Hybrid Working: Is It Working horizontal ellipsis and at What Cost? Exploring the Experience of Managers in Child Protection: Social Work

This study used thematic analysis to consider eight UK child protection social work (CPSW) managers' experience of hybrid working. Adair's Action Centred Leadership (task, individual, team) (1967) was used as a framework to consider how managers lead teams through changes in working arrangements as hybrid working practices have become normalised. The themes identified included (i) Task: ease of moving work online, manager perceptions of the impact on quality of work, the experience of professional and organisational approaches; (ii) Individual: social worker well-being, tension about being available versus capacity to focus, impact on work/home boundaries; and (iii) Team: the importance of connecting, modelling practice and ease of communication. Findings suggest that hybrid arrangements were implemented as a result of organisational and logistic priorities, rather than to benefit children and families or the workforce. Though much of the task of CPSW has returned to being delivered as before COVID-19, and individual worker needs have been somewhat considered, the team as a unit to support and contain the worker has been largely neglected through the advancement of existing neoliberal and managerial policies under the pretext of COVID-19 measures. To counteract the negative impact of hybrid working arrangements, future policy focus must be on building strong teams. Since COVID-19 lockdowns, hybrid working arrangements have become the norm for many child protection social work teams. Few questions have been asked about whether these arrangements meet the needs of the workforce or how they impact work completed with children and families. Looking at the impact of hybrid working on the task of child protection, on social workers' individual needs and on the team as a unit, this research considers what the priority should be for future working arrangements, recommending a renewed focus on building strong teams.