RELEVANT DESCRIPTORS — LEADERSHIP

GENERAL SUPPORT WORK: CORE CAPABILITY DESCRIPTORS

Your Impact: Show self-awareness

• Be aware that your own culture and ways of thinking are just one way rather than seeing it as “normal”. Use this awareness to value similarities and differences in others.
• Don’t assume your understanding of disability is the same as mine.
• Be aware of how your beliefs, biases, attitudes, emotions and actions may impact on me and possibly prevent me from expressing who I am.
• Manage your reactions and don’t express personal judgements about me.
• Ask for feedback from me and your supervisor to help you understand your strengths and areas you can improve.
• Keep your skills and knowledge up to date.

Your Impact: Work within your capabilities

• Check what support I need and make sure you have the capabilities you need to perform your role in a way that is safe for me, you and others.
• Recognise when to ask for guidance and support if you are unsure about what you are asked to do.
• Be open, authentic and warm, while remembering this is your job.
• Look for opportunities to share, learn and develop.
• Seek guidance and support if you are unsure about what you are asked to do or need support to resolve ethical issues.
• Keep up to date on current best practice frameworks, principles and expectations related to your work.

Your Impact: Engage and motivate me

• Approach my support with hope, optimism and patience.

MANAGEMENT: MANAGE, SUPERVISE AND COACH OTHERS

Foster and develop a capable workforce

• Ensure workers are well-matched to meet participant needs and preferences.
• Use the Framework to check that workers have the capabilities needed for their roles and the work assigned to them.
• Identify where workplace characteristics or situations, such as high workforce turnover or shift changeovers, present heightened risk to quality of support and develop ways to minimise risk.
• Provide opportunities for workers to reflect on their practice, debrief about challenging situations or events, and share learnings with supervisors, peers and experts, including people with lived experience.
• Provide regular, timely feedback on work performance and arrange for workers to access training, development and ongoing learning relevant to their role, interests and career aspirations.
• Pursue opportunities for your own learning and development such as reflecting on your approach to practice, maintaining and developing professional networks and refreshing knowledge of current practice.
• Recognise the challenges faced by workers, be alert to signs of burnout and support them to manage their wellbeing and self-care.