There are thousands of management positions in social services in Romania, only at the level of the counties. Most of those on the jobs, do not have any management training, not even in terms of basic principles. Somehow, there is the assumption that management tasks can be done as you go, without any former preparation. On the management jobs, there are social workers, psychologists, legal advisers, teachers, as well as others, who happen to work in social services. On many occasions, the higher you are on the structure of staff, the more politicized the jobs.
Being a good professional in social worker, or in psychology, does not imply you are a good manager as well. It does not give you the ability to lead people, to advise them, to help them work better, more efficiently, more productively.
The lack of training in the management of social services makes the system vulnerable, by the absence of support levers, by the lack of empowerment of employees. There are 2.458 managers in social services in Romania. As a direct effect, the quality of care for children and their families suffers. Those over 50,000 employees in social services need advice, encouragement, real support, appreciation. Without these, their work with children is flawed by frustration, by the lack of personal appreciation. Anybody needs constructive feedback and a positive organisational climate, to be productive.
The problem is, in our case, the mentality of "being a boss" relies on the wrong principles: you lead by fear, by shouting, by threatening, by psychological terror, by a patronising attitude. The boss is always right, the boss always talks, the boss should be satisfied.
For a performant social services system, the training of managers is vital. They are the support structure. Only after that is done, can we talk about performance in the social services system.
