Toward a New “Normal”: An Analysis of Emerging Leadership Practices in a Changing Child and Youth Protection Organization

Figures & data

Table 1. Dimensions of the new versus old working method in CYPSA^a.

Dimensions	Old CYPSA	New CYPSA
Philosophy and culture	- Problem driven (prescribed protocols) - Standardized solutions - Process oriented - Professionals accountable for own cases	- Purpose driven (every child safe) - Pattern oriented - Tailor-made care - Strength based - Shared responsibility
Technical and organizational structures	- Vertical four-layered organization - Teams working in 10 different buildings - Weekly team briefings (reporting)	- Horizontal three-layered organization - Teams working from one building - Reflexive weekly team meetings
Professional practice and routines	- Apply the rules - Greater efficiency in applying the rules - Efficient transfer - Experts intervene whether or not they feel it is necessary - Efficient work execution - Act as an expert or executor of procedures or legal guardian	- Continuous improvement of rules - 100% clean transfer - Only do work that supports the child - Expertise at the right time and the right place - One family, one plan, one family manager - Being a facilitator of change
Leadership	- Top-down management - Command and control - Checking targets	- Transformational and transactional leadership simultaneously - Focus on empowering staff members - Stimulating learning - Shared responsibility

^a https://bs-ggwiki.saasweb.cloud/wiki/Uitleg_Wik.

Table 2. Old and new team-meeting routines in CYPSA.

Dimensions	Old	New
Role allocation of the team members	Team of: - Team leader (role controlling and taking final decisions, push) - 8 specialists (accountable for the process of the work method, bringing in cases) - 1 psychologist (advises on child safety, push)	Team of: - Team leader (facilitating reflection and monitoring time and process, pull) - 8 family managers (working with the new method, responsible for decisions, participating in discussions) - 1 psychologist (facilitating understanding behavior in relation to child safety, pull), - 1 senior family manager (participating in discussion and facilitating reflection about conversation techniques, pull)
Routines of the team meeting	- Giving updates and anecdotes about cases and making decisions - Focus on the parents and their problems. - Team members are accountable for their own cases - Prioritizing application of rules and following procedures rather than child safety	- Reflecting together on cases about the purpose and principles of the organization and taking decisions - Focus and integration of principles and practice by using core questions - Focus on what parents’ behavior means for the safety of the child - Work as one team with shared responsibility - Case-note discussion (how to use the work methods) - Continuous improvement

Table 3. NPT Operationalization.

NPT Concept	Operationalized practice of a leader in a team meeting
Coherence	Leadership practices that facilitate or hamper the process and work of sense-making and understanding of ICFM that teams have to go through in order to promote or inhibit the routine embedding of IFCM.
Cognitive participation	Leadership practices that facilitate or hamper the process and relational work that teams have to go through in order to enroll individuals to engage with the new practice of ICFM.
Collective action	Leadership practices that facilitate or hamper the operational work that teams have to do to enact IFCM by realizing integration and workability of new roles, relations, and collaborative problem-solving processes in the new practice.
Reflexive monitoring	Leadership practices that facilitate or hamper the appraisal work of ICFM once it is in use, in order to assess its advantages and disadvantages, and which develops users’ comprehension of the effects of a practice.

Table 4. Emerging leadership themes.

NPT Concept	Emerging themes
Coherence	Differentiation between old/other and the new practice Clarifying conditions and principles of ICFM for practice Different sensemaking paces Integrating individual and collective sense-making
Cognitive participation	Commitment to shared responsibility Clarifying roles and how they relate Supportive environment Trust
Collective action	Reinforcement of the central line (integrating SMART objective related to pedagogical principles) Escalation to different levels of management for the removal of barriers
Reflexive monitoring	Learning from stagnant cases Individual appraisal Positive assessment