The Transition from Service Provider to Service Manager

Capability Level: Established

Research shows that about one-third of all health and social care service managers in Australia have a health or social care provider background. As direct service clinicians and staff mature in their profession and become more experienced, they are encouraged to take on both the professional supervision of individuals and the management of groups or units within their service. The transition from ‘service provider’ to ‘service manager’ often brings challenges and can be a sharp learning curve for emerging leaders in the health and community sectors.

This course aims to assist professionals in the welfare, health and community services sectors to strengthen their leadership and management skills as they transition into management and leadership roles. The course is also suitable for current managers seeking to further their leadership aspirations and pathways and those contemplating the transition into management in the future.

The course covers the following essential knowledge areas:

• Communication and negotiation
• People management
• Service and financial management
• Bridging and building relationships
• Systemic and strategic leadership

This course explores these key transition areas and the capabilities and skill areas for development required to support the transition process. Registrants are also encouraged to complete a number of reflective exercises (including a SWOT analysis) to assist them in developing and assessing their learning and development needs and strengths, together with their goals in transitioning into or furthering their management careers.

Who should register? This course is suited to a range of social work and/or other community and Allied Health workers across community, health, Government and welfare settings.

Learning Outcomes

This course seeks to enable participants to:

• Understand the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and challenges identified with the transition from service provider to service manager
• Identify and explore key knowledge areas pertinent to the transition into leadership – including frameworks and core skill development.

Presenter

Dr. Elizabeth Shannon is a Manager, Leadership and Management Development Tasmanian Department of Health and Human Services, and Adjunct Senior Lecturer, School of Rural Health, Faculty of Health Science, University of Tasmania.

A practitioner with 30 years’ of experience, Elizabeth has published nationally and internationally on management and leadership development.

Elizabeth was instrumental in the development of the Australian health leadership framework: Health LEADS Australia, where she represented the Tasmanian Department of Health and Human Services on the national consultation working group.

She has continued to champion the framework in her Departmental work and in her work in the national Leadership Collaborative - a multi-jurisdictional group promoting health leadership development in the public sector.

Elizabeth developed and delivered the online postgraduate unit LEADing in Health and Human Services, based on Health LEADS Australia, for the University of Tasmania. Elizabeth has also been commissioned to deliver leadership development as part of the CARAH Health LEADS program in Central Australia.