Nonprofit organizations operate in environments marked by complexity, rapid policy shifts, and ongoing community needs. Services for the UnderServed (S:US) is one of New York City’s largest and most comprehensive human services agencies. S:US supports thousands of New Yorkers each year by providing housing and homeless services, behavioral health and treatment programs, developmental disabilities services, eviction prevention, and veteran services. With more than 2,000 dedicated employees and over 90 program sites across the boroughs and Long Island, S:US works to create opportunities for all by disrupting cycles of poverty, promoting wellness, and helping individuals and families stabilize and thrive.1
Within this landscape, mid-level managers play an essential role in shaping daily service delivery. They translate broad organizational strategy into clear expectations and operational practices. They serve as the primary support and accountability structure for frontline staff. They ensure regulatory compliance, facilitate performance management, coordinate with funders, navigate crises, and maintain a healthy overall climate within their teams. Despite the significance of their role, mid-level managers often receive inconsistent supervision or supervision that only focus on administrative tasks, without attending to the educational or supportive needs that sustain long-term leadership.
Strengthening the supervision of mid-level managers is essential for organizational sustainability, workforce retention, and the quality of services provided to vulnerable populations across New York City.
The Essential Role of Mid-Level Managers
Mid-level managers are the bridge between the frontline and senior leadership. They are responsible for ensuring that services are delivered with quality and consistency, that staff remain aligned with best practices, and that programs maintain fidelity to funder and regulatory requirements. They supervise multidisciplinary teams, address staff concerns, mediate conflicts, and create structures that support accountability and growth. They also provide coaching, maintain safety protocols, respond to crises, support documentation standards, and advance the organization’s mission.
These responsibilities become even more demanding during times of workforce shortages. Behavioral health and human services agencies across the United States report high vacancy rates and persistent challenges in recruitment and retention. A national workforce analysis found that behavioral health organizations experience vacancy rates above thirty percent.2 This places pressure on mid-level managers who must fill gaps, absorb additional responsibilities, and sustain team morale during periods of instability. Studies also show that leaders in human services settings are frequently exposed to vicarious trauma and chronic stress,3 which impacts their own capacity to lead effectively and underscores the need for intentional supervisory support structures informed by workforce research.
The role requires emotional intelligence, flexibility, crisis management, administrative expertise, and the ability to guide staff through complex and often emotionally charged work. Without intense supervision, these challenges can become overwhelming.
Challenges Facing Mid-Level Managers
Role Ambiguity and Role Conflict: Many mid-level managers are promoted because they excelled in frontline roles. Although they may be skilled in direct service, they often receive limited preparation for supervisory responsibilities. Research demonstrates that role conflict and role overload significantly contribute to burnout and turnover in social service organizations.4
Limited Supervisory Training: Supervision training is not consistently offered in nonprofit agencies. Supervisors may default on administrative tasks required by auditors and funders, while the educational and supportive elements of supervision receive less attention.5
Emotional Labor and Vicarious Trauma: Mid-level managers carry the emotional weight of the work alongside frontline staff. They support employees who experience burnout, compassion fatigue, secondary traumatic stress, and frustration with systemic barriers. Compassion fatigue and vicarious trauma are widely documented among supervisors in human services settings.6
Workforce Shortages and Turnover: Persistent staffing shortages require mid-level managers to redistribute caseloads, adjust schedules, cover unfilled shifts, and respond to staff burnout. This significantly increases workload and reduces time available for high-quality supervision.
Pressure From Multiple Directions: Mid-level managers must satisfy the expectations of frontline staff, senior leadership, funders, auditors, community partners, and regulatory bodies, often simultaneously.
A Research-Based Framework for Strong Supervision
Three well-established domains of supervision offer a structure that supports mid-level leaders.7
- Normative or Administrative Supervision: Normative supervision focuses on policies, documentation standards, ethical practice, accountability, and quality assurance.
- Formative or Educational Supervision: Formative supervision focuses on skill building, professional development, and leadership growth.
- Restorative or Supportive Supervision: Restorative supervision focuses on emotional wellness, morale, reflection, and resilience. Research indicates that supportive and reflective supervision reduces burnout and improves retention⁸.
Why Restorative and Formative Supervision Must Be Prioritized
Organizations are more likely to retain staff when employees feel supported, valued, and invested in,⁹ particularly when supervision includes both developmental and supportive components. Mid-level managers need supervision that extends beyond administrative oversight. Prioritizing restorative and formative supervision strengthen leadership confidence, team cohesion, and overall program stability.
At Services for the UnderServed, these principles are central to how senior leadership supports mid-level managers and managers of managers and reflect organizational learning grounded in practice experience. S:US uses a structured supervision model grounded in the normative, formative, and restorative framework. ⁷ At the C-suite level, particular emphasis is placed on restorative supervision, which provides protected space for leaders to process emotional labor, navigate organizational pressures, and strengthen reflective decision-making. This intentional approach models healthy supervision practices, fosters psychological safety, and ensures that managers can confidently support their teams.
Recommendations for Strengthening Supervision of Mid-Level Managers
The following recommendations reflect practices implemented at Services for the UnderServed (S:US) as part of senior leadership’s commitment to developing strong managers and building a resilient workforce.
Implement a structured supervisory model grounded in evidence and practice: At S:US, supervision is anchored in the normative, formative, and restorative framework.7 Supervisory meetings consistently address administrative expectations, professional development, and reflective space.
Provide leadership development through ongoing coaching and formative supervision: S:US integrates coaching and modeling into supervision to strengthen communication, problem-solving, and leadership confidence.5
Prioritize restorative supervision to support emotional labor: Senior leadership and directors at S:US receive restorative supervision that addresses stressors, emotional fatigue, and the complex decisions required in human services.8
Normalize reflective dialogue and transparent communication: S:US promotes open conversations that allow leaders to examine dilemmas, team dynamics, and systemic barriers in a supportive environment.
Support wellness and sustainable workloads for supervisors: S:US advocates for manageable workloads, protected supervision time, and shared problem-solving across program leadership.
Alignment with Human Resources, Quality Assurance, and senior leadership to reinforce supervisory expectations: S:US ensures consistent supervision expectations across programs through collaboration between executive leadership, human resources, and quality assurance teams.
Mid-level managers are essential to nonprofit human services organizations and are supported through supervision approaches that reflect emerging practice-based evidence and leadership scholarship.10 Strengthening formative and restorative supervision while maintaining administrative oversight helps build confident, resilient, and effective leaders. The supervision model implemented at Services for the UnderServed demonstrates how intentional investment in leadership development enhances organizational culture, improves service delivery, and supports the well-being of supervisors at every level.
Dr. Nadjete Natchaba is a senior nonprofit executive and licensed clinical social worker with extensive experience overseeing large-scale human services programs across New York City. Her work centers on leadership development, program quality, organizational culture, and advancing equitable, trauma-informed service delivery. She is the Chief Program Officer at Services for the UnderServed (S:US), where she provides executive leadership for the organization’s Homeless Services, Behavioral Health Recovery and Treatment programs, Eviction Prevention Services, and Veteran Services portfolio.
Footnotes
- Services for the UnderServed, Inc. “About Us.” Services for the UnderServed, https://www.sus.org/about/.
- National Council for Mental Wellbeing. Workforce Shortage Survey. 2022.
- Bride, Brian E. “Prevalence of Secondary Traumatic Stress Among Social Workers.” Social Work, vol. 52, no. 1, 2007.
- Mor Barak, Michàlle E., et al. “The Impact of Supervision on Worker Outcomes.” Administration in Social Work, 2009.
- Falender, Carol A., and Edward P. Shafranske. Clinical Supervision: A Competency-Based Approach. 2013.
- Figley, Charles R. Compassion Fatigue: Coping With Secondary Traumatic Stress Disorder in Those Who Treat the Traumatized. 1995.
- Proctor, Brigid. “Supervision: A Cooperative Exercise in Accountability.” British Journal of Social Work Education, 1986.
- Knight, Carolyn. “Trauma-Informed Supervision: Themes and Recommendations.” Clinical Supervisor, 2013.
- Kadushin, Alfred, and Daniel Harkness. Supervision in Social Work. 2014.
- Natchaba, Nadjete. The Effectiveness of Supervision Models on Workforce Experience in Care Coordination. Doctoral dissertation, 2024.
