Balancing Act: Supervisors' Experiences in a Volatile Human Service Environment

Background and Purpose:

Public and nonprofit human service organizations (HSOs) are facing unprecedented challenges, including drastic funding cuts, staff losses, disrupted services, and employee concerns about their professional futures. Supervisors, as middle managers, play a critical role in navigating these social and political disruptions, impacting both the organization and the individuals and teams they oversee. They must prepare for workforce and service instability while managing their staff's emotional labor. This presentation aims to report on the experiences of 25 diverse human service supervisors, highlighting shifts in their organizational roles, relationships with supervisees and teams, and efforts to remain relevant and promote resilience among peer leaders, staff, and emerging social work professionals in a rapidly changing and volatile environment.

Methods:

Twenty-five human service organizations were randomly selected from a list of 700 field education agency partners. The designated supervisor providing field practicum supervision in each organization was selected and interviewed in person. These supervisors represented a range of nonprofit and public HSOs across various fields, including behavioral health, family counseling, housing, community outreach centers, disability services, special education, child welfare, employee assistance, community law clinics, and corrections. The sample included 14 women (10 white, 4 of color) and 11 men (8 white, 3 of color), aged 27 to 66. Interview questions focused on supervisors' roles, pressing concerns, staff relationships, and strategies for staying relevant and resilient. Interviews were transcribed and analyzed using the Nvivo program.

Results:

Findings indicate that supervisors have taken on multifaceted responsibilities beyond their defined roles, including increased administrative burdens, policy creation, community liaison work, grant writing, fundraising, donor relations, and covering for lost and unfilled positions. Their most pressing issues involve managing staff reductions despite inadequate staffing and resources. Supervisors spend significant time addressing supervisees' fears of job loss, program disintegration, and client service disruptions, while maintaining engagement and focus amidst personal life disruptions. Strategies for staying relevant include staying informed on federal and state policies and best practices, adapting continuously, and engaging in collaboration, networking, and coalition-building to share experiences, strategize, and advocate for change.

Conclusion and Implications:

As supervisors prepare for further workforce disruptions and instability, they are proactively striving to navigate policy changes, societal shifts, and the emotional toll of the work. Indeed, supervisors as leaders are called upon in this moment to model for their supervisees and teams how to remain informed, organized and effective in an environment where political priorities can shift unexpectedly. Supervisors do this through preparation, broadening responsibilities, anxiety alleviation, resilience promotion, and strategic networking. Additional implications and future research will be discussed.