The day before yesterday, a social worker had a private chat: We have been complained by residents, what should we do?
The reason is: the social worker organized volunteers to clear the snow and withdrew from the door of the unit corridor after shoveling.
Residents complained about why they didn't clean up the snow on the main roads in the community.
But the snow removal of the main roads is the responsibility of the property.
It stands to reason that if a resident wants to complain, he should also complain about the property.
The problem was finally solved. The point of the social work committee's grievances is actually as follows:
Residents often confuse property with social work agencies and feel that social workers should do this.
In the past two years, I have encountered many situations where social workers have been wronged.
Although they are different grievances, in essence, the points that social workers care about the most are surprisingly the same.
1. The social work committee is aggrieved and only seeks recognition
In a project report, my colleague Xiaoqiu was praised by the buyer for doing a good job. The leaders also praised her for her hard work.
turned around to look for me, but Xiaoqiu was wronged, her eyes were red, and her hands grabbed the corners of her clothes.
She whispered: "I think this report did not make the leader feel the professionalism of the service, and it was too much of a failure."
I looked at the look and feedback of the buyer, and it seemed that I had done a lot of good activities, and that's it. ”
I understand what she means, anyone can do a good job, and the professionalism of social workers is irreplaceable.
We still hope that more buyers can see that social workers are not just engaged in activities.
On another occasion, the project held a large-scale party with the participation of all the villagers.
Everyone was busy, and Xiaoqiu just finished directing the volunteers to divide labor and walked back to the office.
An aunt stood at the door and asked her why they had arranged their show so late.
Xiaoqiu explained for a long time, and other aunts also came over to help her speak, which was a difficult thing to reconcile.
After the aunt left, she cried aggrievedly.
Later, she told me that she was actually crying because the villagers were busy.
Another colleague, however, was still sitting leisurely playing with his phone.
What does this make others think of us social workers!?”
I understood what she meant: we worked hard for a long time to get some professional recognition, and we didn't want to be screwed up.
I don't want to be mistaken for property by residents.
I don't want to be thought by the leaders that I'm doing an event.
I don't want people to think that social workers are just sitting in the office and playing on their phones.
The grievances of social workers are just for recognition.
2. Professional identity, the energy station of social workers
Although some social workers often complain about low salaries, in fact, from entering this industry, everyone has a bottom of their income.
The real grievances of social workers are not that the salary is too low, but that they are not recognized.
Last week, I talked to a social worker in Wuhan and worked for four years with a salary of more than 3,000.
When asked why he insisted, he said that he has a strong identification with the social work profession and will always stick to this path.
Most social workers stick to this profession not because of their high development, but because they recognize the value of their profession.
In 2014, I was about to leave Guangzhou, and I was struggling with whether to change careers in a different city
At the last event, a group of elderly people came over to cheer them on.
An aunt said, I heard that this is Xiaolin's last activity, and I have to come today if I have a cold.
They made a handwritten book of blessings, and several elderly people said, "You must continue to be a social worker."
So I decided that even if I changed cities, I would try to continue working as a social worker.
Social workers are actually very coaxing, as long as the client shows approval, Party A praises his professionalism, and he will be resurrected immediately.
However, professional recognition is difficult.
3. The profession needs to be seen, and the social worker has to show it
In 18 years, when I was a regional supervisor, I was questioned by supervisor A: why does supervisor B get 200 more than me?
Because the relationship is good, I smiled and said: Two hundred yuan, what is there to worry about?
She looked at me seriously and said, "I don't care about a few hundred dollars."
I just want to know if the leader thinks she's more professional than me
A supervisor is a person who does professional services in a down-to-earth manner, and he is very concerned about whether his profession is recognized.
B Supervisor is more knowledgeable about reporting and is more likely to be recognized by institutional leaders and purchasers.
So the subtext of Director A is: I'm doing a pretty good job, why don't I be as good as someone who can speak.
We talked for a long time, and finally came back to one point:
The professionalism of social workers wants to be seen, not just to bury their heads in it, but to show it.
It's not about reporting for promotion and salary increase, and it's a false report.
Many social workers suffer from the fact that they only know how to do it, but they don't know how to show it.
The social recognition of social workers has not come up, and this is why: people can't see the professionalism you are talking about.
Buyers and service users know how to understand the professional perspective, and social workers must guide and convey it.
How to guide and communicate?
4. Convey the concept and display the visualization results
When I was a social worker for 16 years, I just entered the village to start an activity, and the villagers said that they would not participate in the activity without gifts.
In 17 years, my colleague ran to say excitedly, and an aunt said that we now understand that participating in the event is not for gifts.
During this period, I had every contact with the villagers, formed a volunteer team, developed a self-organized team, visited homes, and held activities.
We always convey to the villagers what is the meaning of this service and what is the help of social workers.
In each activity, there is a focus on the mutual support between people, the growth of the participants, and feedback to them.
In each case, the concept and confidence of self-help problem solving are conveyed to the client and the family.
By conveying the concept in the service and letting the beneficiaries feel in the service, the villagers will understand the professionalism of social work.
It's a process, but it will affect a lot of people in the end.
How to make the buyer perceive the professionalism of social work services?
This is mentioned in another article, so I won't talk about it in detail, but you can click the link to learn about it.
We hope that our social workers can work in this direction so that more people can recognize the professionalism of social work.
I also hope to explore whether the outside world can know what the social work profession is through articles and stories.