Leadership micromanages low importance tasks instead of providing supports and communication to the team. Very segregated atmosphere between the leadership and case managers. Increasing positive and open communication and reducing micromanaging will reduce the amount of turnover and increase overall work satisfaction.
The focus of the trainings that are required and provided are specifically focused on diversity instead of actually equipping/training case managers on resources in the communities in which they work/serve individuals. The trainings that are required are often not helpful and intrude on case managers workdays, which are extremely full due to high turnover and high caseloads.
Incentives/Pay-
High turnover leads to high caseloads = high burnout. Case managers who are new to the company receive significant bonuses, while the veteran case managers are not recognized/rewarded for staying with the company through the high turnover and burn out. The current bonus system allows for case managers to have an increase in pay while forced to take on more clients, while leadership has received the same increase, and decreased their workload (which was put back onto case manager). More money does not mean increased job satisfaction.
Company Communication-
Overall, the communication from the top down is less than positive or open. When changes roll out PD's and Leads are often not debriefed prior to, creating confusion and chaos when their supervisees have questions/concerns. The overall tone of communication is also often authoritative leaving little to no room for open dialogue. The most concerning message of recent from senior directors and the administration is to not have open dialogue/communication with peers as "Group Think can be dangerous". The overreach of a company to silence its workers sheds light on a negative work environment we are currently in.
Increasing Services for Persons Served-
Case manager’s top priority is providing the highest quality of care for our clients, but not the same can be said regarding leadership priorities. Tasks that are not billable or time sensitive are pushed to the top of the priority list instead high importance tasks that are client focused.
Increasing the quality of the work environment to decrease turn over. There is nothing more disappointing to families than having a new case manager every few months, and having to retell their stories, and have loss of progress on tasks previous case managers had yet to complete.
Hiring/Retaining-
Creating a strong foundation from within should be the main priority. Social workers/social services employees have large networks. Word of mouth goes a long way.