Case Study: Best Place To Work

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“My proudest moment at HEE has been the many times that Best Place to Work has made a difference to the people who work here; it’s made it a more inclusive, enabling, effective organisation and HEE has been all the more effective for it. The cultural and organisational lessons we have learned and applied also have potential to make a difference in the new NHSE.”

Lee Whitehead, Director of Corporate Accountability and Engagement

Summary

HEE started its cultural journey early in 2020 by asking everyone in the organisation what would make HEE the Best Place to Work; through two online ‘We are HEE’ workshops where everyone had the chance to share their suggestions, aspirations, frustrations, and recommendations, anonymously and at a time that suited them. Input was anonymised to allow safe feedback and nearly 50 recommendations stemmed from the two workshops, themed in to six strategic ambitions outlined below:

• Develop a culture that nurtures positivity, is inclusive, and offers visible, compassionate and inspiring leadership.
• Regularly recognise and reward staff for their contribution to HEE.
• Retain our talent, welcome our new colleagues, improve our diversity, and offer flexibility in how and where our work is done.
• Give every member of staff opportunities to learn, develop and achieve.
• Regularly ‘Ask, Listen, Act’ so that the voice of our staff has influence and adds value and direction to our work.
• Offer a working environment that is safe, well maintained, and healthy allowing everyone to do their best work.

As a result of this, a flagship programme was established called Best Place to Work. The programme was designed to be the delivery arm of all HEE’s cultural and people transformation, enabling support (project management and budget) to people related transformation work linked to the themes above.

Impact

Since the development of the People and Culture strategy, a number of KPIs were tracked to review the impact of the BPW programme and the change in strategy of the People and Culture Directorate. We know from the qualitative data gleaned in the Autumn 22 listening events that the transition to the new NHS England did affect the trajectory of the metrics. Despite this, most metrics have either held steady or have considerably improved their position at a time when metrics such as those relating to engagement have decreased right the way across the NHS and the broader public sector.

Over 30 projects have been delivered as part of the programme with involvement from a wider variety of people in the organisation. A few examples of the many activities and cultural shifts driven or enabled by Best Place To Work programme are highlighted here.

Learning, Development and Leadership Support

• The Continuing Professional Development process was launched.
• 1,235 colleagues were enrolled onto at least one CPD Funded Activity (June 2020 – February 2023). Between April 2020 and February 2023, £1,707,220 has been invested in colleague CPD.
• Increased Apprenticeships were made available for new and existing colleagues. 281 (110 of which have now successfully completed their programmes) colleagues were enrolled onto the HEE Apprenticeship Programme (May 2017 – February 2023). Over the last 3 years, HEE either met or exceeded the Public Sector Apprenticeship Target of at least 2.3% of the workforce as new start apprentices, achieving the top reporting ALB in 2 of those years and ranking at least 45th from around 200 NHS organisations in the last 3 years.
• The Managers’ Development programme (MDP) launched in September 2020 and 599 people have participated to date. The Aspiring Managers’ programme launched in early 2022; 174 colleagues have completed this.
• The Graduate and Student Placement Scheme was introduced in 2020 and is now in its third successful year. 87 colleagues have completed or are currently undertaking the HEE graduate and student placement scheme.
• HEE’s Corporate Induction 3-day virtual event was attended by approximately 100 colleagues at each bi-monthly session, with 1096 colleagues participating since its launch.

Communications and Engagement

• Launch of the Freedom to Speak up Guardians across the organisation with an average of 12 cases per quarter being heard by the Guardian team.
• Various surveys and online conversations have taken place to gain colleagues’ views and opinions and refocus work where required. This is led by a dedicated staff engagement team. Colleague Survey take-up saw a high of 60% response rate.
• In February 2022 an Online Conversation focused on two areas – our transition to a new organisation and making HEE a more inclusive and compassionate organisation for everyone. This exercise saw 5,662 contributions shared on the anonymous Clever Together platform.
• The ideas lab was launched which received over 20 submissions.
• The HEE core brief was re-launched and in conversation webinars with Navina were started.
• The of the ‘Change Hub’ was introduced where colleagues across the organisation can join a monthly call to share ideas, views and opinions which are then prioritised and supported by the BPW programme.

Stay Well Initiatives

• HEE’s values and behaviours were created jointly with colleagues and have been integrated into the updated appraisal process.
• A process for banking and buying annual leave was implemented in April 2022. 20 people took up banking and 64 chose to buy.
• Mental Health First Aiders were introduced in April 2022 with 41 now on the register.
• All regional Health and Wellbeing (HWB) leads now meet on a monthly basis to share ideas and jointly manage incentives.
• Implementation of workplace adjustments process. 44 requests have been made so far.

Freedom To Speak Up 

• HEE committed to supporting those who have concerns at work. The Freedom to Speak Up Guardian network was launched in October 2020 as a part of FTSU month. There is a current network of 23 regional guardians, led by Professor Simon Gregory. The network of guardians allows all colleagues, from whichever region, to discuss their concerns within the workplace, whether this be: bullying, harassment, or poor behaviours, etc.
• Freedom To Speak Up is already supported within NHSE and the new organisation will continue to be committed to supporting those who have concerns at work.

Staff Networks 

• HEE committed to supporting our 9 staff networks and support groups. The Networks developed their own workplans to support HEE’s business and improve outcomes for their members. 
• Network Chairs have been contacting their respective counterparts in NHSE to make introductions, share activity and explore what the networks will ‘look like’ in the new organisation.

Equality Diversity and Inclusion  

• We embraced different perspectives and celebrate diversity. Our Diversity and Inclusion – Strategic Framework 2018-22 was the tool that helped us to commence this journey and shape our ambitions regarding inclusive practice for the last four years. 

Future direction

A vision for the future of general practice specialty training has recently been published in the report Training the Future GP - Enhancing Delivery of GP.

It outlines ways to reform the delivery of education to GP trainees, better preparing them for future practice in different models of care - addressing health inequalities, improving technology and enhancing areas of clinical care such as mental health.

The report details opportunities to move to a more flexible model of training that meets the needs, skills and experiences of the trainee, as well as the demands and nuances of local populations.

The recommendations in this report will be taken forward by NHS England’s Workforce Education and Training Directorate.