The Role of Supervision in Enhancing Social Workers’ Professional Resilience

This study examines how supervision enhances social workers' professional resilience, as reflected in their job satisfaction. Drawing on Herzberg's two-factor theory and a professional resilience framework, authors surveyed 2,542 licensed social workers in Israel to elucidate the mechanisms by which high-quality supervision impacts job satisfaction. Path analysis revealed that supervision had significant direct and indirect effects on job satisfaction, accounting for 30 percent of its variance. Specifically, effective supervision was found to positively affect autonomy, enhance a sense of recognition, and improve promotion prospects while also buffering against the adverse effects of perceived stress. These findings underscore the dual role of supervision in providing both emotional support and structured guidance, which are essential for fostering professional growth and mitigating occupational stressors in demanding work environments characterized by austerity measures and high caseloads. Based on these insights, authors advocate for an integrated supervision model in which external supervisors provide emotional support and clinical guidance, while internal supervisors focus on training, protocol adherence, and performance metrics. Such a dual approach promises to enhance social workers' job satisfaction, reduce their burnout, and ultimately improve the quality of their client services, offering valuable implications for both clinical practice and policy development in social work.