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It's quite scary to think that 
as we are giving ourselves to 

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the profession of social work 
that there's a large majority of

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us who are considering quitting.
And Community Care Magazine 

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online shared some survey 
results saying that over the 

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past 18 months, 43.9% of 
respondents of the survey said 

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they were considering leaving 
social work, with 5.5% saying 

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they already were mulling over 
quitting. 

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No one walks into social work to
step out of it. 

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Everyone walks in with the same 
agenda, which is to make a 

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difference in people's lives and
to keep children and families 

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safe. 
So I want to talk to you today 

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about resilience, about morale, 
and certainly if you are on the 

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edge of quitting, this is the 
episode for you. 

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Let's talk. 
I'm inviting you my podcast 

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listeners to the first UK 
National Black and Diverse 

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Safeguarding Professionals 
Conference. 

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We're coming together to 
network, to collaborate, to 

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create a safe space for each 
other and to strategize 

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solutions for those from ethnic 
groups who are working in public

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services here in the UKI am so 
excited to bring you this 

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conference and I want you to go 
to 

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socialworkcoachinghub.com/events
and register to get your ticket.

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I'll see you there. 
It's interesting to think that 

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whilst we as social workers are 
spending time giving our all to 

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children and families, we're 
looking at ways that we can 

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protect ourselves and look after
ourselves. 

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And this survey is very clear, 
and this article was printed in 

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April this year. 
It's very clear. 

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We still have a crisis. 
We have a crisis with 

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recruitment, we have a crisis 
with retention. 

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And we must get an understanding
as a profession as to why this 

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continues to happen year on, 
year on year, despite the 

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research, despite the 
conferences, despite the 

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lobbying, there's still 
fundamental issues that are 

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happening within the social work
profession that is causing us to

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step back. 
And we have to get an 

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understanding of what's going 
on. 

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And most importantly for you, 
listening, how you can protect 

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yourself emotionally because 
it's key that you feel 

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psychologically safe at work. 
And once that starts to slowly 

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keep away, so does everything 
else. 

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And along with that comes the 
thought, shall I step out of 

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social work? 
So I want to talk to you about 

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maintaining your own morale and 
avoiding burnout. 

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And we're not talking about 
burnout as in the physical 

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burnout that we've talked about 
before. 

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We're talking about emotional 
exhaustion. 

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I can't say that word. 
Oh, my Lord, emotional 

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exhaustion. 
There we go. 

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We're not covering the causes of
low morale. 

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We understand what that 
landscape looks like. 

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We're simply just going to focus
on solutions here. 

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And one of the first things I 
want to invite you to consider 

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is how best to use your 
supervision to support you. 

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Perhaps another question is, is 
your supervision enough to 

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support you and to meet your 
needs? 

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If it's not, you need to take 
responsibility for that space 

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because it belongs to you. 
As a manager, I always said to 

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my staff, what is it you would 
like to share with me in 

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supervision today? 
How can I best serve you today? 

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This is your time. 
Yes, we have the agenda of case 

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management, but we always ended 
up spending more time looking at

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well-being and the person behind
the title than we did the cases 

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because we know we have to 
discuss cases. 

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We know there's a space for that
and it's quite clear most of the

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time what needs to be done. 
It often those conversations are

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about me as a manager giving 
authorisation. 

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So I'm saying that to say this. 
Use that space for you. 

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Now, the complexity within that,
of course, is the dynamic of the

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relationship between you and 
your manager. 

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Some of you are going to roll 
your eyes and some of you are 

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going to smile. 
That's just how it goes. 

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You have to consider that 
alongside your needs. 

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And if supervision isn't enough,
if it's not effective, if that 

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relationship is not, I'm trying 
to find the right word. 

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If that relationship is not as 
fruitful as you would like it to

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be for whatever reason, perhaps 
you need to think about what can

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support you outside supervision.
Sometimes circumstances have to 

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be accepted for what they are. 
Sometimes circumstances can be 

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challenged, so you have to 
consider what is your 

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responsibility within the 
relationship dynamic, within the

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supervision protocol and process
and think about the best way for

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it to serve you. 
And it may be that you need 

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coaching, it may be you need 
therapy, you may need to 

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consider another form of an 
outlet to support you. 

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But either way, that's your 
responsibility #2 you've got to 

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set some boundaries for yourself
when it comes to maintaining a 

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morale, preventing the emotional
exhaustion. 

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What are your boundaries? 
The amount of conversations I 

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have with social workers in 
coaching sessions talking about 

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boundaries. 
Now I'm coming from a place 

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where I didn't have any 
boundaries. 

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You would have heard this in 
previous podcast episodes. 

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My mission was to serve. 
I put on that Cape every 

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morning. 
I was out there with lunch or 

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without breakfast, you name it. 
But when I realised, when I 

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became burnt out, some of you 
would have heard this story a 

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million times. 
But for those that haven't 

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heard, when I became burnt out, 
I had to strategize. 

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I had to take a step back and 
say, OK, what do I need to do? 

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What responsibility do I need to
take now? 

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What action is necessary for me 
when I go back to work, that 

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this doesn't happen again #3 
Find meaning and purpose. 

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Remember why you stepped into 
social work. 

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Remember why you filled in the 
application to complete your 

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degree? 
Sometimes you just need to find 

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a space to reconnect with your 
Why. 

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Very soon I am going to be 
releasing my brand new social 

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work coaching online hub where 
you can access audio, videos and

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downloadables to support you 
with your personal and 

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professional development. 
We're going to be starting a 

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brand new community and I want 
you to be part of it. 

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So stay tuned to future episodes
where I'll share more about 

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that. 
And of course, as always, check 

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out the links in the podcast 
notes. 

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I'd like to share this quote 
with you, and it's from an 

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unknown source, but it's so 
beautiful I wanted to share it 

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with you. 
When you feel like giving up, 

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remember why you held on for so 
long in the first place. 

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Sometimes you just need to 
connect with Why am I here now? 

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If you listened to the episode 
last week when we were talking 

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about stepping up, part of that 
was that self belief and that 

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self belief can serve you when 
you're thinking about is this 

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the best place for me? 
Is this the right type of social

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work for me? 
Don't forget there's so many 

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different types of social 
workers out there, so many 

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different types of 
organisations. 

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You do not have to continue in 
local authority work. 

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There's so many other types of 
social workers out there, from 

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mental health to adults to 
children's to charities, you 

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name it. 
So do some research. 

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If you're feeling like your 
morale is low, perhaps the team 

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that you're in is no longer 
meeting your needs. 

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And therefore, if it's not 
meeting your needs, you're going

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to struggle to meet the needs of
those you're working with. 

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Eventually it's going to ebb 
away and eventually that's going

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to increase the risk to the 
children and families. 

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Sometimes we just need to stop 
turning the mirror on someone 

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else and say, well, if they just
and if we could change this. 

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And, and don't get me wrong, 
some things need to be 

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challenged. 
I've done my fair share of 

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challenging, but there are 
moments when your morale gets to

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a place where it's so low. 
You have to take responsibility 

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and take accountability for the 
decision that you're making for 

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your life. 
And one thing I want you to 

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think about is what is your 
career plan? 

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We talked about this last week. 
I'm going to raise it again. 

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What is your career plan? 
Because that can be part of 

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keeping your morale high. 
You know where you want to go. 

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You want to go from social 
worker to service manager. 

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How do you get there? 
What's the next step? 

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Is it time to be thinking about 
moving on to the next career 

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ladder? 
The next step in your career? 

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Getting on that ladder? 
What about your support network?

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Building a strong support 
network is all part of keeping 

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high morale. 
Colleagues, peers, friends, 

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family, coaches, counsellors, 
groups. 

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There's all sorts of social work
groups on Facebook. 

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Get involved, get sharing, get 
the support that you need. 

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It's almost like you need to 
think of yourself as if you're 

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putting yourself on a a plan 
like we do with children and 

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families. 
What are the objectives on the 

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plan to help you get to a place 
where you feel safe and happy 

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and psychologically happy? 
Safe, right? 

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Have to think about what is that
plan? 

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What does it look like? 
What do you need? 

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The last thing I'm going to 
share with you here is how you 

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can create a culture of 
appreciation and recognition, 

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firstly within yourself. 
That means not looking for 

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validation outside of yourself, 
and secondly, within your team 

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or your workplace, particularly 
if you're a manager. 

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It's so important to celebrate 
those small wins and those 

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milestones and that helps again 
to maintain high morale. 

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Usually when you're at low 
morale you don't even feel 

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you've achieved anything or 
you've achieved something and it

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hasn't been recognised. 
And all of these thoughts that 

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go round in our minds as we are 
busy with our supermen and super

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women capes, eventually it 
weighs us down. 

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So here's my challenge to you 
and a scale of one to 10/1. 

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Make that a sad face. 10 being 
the most happy face you could 

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think of, right? 
And a scale of one to 10 right 

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now, in this moment, how would 
you scale your morale? 

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The next question is, and I'll 
leave you with this, what needs 

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to happen to bring that number 
up by 1? 

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What needs to happen to bring 
that number up by 1? 

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What do you need to see? 
What do you need to do? 

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And that would be a good way of 
just measuring where you are, 

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where you want to be, and if 
you're on track. 

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And if you continue In that way,
you are building your own self 

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coaching methods to support your
morale and prevent the emotional

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exhaustion that we are all rone 
to in the world our social work.

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Have a blessed week. 
I'll see you next week.