As part of our briefing, Leading the NHS workforce through to recovery, NHS Employers has developed this checklist for NHS boards and workforce leaders.
This checklist is the result of discussions and thinking from the NHS Employers policy board and can be downloaded as a PDF as part of our full briefing.
An employer's checklist for economic recovery
- Start planning now. NHS trust and PCT boards need to take ownership of the financial challenge they face and put a workforce strategy in place that takes a long-term view of both immediate and upcoming challenges.
- Lead by example. Leaders must be honest and open, listen and respond, and model the cultural changes that they would like to see. Boards could consider developing a narrative that explains to staff the scale of the challenge and their part in meeting it.
- Think staff engagement. Understand the issues and concerns for your workforce. The staff survey is our starting point for this and communication is key. Engaged staff will have higher morale, be more productive and will help improve organisational performance.
- Undertake a workforce review. Understand your likely staff turnover, scrutinise your vacancies and review your use of temporary staff. Each vacancy could be a redeployment, cash savings released, or a chance to deliver greater value to the organisation through careful recruitment.
- Take a whole system approach. Methodologies to eliminate waste and redesign services, such as Lean and the Productive Ward, are delivering results. Having a well understood approach to managing change and a strong improvement method is key to transforming services.
- Know the type of talent you need. Then work out how to recruit and develop it. Access to and retention of the right staff is crucial to your ability to meet the challenges ahead.
- Harness effective partnership working. Examples from both the local level and through the national Social Partnership Forum prove it can be done. Learning from others and sharing your learning will have system-wide benefits.
- Make the most of levers already in the system. National contracts, the Knowledge and Skills Framework (KSF) and the NHS Pension Choice exercise all offer tools and/or opportunities to drive quality and improvement.
- Understand the balance of pay and reward. Recognise – and talk to your staff about – the full value of the NHS employment package, including pay and conditions, pensions and opportunities for development.
- Cooperate with partners in your wider community. Councils, Jobcentre Plus, education institutions and community services can all benefit from boosting skills, sharing resources, understanding each other’s needs and considering their social responsibility as trainers and employers. All employers should be involved in Local Employment Partnerships.