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We’re under pressure to complete forms and tick the boxes, but that doesn’t always capture what the child is really saying or needing. The real value comes when we sit and listen properly (Iriss)
For most people, the words performance review don’t exactly spark joy. Even if everyone accepts that reviewing performance is necessary, it’s often experienced as a tick-box exercise: a neat sorting of tasks into “achievements” and “shortcomings.” The problem is that this mindset is not relational and seeps into daily practice. We naturally focus our energy on activities that are measured and deprioritise those that aren’t — even if the latter might be more meaningful for a young person.
When goals and metrics are narrowly defined, they can distort not just what we do, but how we feel about our work. If you’re driven by meeting milestones, you may find yourself emotionally investing more in tasks that “count” in the system, rather than those that count for the young person in front of you.
For young people, this can subtly shape their own sense of success and failure. Services that rely heavily on population-level statistics — often to “prove” disadvantage or to persuade young people — risk missing the person in the numbers. Statistics can be important for advocacy, but they are not person-centred. The result? Support feels less relational, less individual, and less connected to the young person’s own story of what a good life looks like.
Metrics are powerful. Performance management can play an important role in supporting accountability and tracking whether necessary work is being done. But the measures chosen can strongly influence practice — sometimes in unintended ways.
Consider this example: an outcome measure reads “Length of time a young person receives support” with a shorter duration defined as positive. It might be argued the intention is to encourage independence, but in practice it makes the worker accountable for keeping support short, whether appropriate or not. The young person’s needs might be secondary to the organisational metric.
Having said that, a good outcomes approach is not about fostering dependence. It will build on a young person’ strengths as well as considering support needs. “What goals does the young person have, what contribution do they want to make and what support might they need?” Measured against this, the organisation is accountable to the young person — building on their strengths whilst offering meaningful support that helps them to achieve their outcomes.
A personal outcomes approach works this way. Instead of starting with pre-set, externally defined outcomes, it begins with what matters most to the people involved and builds accountability around delivering that. This approach makes performance management relational because it values the quality of the relationship and the personal change it supports, rather than simply counting tasks and time. Also, it is not about doing to someone, it is about doing with them.
Getting it Right for Every Child (GIRFEC) is the overarching policy for children and young people in Scotland. The wellbeing indicators SHANARRI provide a framework for understanding how a child or young person is at any given time. But this is a broad framework. To improve your performance management, you need to define what outcomes truly matter to the young people you support.
The personal outcomes network shares information about having good conversations with people about what matters to them, as a starting point for understanding the person and how best to support them. Reviewing outcomes over time can help with understanding and learning about what works for that person, and through looking at collective outcomes, what matters to and what works for groups in particular settings.
You could take the SHANARRI indicators and discuss these with your staff, and young people. How are current metrics influencing your daily work? How are current metrics felt by young people? What would work better for them?
*Relationship-based practice is an approach that prioritises building trusting, consistent, and empathetic relationships as the foundation for support. *It recognises that meaningful change and positive outcomes are more likely when young people feel valued, understood, and safe in their interactions with adults. *It focuses on the quality of the human connection rather than solely on procedures, emphasising active listening, authenticity, and mutual respect.
*Trauma-informed practice recognises how common trauma is, and how deeply it shapes young people’s development, behaviour, and relationships. *It aims to create safety, avoid re-traumatisation, and promote resilience and healing. *Early experiences leave lasting marks on body and mind. Trauma-informed practice takes this knowledge and applies it so practitioners and organisations can build safe, healing spaces.
Introductions matter — when, how, and where they happen can shape a young person’s entire experience of transition. For young people in care, transitions are often the most difficult times, especially when they involve changes in trusted relationships. This guide looks at how to approach introductions and referrals through the lens of relational practice, focusing on building trust and avoiding unnecessary stress.
What do IT systems and relationships have in common? Both usually run in the background and are easily taken for granted. Yet, IT systems can have a big influence on the quality of relationships and relational practice in general.
One of the first things you learn when you start your job is when you need to arrive and when you need to leave. Have you ever considered that the pattern of your work affects the relationships you are building?
Organisational values influence the working culture. They can inspire workers to follow the organisation's mission. However, for them to have an impact they need to be developed with staff and young people.
It is important to keep learning and growing. Recognise your staff’s value and expertise by developing internal training and discussion sessions. Enable staff to learn and train more. Training should not be a tick-box exercise but a place for growth and reflection.
As is often said, hurt people hurt people – it is even more important to consider the flipside: supported people support people. Working with young people and caring for them can be a demanding role, especially in under-resourced and stressful environments. A truly relational organisation also invests in the relationships between managers and staff, creating a positive environment for everyone.
Relationships are shaped by the culture of organisations. Sometimes one person who ‘doesn’t get it’ can create relational barriers for an entire team. So, it’s easy to see why recruiting the right people is critical to create and maintain a relational organisation.
Strong relationships take time, effort, and trust. For young people with care experience, this can be more complex, requiring patience, consistency, and a clear sense of boundaries. With the right approach, you can build positive, lasting connections that support the young person’s growth and relational skills.
Relationships are essential to all parts of life and encompass both our professional and personal lives. They are a vital part of the support networks for our young people and the stronger the relationship the better we can all do our jobs, perhaps making them feel less like a job and more like a vocation. And perhaps more importantly, the stronger the relationship the more important a young person might feel.
