Posted on August 17, 2023 by CQL | The Council on Quality and Leadership

They’re common questions raised across the human services field: How can we support the leadership development of direct support professionals (DSPs) and frontline supervisors? What can we do to make sure they’re successful as they take on supervisory roles? How do we bridge the gap between someone being a great employee, and an effective leader?

In this edition of the Capstone, we’re looking to make sure the leadership pipeline flows smoothly and trying to fix the broken rungs on career ladders. First, our partners from the National Leadership Consortium offer an overview of the issues involving internal leadership development and lay out key strategies you can put in place. Then, the Arc of Monroe describes how their Professional Development program helps support and empower DSPs in career advancement. Finally, Richcroft, Inc. details their training curriculum and shares how it has helped build up the knowledge, skills, and competencies of the organization’s frontline supervisors.

Developing Leadership From Within

By Caitlin Bailey, Ph.D., and Kristen Loomis, MBA, Co-Directors, National Leadership Consortium

The National Leadership Consortium hears it all the time from leaders in this field, a person begins working at an agency in a direct support professional or equivalent position, and they are excellent. They are in tune with the needs and interests of the people they work for. They are reliable. They exemplify principles of self-determination and person-directed supports. Because they are so good, they get promoted, and maybe even promoted again; but at some point, they start to struggle. While many of the leadership qualities that made them great DSPs also make them great frontline leaders (consistency, care for others, values of respect and autonomy), they are ill-prepared to take on many of the responsibilities of supervisors, such as day-to-day management, handling conflict between team members, and supporting the work of multiple coworkers. 

On the flip side, we also hear of organizations recruiting frontline leaders from outside the organization in order to maintain their current and often unstable direct support workforce. Unfortunately, this can also jam up a leadership pipeline because opportunities for growth and advancement are key factors in engagement and intent to stay. Cutting off career ladders can feel demoralizing for DSPs if there are no opportunities for advancement within the organization.

What we know is that developing leaders from within is a critical organizational investment and skill. Organizations and leaders that create strong frontline leadership pipelines are those that offer effective and appropriate developmental opportunities to employees at every level, from DSP to CEO. They encourage leaders to succeed in their current positions and support them to think and prepare for the future. This can be a challenge when the workforce is depleted, and employees feel like they are constantly shuffling and taking on more and more responsibilities to ensure that people who use services have the support they need. It is also a key role of leaders to build or rebuild strong pipelines of skilled and prepared leaders for every position in the organization. 

Key Strategies of Leaders Who Create Strong Frontline Leadership Pipelines 

There are many actions that leaders can take to build frontline leadership capacity and sustainability. Three key strategies are listed below. Following these strategies are recent examples of changes that leaders have made in their organizations that exemplify skilled and intentional leadership practices. 

1. Take a person-centered approach to development by recognizing differences in the roles, needs, and interests of DSPs and Frontline leaders. Training, coaching, and growth opportunities should be tailored to the current and future roles of employees. Ask yourself (or your team) what does someone need to be successful now and in the future in this role, and the next role? How can we support their growth so that, when there is an opportunity for promotion or advanced responsibilities, they feel prepared? Stretch assignments, shadowing, tailored leadership development courses, and individual coaching are most effective if they are relevant to the needs and interests of the employee. 
2. Maximize on-the-job development. The Center for Creative Leadership has found that when most (about 70%) of development happens on-the-job (instead of in a classroom or via coaching/ mentoring) employees thrive. On-the-job development opportunities help people learn from real experiences. Actions like including someone on a planning committee with executives, asking someone to help train a new employee, or delegating a task that is a bit beyond the current scope of a person’s role are great experiences that can prepare someone for future leadership roles.  
3. Be transparent about future leadership opportunities and identify people who are most interested in advancing their careers (for the right reasons). Consistent communication about your organization’s strategy, potential job opportunities, and staffing needs can help you to identify and intentionally develop current and emerging leaders who may be a great fit for a frontline leadership role. Just be sure that you are equitable in how you invest in developing DSPs and frontline leaders. If there are trends in who tends to be promoted and who doesn’t, check for any unintentional biases. 

DSP Development At The Arc of Monroe

By Melody Johnson, Director of Learning & Professional Development, The Arc of Monroe

In 2019, The Arc of Monroe launched a Professional Development program to help enrich the leadership qualities of DSPs. This program promotes professional development and career advancement for DSPs. Professional Development Classes include 28 hours of coursework, which concludes with mentorship from a member of The Arc of Monroe’s Leadership Team.

While everyone that completes the program is not guaranteed a future promotion, we have promoted many of the attendees within a year of completing the Development Classes. Beyond just the potential career advancement, DSPs who take part in the program have experienced personal growth and professional development through a supportive environment.

The coursework covers topics such as:

• The Why of Your Work – This class helps DSPs connect their everyday work to the core competencies as well as the mission/vision/values of the organization.
• CEO of You, Inc. – DSPs learn to look at their career as if they were the CEO of their own company, considering their personal branding, goals, as well as creating a SWOT analysis of their skills.
• Difficult Conversations – Supports the attendees in learning how to have courageous conversations with others in a tactful and productive manner.
• Leadership & Communication – A fun and interactive class that demonstrates the ways in which communication can help or hinder our intentions.
• Knowing Your Limits – Encourages DSPs to find ways to support a healthy work-life balance while keeping their personal goals in mind.
• HR Processes – DSPs learn about ‘Right Fit Hiring’ and how to interview for success.
• DSP and FLS Competencies – A fun and interactive class that helps learners understand the DSP and FLS competencies in order to perform them with intention.
• Cultural Competency – An introduction to concepts of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, as it applies to supporting others as well as working with colleagues.
• Public Speaking – Each attendee creates and delivers a presentation about their program location to build and enhance their presentation skills.

Another component of the Development Series is a 360-degree assessment where each participant receives confidential feedback from their peers, educators, people they support, as well as supervisors. Attendees also partake in an Emotional Intelligence (EQ) assessment and receive two personal coaching sessions from a certified EQ coach during this series. These sessions use the 360-degree results as well as the EQ assessment to help the DSP take action in areas that can support their future success.  

Inside The Professional Development Classes Program

The steps below list the process of the Professional Development Classes that The Arc of Monroe has implemented. Other organizations can use this as a guide in establishing a similar program.

1. Curriculum Development (28 hours) delivered in sessions spanning 7 half-days
2. DSPs and Assistant Managers/Team Leaders are eligible to apply
3. Selection is made based on work performance and tenure requirements
4. Classes delivered to the participants
5. Course includes a 360-degree assessment from the attendees’ peers and supervisors
6. EQ assessment delivered
7. Certified EQ coach presents honest 360 feedback in a 1:1 format over the course of 2 coaching sessions
8. Attendees share areas of interest for future promotions
9. Facilitators match each attendee with a mentor from the Leadership Team based on interest and personality
10. Mentors follow attendees for 6-9 months following conclusion of class

Lessons Learned

After delivering this series, the Arc of Monroe has made a few changes and additions to continuously improve the experience for those that partake.

• Change program name to Professional Development rather than Succession Development as attendees came to expect a promotion after completing the series. While promotions often happen, they are not guaranteed.
• Addition of EQ assessment and coaching – Starting in 2021, the Arc added this component which has been very effective in providing individualized support to help people work on the skills that were identified as threats to their success.
• Addition of individual presentations – Based on attendee feedback, we added a presentation component, asking each attendee to create and deliver a presentation on their work and program.

Supporting Leadership Development Of Front-Line Supervisors

By Kevin Drumheller, Chief Executive Officer, Richcroft, Inc.

Along with what the Arc of Monroe detailed above, if our direct support staff do not feel supported by their supervisor, all other initiatives are likely to fail. Gallup has determined from decades of data and interviews with millions of employees that 70 percent of the variance in team engagement is determined solely by the manager. Another study found that nearly half of employees surveyed had quit because of a bad manager, and almost two-thirds believed their manager lacked proper managerial training.

Too often, new supervisors are promoted because they are good at providing direct support and, quite frankly, don’t call out. To help prepare them for their new role they might be enrolled in a supervisory “boot camp”, a time-limited series of trainings. Any new skills learned, and enthusiasm gained by the boot camp, are usually diminished a short time after the training ends. We believe that to have a fully competent group of front-line supervisors, training must be ongoing and include opportunities to discuss real-time barriers and obstacles. The decision to continually educate and support our team of front-line supervisors led Richcroft, Inc. to the creation of Richcroft University.

Inside Richcroft University

Richcroft University offers monthly in-person training, for as long as the staff is with Richcroft in the role of a front-line supervisor. The training is conducted by the CEO, CFO, and Directors of HR and QA. Having buy-in and engagement at the top reinforces the importance of this program. Each training is broken down into 4 sessions. After the 12-month long curriculum is completed, it begins again. Topics covered by the curriculum include:

• Principles of Management – A combination of management soft skills and the National Alliance for Direct Support Professionals (NADSP) front-line supervisor competencies.
• Human Resources Skills – A combination of Richcroft policies and procedures, as well as State regulations and labor laws.
• Quality Assurance Skills – An ongoing review of in-house policies and procedures, medical processes, and person-centered planning best practices. 
• Financial Literacy and Skills – Accounting for supported individuals living expenses, a review of the automated accounts payable system, scheduling, and understanding the financial statements and how what they do, flows into the financials.

We have found that by repeating the curriculum, front-line supervisors who have gone through the course now have context in which to better understand the content being taught. Staff are given examples of difficult situations, and open dialogue is encouraged to examine how one might best approach various situations with integrity, responsibility, and fairness.

The Impact On Staff

This has led to increased collaboration and problem-solving and more active engagement. Our outcomes are showing that this process is working, as we have seen a 13% decrease in turnover from FY22 to FY23 and a significant improvement in our Gallup Q12 staff engagement survey scores.

Taking Leadership Development To The Next Level

By CQL | The Council on Quality and Leadership

From implementing strategies for successful leadership pipelines, to advancing the careers of DSPs, and supporting the development of frontline supervisors, we hope the guidance, tips, and action steps from this Capstone can be useful for your organization. You may also find that the information shared here could spark some fresh, new, innovative ideas you can explore and implement.

One overarching takeaway here is about being intentional, thoughtful, and supportive as you promote and nurture leadership development among your staff. Warren Bennis, a popular scholar, author, and consultant in the world of leadership development, drives this point home in stating that “the most dangerous leadership myth is that leaders are born – that there is a genetic factor to leadership. This myth asserts that people simply either have certain charismatic qualities or not. That’s nonsense; in fact, the opposite is true. Leaders are made rather than born.”