Emphasize self-directed work teams. Some agencies have found success in moving toward self-directed work teams in residential and supported employment services. These teams provide opportunities for groups of direct support staff to manage their own work and create an environment that empowers employees to contribute to the improvement of services by giving them the ability to improve the work itself. This often results in more satisfying jobs. Support and train first-line supervisors.
Supervisors have one of the most demanding jobs in our industry.
Their effectiveness directly affects direct support worker job satisfaction and retention. Strategies to support and train supervisors include providing more and better training for supervisors, improving communication with supervisors, using fair and supportive agency management practices, providing staffing and recruitment support to supervisors, improving wages and benefits for workers and supervisors, and providing training on team building. Develop links with higher education. Many agencies and post-secondary educational programs across the country are beginning to partner to improve training practices, provide career pathways, develop incentives for increased pay, and identify potential new workers. Use high performance work practices.