What experience do you have developing and implementing policy?
As a social service manager, you may be required to develop and implement policies for your team or clients participating in your programs. The interviewer wants to know if you have experience crafting effective policies and how you have put those policies into practice.
Don't say you have never been responsible for policy development. If you haven't written policy for an organization or a team, think about any informal policies you may have for your own work or your work with colleagues. Explain what factors you would consider when creating formal policy, using your own 'personal policy' as an example.
"Although the organization's policies were set by senior management, I had the opportunity to draft and propose a policy that allowed members of our team to work remotely for up to 20% of the workweek. I collected data to demonstrate that each social worker spent about 35% of their time filing required documentation, which could be done from any location. The paperwork was also something that couldn't be neglected, as it was required by the state. The proposed policy offered employees the opportunity to do this work at off-peak hours and from any location as long as it was completed in the same week as it would have been under the current policy."
