):
TRANSFORMATION
Development of a departmental education
program providing learning modules on research
to clinicians and allowing interested staff to
partake in research.
Endowments provided funding for research to
take place and several interested staff had begun
PhD programs in Social Work.

(McNeill & Nicholas, 2012)

PHASE 3 (1997-2010):
PRODUCTIVITY AND SOLIDIFICATION

Cutbacks of 2 senior Clinical positions allowed

creation of 2 new Academic and Clinical
Specialist roles; full time positions where 0.6 was
dedicated solely to research.

Both positions were filled with PhD Students and

along with the department director (also a PhD
student) composed the leadership team. This
created focus on research as integral to the team.

PHASE 3 CONTINUED

The focus on research allowed for better clinical

outcomes, publication, increased visibility of
research, and an influx of funding and grants. All
of this contributing to the Social Work
department being seen as a leader in practice.

Strategic alignment of research goals with

hospital needs and the increased visibility
resulted in more interaction with senior
management, allowing Social Workers to be key
informants in the development of policy and
procedure for the hospital.

DEVELOPING AN ACADEMIC ROLE FOR

SOCIAL WORK
Setting a goal to develop research as necessary
for planning
Aligning the research with organizational needs
Finding funding
Recruitment of PhD researchers
No expectation for front line staff to partake
Partnering front line staff with PhD researchers
Demonstrating the value of the research
Recognition of researchers as scientists through
successful proposals and grants to show
productivity
Creating positions when possible

SICK KIDS RESEARCH:

Visibility / Interaction with senior
management and stakeholders.

Social Workers become key policy creators.

(McNeill & Nicholas, 2012)

SO WHATS NEXT?
ORGANIZATIONAL VARIABLES &
PREDICTING SERVICE EFFECTIVENESS

STUDY:

Organizational characteristics are strong

determinants of service effectiveness.

(Yoo & Brooks, 2005)

SCALE OF STUDY

3883 children
13 organizations

(Yoo & Brooks, 2005)

HYPOTHESIS:

Child outcomes are related to both child

characteristics and organizational context

(Yoo & Brooks, 2005)

WHAT IS ORGANIZATIONAL CONTEXT?

Organizational structure and contingency factors
Work conditions
Worker responses to work conditions
Worker attributes

(Yoo, Brooks & Patti, In Press)

HYPOTHESIS:

Child outcomes are related to both child

characteristics and organizational context.

Translation:
Better-run organizations are more successful at
keeping kids in their homes, after individual
child characteristics are accounted for.
(Yoo & Brooks, 2005)

IMPLICATIONS OF THIS STUDY FOR

SOCIAL WORK LEADERSHIP:

Agencies that are 'better-run' give better service

to their clients.

(Yoo & Brooks, 2005)

BUT WHAT EXACTLY

IS 'BETTER RUN'?

Are employees satisfied with their job?

Is there proper supervision of employees?
Is the agency well-organized?

(Yoo & Brooks, 2005)

THE LITERATURE SUGGESTS...

Organizations which are 'better run' provide

better service in the human services.

But what about intervention outcomes,

specifically?

(Yoo & Brooks, 2005)

Placement prevention is problematic as a single

indicator of child outcomes because it makes no
distinction between a necessary and unnecessary
placement, although it is one of the main objectives
of FPPs. (Yoo & Brooks, 2005, p. 271)

IMPORTANCE TO SOCIAL WORK RESEARCH:

One of the first studies of its kind.
One of the few multi-site studies.
One of the few studies guided by a theoretical
framework.
Need for more research!

(Yoo & Brooks, 2005)

IMPORTANT FINDING

In this study, the child-specific predictors barely

account for the variance in outcomes (10%),
suggesting that other variables, such as family
and organizational characteristics, be explored.

(Yoo & Brooks, 2005)

GUIDELINES FOR MANAGEMENT PRACTICE

Empirically supported guidelines for management
practice in social work are limited (Hasenfeld,
2000; Patti, 1983) rendering studies of the effects of
management on service effectiveness ever more
important. (Yoo & Brooks, 2005, p. 275)

ADVICE TO MANAGERS
As this study implies, managers could benefit from
learning leadership skills that promote good work
performance, learning to identify activities that
staff perceive to be socially and cognitively
supportive, and being a part of trainings that help
staff to gain familiarity with their work as quickly
as possible. (Yoo & Brooks, 2005, p.275-276)

SOCIAL WORK LEADERSHIP:

IDENTIFYING CORE ATTRIBUTES

Holosko (2009) completed a content analysis of published

literature to determine the core attributes of social work
leadership.
Stoesz (1997) lamented that social work professionals are
often forced to rise to positions of leadership within the
profession with little or no mentoring. (Holosko, 2009, p.
451)
Leadership has many definition and its meaning is
constantly evolving.
3 Ps of Leadership: The Person, The Position, The Process.
Leadership is a synergistic and interactive process
involving personal attributes, skill competencies, and
leadership intuition.
(Holosko, 2009)

ELEMENTS OF LEADERSHIP MOST

FREQUENTLY CITED IN THE LITERATURE
Main personal attributes: integrity, role
modeling, charisma, decisive, physical presence,
self-confidence
Main skill competencies: communication
knowledge competence, empowering, managing
using others power and authority,
inspiring/influencing/persuading, judiciously
Developing leadership intuition: knowing when
to do and how do certain things

(Holosko, 2009)

THE 5 CORE LEADERSHIP ATTRIBUTES

Based on the authors extensive systematic review
of the literature:
Vision having one and implementing one
Influencing others to act
Team work/collaboration
Problem-solving capacity
Creating positive change

(Holosko, 2009)

(Holosko, 2009, p. 455)

AN ANALYSIS OF LEADERSHIP WITHIN

THE SOCIAL WORK PROFESSION
Study performed telephone interviews with
members in the NASW and Council on Social
Work Education who are in leadership positions
Findings define leadership within social work
and show how it is different than in other
professions

(Rank & Hutchison, 2000)

THE NEED FOR LEADERSHIP

The literature states that there is a need to
increase leadership education in social work
studies, and that there is a high forecasted
demand for leadership in social work
It is important for schools of social work to teach
their students leadership, however the literature
suggests that it is increasingly difficult to find
social workers who want to become leaders
Without leaders arising in the profession, social
workers will increasingly be managed by other
professionals

(Rank & Hutchison, 2000)

SURVEY
METHODOLOGY

Random sample 75 from

NASW and 75 from CSWE

Eight open ended questions

Telephone interviews lasting

between 10 to 60 minutes

Interviews conducted over an 8

month period

(Rank & Hutchison, 2000)

SURVEY QUESTIONS FOR THE CLASS

1 - How do you define the concept of leadership for the social
work profession?
2 - Does your leadership concept differ for the social work
profession than it does for other disciplines? If so, what do
you believe distinguishes it?
3 - What do you believe are essential leadership skills for
social workers for the 21st century? (list no more than 3)
4 - In your opinion, what is the mission for leaders in the
social work profession in the 21st century?
5 - What content, if any, should programs of social work
include in creating a leadership development curriculum for
masters students?
(Rank & Hutchison, 2000)

HOW DO YOU DEFINE THE CONCEPT OF

LEADERSHIP FOR THE SOCIAL WORK PROFESSION?

(Rank & Hutchison, 2000)

Five common elements emerged in response to this

question:
Proaction
Values and ethics
Empowerment
Vision
Communication

(Rank & Hutchison, 2000)

DOES YOUR LEADERSHIP CONCEPT

DIFFER
FOR THE SOCIAL WORK PROFESSION?

(Rank & Hutchison, 2000)

Commitment to code of ethics

Systemic perspective
Participatory leadership style and altruism
Concern for professions public image

(Rank & Hutchison, 2000)

WHAT DO YOU BELIEVE ARE ESSENTIAL

LEADERSHIP SKILLS FOR SOCIAL WORKERS?

(Rank & Hutchison, 2000)

Nine distinct skill sets emerged:

Community development
Communication/interpersonal
Analytic
Technological
Political
Visioning
Ethical reasoning
Risk Taking
Cultural competence/diversity

(Rank & Hutchison, 2000)

WHAT IS THE MISSION FOR LEADERS IN THE

SOCIAL WORK PROFESSION IN THE 21ST
CENTURY?

(Rank & Hutchison, 2000)

Four themes emerged:

Political advocacy
Professional identity
Social reconstruction
Vision

(Rank & Hutchison, 2000)

WHAT CONTENT SHOULD PROGRAMS OF SOCIAL

WORK INCLUDE IN CREATING A LEADERSHIP
DEVELOPMENT CURRICULUM FOR MASTERS
STUDENTS?

(Rank & Hutchison, 2000)

98% believed there should be leadership

development content for masters students.
Top 3 are as follows:
Organizational skills
Business orientation
Management skills
These three areas were identified by over 19% of
respondents

(Rank & Hutchison, 2000)

REFERENCES
McNeill, T., & Nicholas, D. B. (2012). Strategies for
research development in hospital social
work: a case study. Research on Social Work
Practice, 22 (6), 672-679.
Kondrat, M. E. (1992). Reclaiming the practical:
Formal and substantive
rationality in social work practice. Social Service Review, 66, 237256.
Johnson, Y. (1997). Scientist-practitioner:
Remaining holes in the
debate. Social Work Research, 21, 196198.
Mendenhall, A. N. (2007). Switching hats: Transitioning from the role of clinician
to the role of researcher in social work doctoral education. Journal of Teaching in
Social Work, 27, 273290.
doi:10.1300/J067v27n03_17
McMillen, J. C., Lenze, S. L., Hawley, K. M., & Osborne, V. A.
(2009). Revisiting practice-based research networks as a platform
for mental health services research. Administration and Policy in
Mental Health and Mental Health Services Research, 36,
308321. doi:10.1007/s10488-009-0222-2
Yoo, J. & Brooks, D. (2005). The role of organizational variables in predicting
service effectiveness: An Analysis of a Multilevel Model. Research on Social Work
Practice, 15 (4), 267-277.

REFERENCES
Hasenfeld, Y. (2000). Understanding social welfare
organizations. In R. Patti (Ed.), The handbook of social
welfare management (pp. 87-112). Thousand Oaks, CA:
Sage.
Patti, R. J. (1983). Social welfare administration:
Managing social programs in a developmental context.
Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Holosko, M. J. (2009). Social Work Leadership:
Identifying Core Attributes, Journal of Human
Behavior in the Social Environment, 19:4, 448-459.
Stoesz, B. (1997). The end of social work. In M. Reisch &
E. Gambrill (Eds.), Social Work in the 21st Century (pp.
368375). Thousand Oaks, CA: Pine Forge.
Rank, M. G., & Hutchison, W. S. (2000). An analysis of
leadership within the social work profession.
Journal of Social Work Education, 36 (3) 487-502.