On 28 February, we launched the first of our of ‘Big Conversation’ sessions – a series of discussions around each theme of the NHS People Promise which make up the topics of the Staff Survey. The sessions are about issues that matter to you. Our aim is to get to the heart of what our staff think would make the biggest difference. Our fourth topic held on Thursday 19 May focused on ‘Learning & Development’ and was hosted by Katrina Mason, Associate Director of Nursing and Katrina Kennedy, Associate Director of Allied Health Professionals.
A big thank you to everyone who came along to the session. We really valued hearing your thoughts and ideas.
If you missed the session and still want to get involved, there are lots of ways you can do so.
Catch up with our ‘Learning & Development’ recording by clicking here.
Click here to view the slides from this session.
Click here to read the Jamboard feedback from this session.
Once you are caught up, click here to add your feedback and experience with subjects surrounding this theme (i.e. what makes you feel valued and how you give praise to your colleagues), and click here to feedback on how we could improve the sessions going forward.
Some of the key themes that you shared at the session included:
- The importance of blended learning opportunities
- Psychological safety
- The need to role model a culture of learning and development
- Career pathways are helpful for development in all roles
Click on the accordions below to find out more from each question that was asked.
- Lack of protected time to access Learning & Development opportunities.
- Balancing the service requirements and the development wants/ needs of teams and individuals.
- A blame culture when things go wrong.
- Everyone learns in a different way, some do not like face to face, group learning, others find online virtual learning challenging.
- Equitability of access to learning opportunities.
- Finding the time and physical space for appraisals.
- Bank staff education to ensure equal opportunities as substantive staff.
- Admin & clerical staff reach a ceiling in terms of progression - how do you access training in current role.
- Registered staff may have CPD portfolios to keep registrations - what is the equivalent for admin and clerical staff.
- Supporting trainees
- Providing clear career pathways across the trust, if individuals wanted to move from clinical to non-clinical roles.
- Making career pathways and appraisals available in one place e.g. Green Brain.
- Providing clear information about what Learning & Development opportunities are available, all in one place.
- Thinking about how to hold onto the skills of enthusiastic trained staff once they have accessed Learning & Development opportunities.
- Creating a community of Learning & Development such as facilitating skill swap sessions teaching others e.g. MS excel skills, patient records etc.
- Providing guidance on how to make access to funded training fair to all people within a team.
- Making it clearer how to access funding and how to approach applications.
- Providing opportunities for blended learning - both together as a group and in own time.
- Modelling that Learning & Development is a priority should be a part of HHFT culture.
- Share mentorship & career conversation opportunities - how to access/ tap into the expertise if you want to move up or into a different area.
- Clear visible catalogue of all available courses - some courses may be relevant that individuals were not aware of.
- Ensuring staff have protected time in work hours to access Learning & Development opportunities.
- Being aware of unconscious bias in appraisals.
- Prioritising 1-2-1 meetings and appraisals with their team.
- Using appraisals to focus on Learning & Development rather than a performance management tool.
- Modelling behaviour and prioritising Learning & Development.
- Create psychological safety for openness when things go wrong to learn from mistakes.
- Introducing learning into development into the everyday e.g., tagging a 'did you know' onto a team meeting.
- Being open to funding courses not in the current pathway e.g., operations to HR.
- Taking the opportunity to make every day a learning day.
- Prioritising 1-2-1 meetings and my appraisal with my manager.
- Being open with my manager about my career plans so that they can best support me with L&D opportunities.
- Taking responsibility for own learning.
- Sharing my learning with others - not all learning and development opportunities have to be funded formal courses, learning from experience and each other is a great opportunity.
- Modelling behaviours.
- Being aware of own gaps in learning and trusting colleagues and managers to help develop these skills.
Actions
- Sharing learning with others - not all learning and development opportunities have to be funded formal courses, learning from experience and each other is a great opportunity
- Clear visible catalogue of all available courses and funding - some courses may be relevant that individuals were not aware of.
- Providing clear career pathways across the trust, available in one place.
- Being open with managers about career plans so that they can best support with Learning & Development opportunities.
There are lots of ways you can get involved in our Big Conversation going forward, please email us at culturechange@hhft.nhs.uk if you would like to take part, we would love to hear from you.
