Claire Fallon, HR & OD Project Manager Gary Theobald, Head of HR & OD. Lee Whitehead, Director of People & Communications

Transcription

1 Meeting Date Report Title Report Authors Lead Director FOI Status Tuesday 19 July 2016 HEE Staff Survey 2015/16 Update and proposed next steps Claire Fallon, HR & OD Project Manager Gary Theobald, Head of HR & OD Lee Whitehead, Director of People & Communications Disclosable Report Summary Purpose (tick one only) Recommendation The paper sets out an update on recent staff survey activities and proposals for the next steps Approval Members of the HEE Board are asked to note this progress update and to approve the planned approach for future evaluation and the recommendation on the next steps. Strategic Objective Links Identified risks and risk management actions Resource implications Support to NHS Constitution Legal implications including equality and diversity assessment Our response to the staff survey results, and the manner in which we engage with staff regarding the actions required to address the results, is vital given our aspiration to be an employer of choice. There is a risk that if HEE is seen as not responding to the issues raised by staff, or not doing so in a timely fashion. This reports sets out the actions and recommendations being taken forward in order to mitigate against these risks. Currently within allocated resources as action is being taken forward by local and regional directors in partnership with HR & OD staff. Supports all of the NHS Constitution pledges to staff, in particular the pledge to engage with staff on all matters that affect them. We must ensure that we take forward all of the activities arising from our analysis of the survey results in an inclusive and nondiscriminatory fashion. 1

2 HEE Staff Survey 2015 Update and Proposed Next Steps 1. Context 1.1 The 2015/16 HEE staff survey (using the national NHS Survey) was launched in January The purpose of the survey is to ask for staff views on their job and what it was like working for Health Education England during the previous year. We are using the survey findings to look at what else we need to do to improve working conditions, wellbeing and staff experience, and to assess our progress in taking forward the one HEE Development Framework agreed by the Board in October The survey results have once again been collated and analysed by our survey partners, Quality Health. These results have been shared with senior management teams and local staff through staff briefings and engagement sessions, and an overview has been provided on HR Direct. for all staff to access. 1.3 Having reviewed the results, senior management teams were then asked to identify two or three key topics within their geography or local area that they would like to improve upon in the next 12 months. These are as follows: 1.4 Managers and staff within the geographies and local offices are undertaking further engagement (such as local staff focus groups) to gather thoughts and suggestions on actions for areas identified by senior management teams for further development. 1.5 In addition, a summary of the results and the overall project plan for addressing these was shared with HEE s Partnership Forum in May and with the Board at the Development Workshop in June. 1 One HEE Development Framework, HEE October 2015: g%20functions.pdf 2

3 2. Key issues 2.1 A summary of the key issues identified is set out in Annex A to this report. Alongside this summary, it is important to note the following: Awareness is being improved of the need to report bullying and harassment in a confidential manner (36% of those who responded to the survey thought the anti-bullying week was helpful). Our new Contact Officer network was launched on 1 April 2016 meaning that all staff now have a trained local contact that they can approach in confidence for support and guidance, alongside the HR team and their trade union representative. There are positive indicators that teams are working as cohesive units with respondents feeling trusted and enthusiastic about their jobs. There is an increase in the usefulness of appraisal conversations helping respondents to do their jobs effectively which they believe helps to deliver a better service user experience. However, only around half of respondents are clear on HEE s strategic priorities, vision and their place in that vision. 85% respondents have had an appraisal in last 12 months our new system has recently been introduced which changes period of appraisal. 85% respondents say their appraisal help agreed clear work objectives (a 3% increase on last year). Almost three quarters of respondents feel they have access to immediate tools to fulfil their role within HEE (feedback from their manager, equipment, clear work responsibilities) but would benefit from a more strategic view/direction of the organisations direction, vision and priorities. Around 45% of respondents thought local senior managers tried to involve them in important decisions and acted on respondents feedback. 77% of line managers are taking a positive interest in respondents health and wellbeing. 59% of respondents believe that HEE actively promotes flexible working. 2.2 An analysis of the respondents by gender, age, ethnicity, sexual orientation, religion and working hours is set out in Annexes B to D attached. 3. Next Steps 3.1 HR Business Partners are now working with geography and local senior management teams to: analyse thoughts and suggestions made by staff in their feedback from the staff engagement events, understand how these link into current local or geographical OD plans, consider what actions can be undertaken as one HEE, or four times (as geographies) or thirteen times (as local offices) 3

4 3.2 The HR & OD team have recommended that where action can be taken as one HEE, local offices or geographies are selected as pilot groups to test interventions prior to roll-out across the organisation. This may help to raise engagement of the particular intervention and help to ensure project success on a wider scale as potential risks and issues will have been worked through prior to release to a wider group. 4. Future Evaluation Phase 4.1 Within the current project plan, the period January March 2017 is noted as the timescale within which we should review the impact of the work undertaken so far, and any of the interventions undertaken. In previous years this has been undertaken through the completion of the next annual survey. 4.2 Research suggests that running a staff engagement survey too often runs the risk of creating survey fatigue across the workforce, and possibly leading to insufficient time to measure if the action plans put in place as a consequence of the previous survey results are actually paying off. (Within HEE, we have undertaken five all-staff surveys since April 2013: three annual NHS staff surveys, plus a survey each on Stress and Bullying & Harassment). On the other extreme, if too much time is taken between running surveys, the main risk is one of not being able to detect and influence in a timely manner the issues that are affecting the motivation, morale and performance of staff members. 4.3 In deciding upon the frequency, there are a number of factors that may need to be considered including: Research suggests that staff will only continue to participate in surveys if they can see that their feedback is being acted upon. Within the current project timescale, action plans following staff engagement session come into play from August through to December is this adequate time for staff to see that their feedback is being acted upon and issues raised are being addressed? HEE (and the wider NHS) is constantly evolving. In the very near future there is likely to be further organisational change as a result of the CSR outcome. We need to ensure that during this period we do not stop listening ensuring staff are motivated and engaged throughout any change period is crucial to success. 4.4 The Chief Executive NHS England, Simon Stevens, recently announced that he would like all NHS organisations to sign up to the Workplace Wellbeing Charter 2, as part of the Five Year Forward View. The Charter is an opportunity for employers to demonstrate their commitment to the health and wellbeing of their workforce. It also provides employers with an easy and clear framework on how to make the workplace a more supportive and productive environment in which employees can flourish. 2 Workplace Wellbeing Charter: 4

5 4.5 HEE colleagues in London and the South East have been using the Workplace Wellbeing Charter model for a short time. They have reached Commitment Level and are now working towards the Achievement Level. Staff survey responses to the questions: My organisation takes a positive interest in my health and wellbeing and My immediate line manager takes a positive interest in my health and wellbeing have risen by 2% and 7% respectively during that time in their area. 5 Recommendation 5.1 Taking the above factors into account, it is recommended that the trigger point for the next survey is 12 months after action plans from the 2015/16 activity have been implemented and reviewed, which would mean running the next full survey in September The added advantage to running the survey at this time of year is that areas for development can be identified and scoped into financial plans for the 2018/19 year. 5.2 In addition to this, the benefits of running targeted and more frequent Staff Pulse Surveys should be considered focused on specific areas of interest. As the 2015 survey highlighted issues around staff health and wellbeing, communications, leadership and culture it is recommended that the Workplace Wellbeing Charter be used as a framework to develop a significant all-staff Pulse Survey, which will examine in more detail the majority of issues that staff have highlighted as being of concern to them, thereby demonstrating that we are taking their concerns seriously and responding to them proactively. 5.3 The Board is asked to note the progress made to date and to approve the recommendations for the next steps. CLAIRE FALLON HR & OD Project Manager GARY THEOBALD Head of HR & OD July

6 Annex A benefits and key findings Quantifiable benefits Below are the benefits that were stated in the original project brief from October 2015 and how these have now been quantified: Benefit Staff feel they have the opportunity to voice their views and concerns Measured outcome Participation rates increase from last year Increase from 55% to 59% 59% of staff have taken the opportunity to voice their views and concerns. The overall national response rate for all NHS organisations in England was 41% so HEE s response rate is significantly above this and is a positive sign that staff remain engaged and committed to taking part in responding to the survey and making suggestions for improvements. Survey results improve from last year following efforts nationally and locally to improve areas of working life See key findings highlighted below Initial key findings from 2016 survey Development There was a decrease in the number of staff completing mandatory training within the required refresh period. A project is currently underway to achieve 95% compliance by the end of July In the last 12 months 64% of staff have received any other job relevant training, learning or development. This has decreased from 79% last year. However 60% of staff felt that this training has helped them to do their jobs more effectively an increase from 53% last year. Fewer staff reported having an appraisal in the last 12 months 85% down from 91% last year although those feeling it helped them to do their job and gave them clear objectives for their work increased by around 2%. A revised process was implemented from April 2016 responding to staff and managerial feedback on some of the problems with the previous system and we are confident that this will ensure that we are close to 100% in the next reference period. 6

7 Staff Engagement Questions in relation to staff engagement reveal an average score of 68% which remains consistent with last year s results. Managers Staff report an increase in manager support with difficult tasks at work 81% this year compared to 79% last year. Managers being supportive in a personal crisis remains stable at 81% In terms of senior managers in the organisation, the majority of staff that responded know who their local managers are but are less aware of geographical or national teams. Health and Wellbeing HEE is below the national NHS average of taking positive action on health and wellbeing. The NHS average this year was 89%, HEE scored 54% in this year s survey which is 1% less than last year. However, HEE is above the national average in terms of immediate line managers taking a positive interest in health and wellbeing 77% compared to the NHS average of 66%. HEE is in line with the NHS average for work-related stress 37% (HEE s score was 36%) and also staff coming into work despite not feeling well enough to do so 58%. The main reason for this appears to be staff putting pressure on themselves to come in to work although there is a small rise in pressure from managers (13% last year and 16% this year). Experiences of harassment, bullying or abuse at work from managers, team leaders or colleagues has remained at 23% with the national NHS average increasing to 25%. The deeper dive into this area on the survey this year sites being treated in a disrespectful or rude way (81%) as the main reason with being humiliated or ridiculed in connection with work (38%) and being given unmanageable workload or impossible deadlines (31%) the next few reasons. The majority of people still aren t reporting this (62%) compared to the 35% who did. In terms of the anti-bullying week awareness campaign undertaken in November of last year, 64% of staff did not find this helpful. 7

8 Annex B: Profile of respondents gender and age breakdown 8

9 Annex C: Profile of respondents ethnicity 9

10 Annex D: Profile of respondents sexual orientation, religion and working hours 10