How To Persevere

Shenzhen is a demonstration zone for the development of social work and the construction of social work talents in China.The level of professionalization,professionalization and localization of social work is at the forefront of the country.At the same time,the high turnover rate of social workers has also aroused widespread concern in society and academia.Experts and scholars pay attention to the social worker groups who have resignation tendency or have resigned,but also see the social worker groups who have stayed for a long time.In the process of social work development in Shenzhen,a group of professional social workers who started from frontline social work positions and have stayed in the field of social work for more than ten years have been cultivated.This group of senior professional social workers with solid theoretical knowledge and practical experience provides new research perspectives for increasing the willingness of social workers to stay and reducing the turnover rate of social workers.This article takes ten professional social workers who have stayed in the social work industry in Shenzhen for more than ten years as the research objects,and investigates their retention factors through qualitative interviews.From individual factors,institutional/organizational factors,and family three-factor models to analyze professional social worker retention factors.The study found that the personal factors of this group of professional social work retention include personal recognition of social work,improvement of professional ability,professional achievement,and improvement of self-identity;institutional/organizational factors include acceptable salary,promotion space,Harmonious colleague relations,effective supervision of social work organizations and mutual support of peer groups;family factors include parents’ respect and non-objection attitude,and the family lacks social resources for changing careers and leaving.At the same time,applying the hypothesis of "social man" "economic man" and Self-interest-altruism congruent positive person hypothesis to study the influence of salary factors and emotional factors on the retention of professional social workers.Finally,based on the practical experience gained from the investigation of the retention factors of the research subjects,the author puts forward corresponding suggestions and measures to improve the retention rate of social workers at the individual level,the institution/organization level and the government level.From an individual perspective,social workers need to formulate personal career development plans,become professionals in social work,and establish the concept of "win-win" with the organization.At the level of university education,social work teachers can guide students to strengthen their self-experience and form a good self-identity.At the same time,explore the social work practice mechanism in colleges and universities,provide more practical opportunities for students,promote the internalization of students’ professional knowledge and ideas,and enhance the recognition of social work majors.At the institutional/organizational level,social work agencies must thoroughly implement the latest salary guidance prices for social work in Shenzhen,improve social workers’ salary and benefits,and strengthen education and emotional support for social worker supervision.The government needs to promote the implementation of salary guidance prices,protect the rights and interests of social workers,and at the same time strengthen the service supervision of social work institutions,and maintain the public welfare of social work.