“You cannot pour from an empty cup!”: child well-being service providers’ and policymakers’ professional supervision, coping and well-being during COVID-19

Purpose This paper aims to present findings from 440 responses regarding the experiences of supervision, coping and well-being of 83 service providers and policymakers from eight countries working to support children’s well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic. Design/methodology/approach A smartphone survey hosted on a custom-built app was used. The data were analysed using qualitative content analysis. The data were gathered in the last quarter of 2020. Findings While most respondents described the supervision they received as “useful” – both personally and professionally – and reported several characteristics of effective supervision practices, concerns about not receiving optimal support were also voiced. Respondents shared a range of stress management and other self-care practices they used but also revealed their difficulties optimally managing the stresses and anxieties during the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, some respondents shared they were feeling helpless, unmotivated and unproductive. Yet, overall, responses were imbued with messages about hope, perseverance and self-compassion. Originality/value Using a bespoke smartphone app, rich and intimate insights were generated in real time from a wide range of professionals across high- and low- and middle-income countries – indicating the need to better support their well-being and service delivery.

Proposing a Diversity Intelligence Training Framework for Leaders and Managers to Attract, Maintain, and Balance Mature Workers

The workforce is becoming more diverse with the increasing number of mature workers delaying retirement and working beyond the legal retirement age. Retaining mature workers in organizations can be challenging. Training leaders and managers in diversity intelligence (DQ) has the potential to lead to better and more effective supervision of diverse employees. Competent and skilled managers and leaders who are trained in DQ will be more able to help in the attracting, retaining, and balancing mature workers. The chapter proposes using the three learning processes of enactive, iconic, and symbolic from Bruner's discovery learning theory to teach leaders and managers DQ. The learning outcome is that managers will become mentors and coaches who are equipped to use goal-oriented and transformative processes to supervise the independent, motivated, and proactive adult workers.

Benefits And Performance Of The Electronic Construction Journal

Electronic construction journal (later – e-journal) has been developed to replace a former paper construction journal. The purpose of e-journal is to ensure effective supervision of road construction and reconstruction works and to avoid potential abuse. Records made by contractors, supervisors and controlling institutions in e-journal enable to manage the work process in each road construction and reconstruction building site. All road construction process participants have access to the data, comments and findings entered into e-journal. E-journal accurately records all deadlines, technical supervision or control performance time. It is a significantly faster and more effective means of control and quality assurance of performed works.

Exploring the experience of using music and creative mark-making as a reflective tool during coaching supervision: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis

Coaching supervision is still an emergent profession with a limited body of research to support its credibility and practice. This qualitative study is the first to explore the use of music and mark-making as a creative tool within coaching supervision and highlights information about both coach and coach supervisor experience. The research explores the question, ‘How does using mark-making in response to music within coaching supervision affect coaches’ experience of reflective practice?’ through semi-structured interviews, analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) methodology. Findings revealed that using music and mark-making as a creative tool within coaching supervision enhances reflective practice and supports the client-supervisor relationship, enabling highly effective supervision to take place. The results offer coaches, coaching supervisors, coach educators and researchers and other professionals in other contexts where supervision forms an integral part of professional support and development insights into using music and other creative tools in supervision sessions and the impact on reflective practice. Keywords: coaching supervision, music, creativity, coaching psychology, reflective practice

Structured Supervision Propelling Job Performance in Universities: Achieving Goals without Chains

The study is aimed at determining how structured supervision of influences work attitude and promotes job performance in universities. This is because the success of any academic institution depends on effective supervision of staff. To achieve the objectives, the study adopted survey research design using interviews and questionnaire. Respondents (107) were selected from different units/departments of a public university in Nigeria through stratified sampling technique. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. The study revealed that Junior Non-Academic Staff of the university were poorly supervised, leading to poor job performance. The cause of this is non-application of structured supervision. The study believes in structured supervision, which involves elimination of harsh supervision, enthronement of cordial relationship between workers and their supervisors, regular training of supervisors, promotion of exemplary supervision, and provision of institutional policy on supervision. Therefore, there is a strong relationship between structured supervision and high job performance. As a result, it is important that supervisors are regularly trained to imbibe spirit of structured supervision which will help them to lead their subordinates to achieve high job performance.

Reflections on the Drive to Return Mission Schools to their Owners in Nigeria

The issue of whether the government in Nigeria should return the schools taken from the religious organizations over four decades ago is a topic for debate. While many are arguing that such schools should be returned to their owners, others, want the government to stay action on it. It however needs not be over-emphasized that the policy of government control of schools has to a large extent guaranteed equal educational opportunities, quality education provision, increased access to education, religious tolerance, and improved national unity. When viewed from another perspective, can Nigeria afford to take another risk by returning the schools to the Missions, more so that issues of unemployment, high cost of education, religious intolerance, among others, are prevalent in the country, which the return of the schools will promote to a high level? In this paper, the roles which the Christian Missions played in the educational system were examined while the arguments for and against this initiative were examined. It is hopeful that with adequate financing, effective supervision of schools, standards put in place by the government, the agitation of people for the return of schools to the original owners will become history.

13. Employers’ liability

This chapter discusses employers’ liability and, in particular, the non-delegable duty of care, which employers owe to their employees to ensure that they are reasonably safe when at work. The duty ensures that an employer remains responsible for key tasks even when their obligations have been delegated to another. The duty of care is typically said to have four components (building on Lord Wright’s statement in Wilsons & Clyde Coal Co Ltd [1938]) comprising the provision of: a competent workforce; adequate material and equipment; a safe system of working (including effective supervision); and a safe workplace.