Culture and Wellbeing Update
Argyll and Bute Council · 27 March 2024
Back to Argyll and Bute HSCP Integration Joint Board (IJB) — 27 March 2024 and its agenda
Text extracted from the council's PDF. Layout and reading order may differ from the original.
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1 Date of Meeting: March 2024 Title of Report: Culture and Wellbeing Update Presented by: Geraldine Collier The IJB is asked to: ▪ Note the content of the report and the progress being made in the Culture and Wellbeing environment ▪ Discuss and ask questions on any element of the paper 1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1.1 This paper outlines the progress in the Culture and Wellbeing environment for A&B HSCP and assures the committee of the positive developments being made and the direction of travel for the coming year. 2. INTRODUCTION 2.1 The culture and wellbeing Group continue to meet bi-monthly focusing on; employee engagement, culture monitoring, learning and development, management development, wellbeing promotion, communication, systems and processes and improving data capture to inform decisions. 3 DETAIL OF REPORT 3.1 This report focuses on the wellbeing activity over the last 6 months since the last report in September 2023. 4 RELEVANT DATA AND INDICATORS People strategies 4.1 Both NHS and Council have been working on their people strategies. The council people strategy is attached in Appendix one and sets out the councils updated strategic objectives until 2028. This was approved by the Policy and Resources Committee on the 15th February 2024. The High level themes are: • Attracting and keeping talent • Providing a positive employee experience • Creating one Council, one place culture • Supporting learning and Growth • Championing change and Innovation
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2 4.1.2 NHS Highland have also been developing their people strategies concentrating on the following strands of work which all contribute to Culture and wellbeing: • Health and wellbeing • Culture and Leadership • Communication and engagement 4.1.3 Each of these themes has a working group reporting to the NHSH portfolio board on activity and progress. Progress in these groups feed into and from the HSCP culture and wellbeing group to inform and support Board and local activity. 4.2 Health and wellbeing 4.2.2 The local Culture and wellbeing working group continue to meeting bi- monthly and progress local, board and council wide initiatives. 4.2.3 NHS Highland is currently developing and consulting on their health and wellbeing strategy encapsulating physical, mental and financial health. This is intrinsically linked to the activity in the culture and leadership and communication and engagement work streams and there is close working across the groups. 4.2.4 Each employer has a developed wellbeing sites which can be found here Council wellbeing site and NHS wellbeing site which are regularly reviewed and updated to be used as a reference point for employees and managers. 4.2.5 While there are differences in how the employer strategies are presented the action across employers focuses on the same themes and activities. These aligns with the 3 pillars of wellbeing as detailed in the Scottish Government wellbeing strategy - Promotion, Prevention and Provision of services. 4.3 Culture and Leadership 4.3.1 The Culture and Leadership framework was approved by COG in October 2023, outlining a 4 phase project plan focussing on Our Learning System, Leadership and Management Development and Colleague Development. The full framework is attached in Appendix 2 4.3.2 The plan prioritises those interventions which are expected to have greatest impact on the behavioural and cultural changes we seek. A modernised, refreshed and blended approach to structuring the learning experience is being embarked upon to maximise participant accessibility, attendance, and learning outcomes whilst minimising time away from substantive posts. 4.3.3 We are currently in phase 1 of this plan and much of the refreshed/new Phase 1 content is now available to book through Turas
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3 (highlighted in yellow) with the remaining expected to be available from April 2024 onwards. 4.3.4 A Developing Careers post has also been recruited to and is linked into appropriate work streams within A&B, and the ELOD team continue to support the Culture & Wellbeing Group within A&B. 4.3.5 PDP / Quality conversations As outlined in previous updates and the table above appraisal / PDP completion is an area of focus for NHS Highland and the HSCP. Completion rates are low and this is a recognised area of focus and improvement. 4.3.6 The council moved away from PDP’s to a quality conversation approach focusing on the quality of the conversations and communication between line managers and their employees. It reaffirms the expectation that all employees will have time with their manager to discuss their objectives, behaviours, performance and career aspirations. The council are currently running a survey to monitor the quality conversations approach to make sure it is achieving the desired outcomes. 4.4 Employee Engagement 4.4.1 The usual preparation for the I-matter survey has commenced to be prepared for the launch in May. This year the Imatter team hierarchies will be linked with the ees workforce systems team groups and Leadership Development Modules Phase 1 Our Leadership Approach PDP&R Reviewer Problem Solving & Decision Making Enabling Considerate & Courageous Conversations Facilitating Supportive Conversations For All Leaders & Colleagues Phase 1 Welcome Session How We Work Together Matters (digital resource) Coaching & Mentoring Skills Courageous Conversations (e- learning) Self Care & Resilience Understanding Change (e- learning) Colleague Development Phase 1 PDPR Reviewee (digital resource)
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4 hierarchies. It is anticipated that this will improve data recording and reporting. The I matter output will be collated from June onwards and reported to IJB following this 4.4.2 Strong employee engagement remains a priority for the HSCP and building on the progress made last year, the feedback through I matter and previous staff engagement exercises an employee engagement deep dive exercise is being developed to take place through August /September. This deep dive will concentrate on gathering qualitative feedback to explore the themes previously identified, namely: • Visibility of leaders • Being involved in decisions • Performance management • Celebrating success 4.4.3 The deep dive will be carried out via face to face and virtual sessions and involve all HSCP employees. The findings will then be triangulated with absence, turnover, length of service and any exit and on-boarding feedback data held. Led by colleagues from People Planning, Analytics and Reward there will also be a read across to vacancy and supplementary staffing usage. Findings and action will be reported back to IJB when complete 5 CONTRIBUTION TO STRATEGIC PRIORITIES This paper provides details of work towards the staff governance standards and strategic priorities of the HSCP with particular relevance to care and compassion, leadership & development and nurturing the workforce aligning to the vision and values of HSCP and wider NHS and Council. HSCP Values - Compassion, Integrity, Respect, Continuous learning, Leadership, Excellence (CIRCLE) 6 GOVERNANCE IMPLICATIONS 6.1 Financial Impact Encouraging a positive organisational culture and prioritising staff wellbeing while not driven by financial gain will support an improved financial position. Organisations that focus a positive workforce culture and priorities the wellbeing of their workforce experience improved staff retention, reduced sickness absence and improved productivity. 6.3 Staff Governance This report provides an overview of work that contributes to staff governance commitments 6.4 Clinical Governance None 7 PROFESSIONAL ADVISORY
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5 The content of this report has been discussed at SLT which ensures oversight and input from both Heads of Service and Professional advisors. There are staff side/ trade representatives involved in the working group and involved at SLT. 8 EQUALITY & DIVERSITY IMPLICATIONS Equality and Diversity implications are considered within the NHS People and Change and Council HROD teams as appropriate when policies and strategies are developed. Equality and Diversity has been included in the action plan and is a regular feature on the working group agenda. As this area of focus expands and there is more data collated this will be further reported. 9 DIRECTIONS Directions required to Council, NHS Board or both. Directions to: tick No Directions required x Argyll & Bute Council NHS Highland Health Board Argyll & Bute Council and NHS Highland Health Board REPORT AUTHOR AND CONTACT Author Name Geraldine Collier Email Geraldine.collier@nhs.scot Appendicies Appendix 1: A&B People Strategy Appendix 2: NHS Culture and Leadership framework