2.5 Manager Responsibilities

1. Home Managers have considerable freedom to work flexibly depending on the needs of their homes and the business as a whole.  However they must be conscious of the fact that this is a 24-hour, 7 day a week job.  Good practice dictates they need to plan their hours around the needs of the staff and of the young people. They should be on duty a minimum of one evening per week, they should be at their homes when young people are getting up at least once a week and that they should work one weekend in four if not rota’d to do so.  Home Managers should also arrange to sleep in.  Home Managers should also arrange to work at the times they anticipate problems which they ought to be a part of solving. They need to work alongside their staff, particularly when they are aware of the need to support a weaker or newer member of staff or team or when there are particular difficulties with a young person.
2. Home Managers are expected to be available to welcome new admissions and for when young people leave the home.
3. Home Managers are expected to set down in writing in advance their expected/planned timetable for each week; sending it to the Line Manager before the week commences and copying it to their Team.
4. Home Managers are expected to keep a personal log of significant decisions/actions/agreements they take or are involved in. 
5. Home Managers may not ‘walk away’ from their home(s) having left an issue or anticipated problem unresolved.
6. Everything is confidential unless agreed.
7. Sickness must be reported to the line manager even if managers think they can cover it. 
8. All Home Managers must operate an ‘Open Door’ policy, encouraging staff at any level to talk to them about ideas, suggestions or to raise concerns or complaints.  However Home Managers must ensure that staff use the line management structure, raising issues at an appropriate level and only going to a higher manager when they have exhausted other routes or they are unavailable to them. They must  be wary of preventing their staff from feeling they can access the more senior staff, which could be seen as dangerous practice, and which can contribute to a remote feeling management structure.
9. Managers should attend all reviews or seek agreement from the Line Manager if not.
10. Managers are always expected to promote the success of the business.
11. Managers must be physically available to their staff and always ensure that their staff know where they are and how to contact them if not on site.
12. Managers may not deploy or utilise the resources, including staff, from other homes without the approval of the relevant manager, Line Manager.
    
    The proviso to this statement is that they can deploy resources/staff as they see fit whilst on call so long as it is necessary and for the shortest reasonable period.
13. Each week managers must read the following logs/records and sign them off ensuring that faults/issues are rectified:  Sanctions Log; Absconsion and Incident Log;  Accident, Medication and First Aid Log,  Maintenance log, Restraints Log,  Fire Checks Practices and Procedures, Placement Plans
14. Additionally, each week managers must read a selection of the following records and sign them off ensuring that faults are rectified: Progress Sheets, Contact Sheets, Staff Supervision Records, Young People’s Assessment and Planning Files; Live Files.
15. They are also responsible for ensuring correct expenditure on Petty Cash and Travelling expenses and will need to personally check these.
16. All correspondence relating to complaints, grievances, serious incidents, investigations, inspections and the like must be approved by and copied to the Director.
17. E-mails are primarily for informing, briefing or confirming; managers must not use e-mails as a tool to complain or express dissatisfaction with anyone.  If you have a concern or complaint talk about it.
18. Managers must ensure that as many placements and discharges are planned as possible; they must inform the Director as soon as they know or it is anticipated a young person will be leaving.
19. Managers are responsible for informing the Admin/Finance Department of Starting and Finishing dates of all placements, using the required forms and for ensuring they receive all other notifications regarding invoicing and funding matters.

End