CFSM: Fueling High Performance
Related Competencies
CFSM: Fueling High Performance
College of Frontline Supervision, Management, and Leadership (CFSM)
The College of Frontline Supervision, Management, and Leadership (CFSM) is a competency based training and development tool. These sets are nationally validated and/or come from expert consensus. The foundation of competencies makes courses easier to use in a coordinated way to develop a person’s overall competence and create a meaningful development plan. These lists provide you with each competency set that undergirds the CFSM content and the specific competencies that this course covers.
The National Frontline Supervisor Competencies (NFSC)
The National Frontline Supervisor Competencies (NFSC) are an evidence-based set of knowledge, skills, and abilities that reflect best practice in the supervision of Direct Support Professionals (DSP) who work with individuals with disabilities in residential, work, and community settings. These competencies have been adopted by the National Alliance on Direct Support Professionals (NADSP) as the foundation of their supervisory credential. Learn more about The National Frontline Supervisor Competencies (NFSC) (PDF).
Competency 5: Promoting professional relations and teamwork
Frontline Supervisors enhance professional relations among team members and their capacity to work effectively with others toward common goals by using effective communication skills, facilitating teamwork, and supporting and encouraging growth and professional development.
- 5.A. Facilitate teamwork and positive interactions among teams and between DSPs by managing conflict and providing counseling and support to DSPs as needed in all work sites, particularly for DSPs who work in remote settings.
- 5.F. Involve and empower DSPs by taking a direct interest in their roles and responsibilities, encouraging DSPs to try new ideas, seeking DSPs’ opinions and input regarding various issues, and empowering DSPs to make decisions.
- 5.G. Teach, model, and coach DSPs in the most effective approaches to achieve the direct support competencies.
- 5.H. Promote increased understanding among team members of individual differences and perspectives as it relates to teamwork and individual support services.
- 5.K. Coordinate and facilitate staff meetings, ensuring a sense of trust and openness, and encouraging group participation and ownership.
Competency 7: Staff supervision, training, and development
Frontline Supervisors coordinate and lead competency-based direct support staff training and professional development activities, including coaching and mentoring. Frontline Supervisors conduct performance reviews and are responsible for all aspects of staff supervision, including scheduling and maintaining training records.
- 7.B. Promote the ongoing competency-based training and development of DSPs by effectively supporting DSPs in creating and updating professional development plans, and sharing resources related to best practices, emerging trends, and evidence-based practices.
- 7.C. Provide required training to DSPs on the needs of participant, attending to all relevant rules, regulations, the NADSP Code of Ethics, and other professional codes using a variety of competency-based training methods to address different learning styles.
- 7.D. Use a variety of methods and styles to provide coaching and feedback to DSPs regarding performance issues, including demonstrating correct performance and implementing necessary disciplinary action.
- 7.F. Observe and solicit feedback from DSPs, participant, and his or her family regarding DSP training needs, and identify potential resources and other opportunities for training.
Competency 10: Leadership, professionalism and self-development
Frontline Supervisors maintain professionalism and engage in ongoing selfdevelopment and professional development activities. Frontline Supervisors share and receive knowledge from others, support coworkers, and actively participate in the life of his or her organization.
- 10.A. Employ effective leadership strategies for problem-solving, decisionmaking, and conflict management.
- 10.B. Recognize own personal biases, stereotypes, and prejudices to maintain objectivity when interacting with others.
- 10.C. Demonstrate sensitivity and respect for the opinions, perspectives, customs, and individual differences of others, and actively seek opinions and ideas from people of varied background and experiences to improve decisions.
- 10.D. Complete duties with integrity by staying focused on the individual being supported, being honest, showing respect towards others at all times, and completing tasks in a timely and effective way.
- 10.F. Complete required training education/certification, and continue professional development and development of expertise by keeping abreast of evidence-based best practices, technology, and relevant resources that will enhance knowledge and leadership in practice.
- 10.G. Actively participate in personal professional development plan by identifying occupational interests, strengths, options, and opportunities.
- 10.H. Attend and actively contribute to organizational activities, including planning and development activities, and leadership team meetings.
Leading Age Mid-Level Manager Core Competencies
Leading Age Mid-Level Manager Core Competencies are national consensus competencies that were developed specifically for frontline supervisors and mid-level managers in organizations that provide long-term services and support (LTSS)
Core Competency 1: Interpersonal
The mid-level manager has the skills to communicate effectively with staff, and with individuals and their family/support networks. The mid-level manager also has the skills to collaborate with, empower, inspire and manage staff.
Domain 1A: Accountability
Holds himself/herself and other people accountable to standards of performance, monitors and evaluates plans, and establishes accountability benchmarks.
- Sets clear standards for high performance, and models compliance with those standards. Provides clarity on requested tasks. Keeps people informed. Sets limits and boundaries for the behaviors and actions of others.
- Takes responsibility for personal and group performance outcomes. Anticipates and takes action on team performance shortfalls and problems, and holds people accountable for performance. Explains the magnitude of shortfalls and problems to staff, and empowers staff to move forward. Creates an environment in which people can work together to meet organizational goals. Works toward compliance.
- Acknowledges and learns from mistakes without blaming others. Recognizes the impact of his/her behavior on others. Calculates the impact of his/her actions or words.
Domain 1C: Communication
Establishes supportive and collaborative relationships with staff by keeping people informed, adapting communication to audience, practicing focused listening, responding to the feelings and concerns of others, and demonstrating a range of effective communication skills.
- Creates effective, positive, ongoing and open communication with various populations at all levels of the organization. Focuses communication on the needs, interests and desired results expressed by these populations. Employs active listening skills that include listening and responding to the information received, paraphrasing, and asking open-ended questions. Displays empathy for colleagues and staff.
- Understands the need for sensitivity when interpreting electronic communication, and prioritizes the mode of communication that is appropriate for the situation. Communicates and addresses problems with staff in private.
- Supports appropriate communication for small groups and teams by communicating expectations, promoting cooperative behaviors, and seeking feedback in order to improve communications.
- Facilitates group interactions using varied techniques, including brainstorming, consensus building, group problem-solving and conflict resolution. Demonstrates good meeting management techniques.
Domain 1E: Education, Training and Self-Development
Identifies and seeks opportunities for professional development based on his/her personal strengths and needs, the impact that he/she has on others, and emerging evidence-based practices.
- Systematically assesses the need for personal and professional training. Completes required training, education and certification, as well as continued professional development.
- Seeks feedback on his/her performance from multiple sources, including supervisors, peers and staff. Uses performance evaluations and feedback to improve performance.
- Learns from line staff.
Domain 1F: Initiative
Identifies and addresses current and future problems or opportunities, and confidently uses critical-thinking skills and innovative thinking to implement solutions and resolve conflicts.
- Seeks challenging assignments and new responsibilities. Understands when to be firm, and when to be flexible, in the face of disagreements with management.
Domain 1G: Leadership
Works to improve quality of care and life for individuals, and the workplace environment for staff, by acting as a change agent who creates and leads interdisciplinary systems and encourages others to be open to change and sustain their commitment to change.
- Models the organization’s values, mission and vision in daily work and through interaction and communication with others.
- Generates commitment and enthusiasm from others to set and achieve challenging goals and objectives and live up to the organization’s vision, mission and values.
- Actively seeks ongoing feedback to make necessary changes and adjustments as the organization moves from its current to its desired state. This includes:
- Incorporating planning and implementation elements into every change.
- Being sensitive to the needs of staff at all levels to be involved and to feel part of the organizational culture.
- Valuing and incorporating staff opinions into decision-making.
Domain 1H: Teamwork
Helps staff teams increase their capabilities, maximize their potential and recognize their options while encouraging departments to work collaboratively for the good of individuals, their family/support networks and the organization.
- Promotes and enables interdisciplinary collaboration, cooperation and team effectiveness.
- Integrates processes and programs across departments, and communicates across departments.
- Provides essential information to individuals and groups for decision-making and fulfillment of responsibilities. Communicates regularly with people affected by a team decision.
- Values and respects the contributions of all team members to meeting the needs of the individual, the family/support network and the community.
- Is a team leader. Sets expectations, models a good work ethic, and works with the team. Develops the strengths of team members.
- Uses available evidence to inform effective teamwork and team-based practices.
- Deals with conflicts in an appropriate, timely and constructive manner. Uses effective inter-professional communication and shared problem-solving to strengthen the ability of team members to work together effectively.
- Understands his/her role to market the organization and promote its services to external audiences.
Domain 2C: Performance Improvement
Systematically measures organizational performance, implements evidence-based strategies to improve performance, and empowers staff to participate in these efforts.
- Implements and incorporates evidence-based principles, strategies and tools into management activities. These principles, strategies and tools support continuous quality improvement to achieve better outcomes for individuals and enhanced productivity for staff and volunteers/interns, where appropriate.
- Evaluates situations with an eye toward identifying opportunities for performance improvement. Works to identify the root cause of problems. Tracks performance. Improves work processes. Focuses objectively on systematic changes that are needed to improve an organizational process. Works to enhance organizational practices and continuous improvement by collecting and using qualitative and quantitative data to analyze problems and track the organization’s performance and outcomes.
- Implements, monitors and updates plans to improve the organization and the department.
- Empowers staff to participate in decision-making. Has positive expectations. Encourages others to do their best. Values and respects the input and expertise of other people. Does not play favorites.
- Interprets and translates the organization’s long-term goals, and works with staff to achieve those goals through day-to-day tasks. Understands how the organization’s goals relate to internal and external environments.
- Monitors and takes pride in the quality of his/her work and the work of others. Continuously searches out and acts on opportunities to improve quality and service.
- Continues to try new solutions until desired results are achieved. Researches effectiveness of solutions. Takes the initiative to collaborate with individuals and their family/support networks to find solutions to problems.
- Promotes staff self-evaluation. Encourages staff to set individual and team goals for performance improvement.
Core Competency 4: Human Resources
The mid-level manager has skills to hire and retain staff and to continuously develop himself/herself and staff.
Domain 4A: Human Resources Management
Develops, implements and evaluates strategies to recruit and retain staff and volunteers/interns, where appropriate, and optimizes the performance of the workforce by effectively managing himself/herself, the work and the team.
- Appropriately applies the organization’s human resources policies and procedures.
- Works collaboratively with human resources professionals to implement effective strategies for recruiting and retaining quality staff and volunteers/interns, where appropriate. This includes:
- Providing input into job descriptions.
- Participating in the selection of employees.
- Using effective interviewing skills to evaluate the abilities of the potential talent pool.
- Setting clear standards for high performance.
- Orienting new employees to the organization.
- Implementing retention practices.
- Coaching employees.
- Informing and promoting staff members and staff teams.
- Recognizing, rewarding and valuing the expertise and input of others.
- Making jobs meaningful, challenging and contributory to the department and the organization.
- Creates and maintains complete, timely, accurate and confidential staff records. Collaborates with appropriate departments, including human resources, to carry out performance management and workforce development.
- Oversees ongoing and timely performance management. Effectively utilizes the organization’s method of performance evaluation. Ensures that staff evaluations are timely, accurate, frequent, collaborative and based on clear, job-based criteria.
- Implements the organization’s progressive discipline policy, and its internal grievance process, in a fair and consistent manner.
- Assures quality orientation and ongoing training that represent evidence-based practices, use adult learning principles, and employ staff as trainers and mentors.
- Expresses positive expectations of how staff members will develop their skills over time. Believes others want to and can learn to improve their performance. Assists and coordinates educational opportunities to support the goals of workers.
- Nurtures top employees so they can successfully assume leadership roles within the organization. Helps team members develop the skills and confidence to work independently of supervisor.
- Empowers and motivates staff. Provides constructive feedback and support.
- Works with staff to create performance improvement plans.