Winner in the NHS category
South Essex Partnership University Foundation Trust
South Essex Partnership University Foundation Trust has won a string of accolades for its performance and the way it treats its staff; it’s the only mental health trust to have been rated “excellent” in quality of services and use of resources from the Care Quality Commission three years running; its chief executive was named NHS leader of the year in 2009; and it has the highest spend on training and development of any trust.
Add to that, Investors in People status, recognition from Stonewall, and Mindful Employer status and it adds up to a great place to work.
That is echoed by the comments from staff in our survey: there are many expressions of pride about working at South Essex and one employee goes as far as to describe it as "inspirational”.
What staff like about it is the feeling that they are providing great quality care to their service users, while at the same time having a good experience as an employee. The training and development opportunities are frequently mentioned, as is the approach to work/life balance.
The trust says it supports staff through any crisis and makes adjustments to enable them to continue working there. An example of its leading edge approach is resilience training, aimed at helping staff to deal with some of the distressing elements of working in mental health such as suicides or other patient outcomes.
There are also lots of positive comments about managers, both immediate line managers and the senior staff, right up to chief executive Dr Patrick Geoghegan, who is described as being “contactable on a one to one basis and is approachable”. Another employee says: “I have confidence in our chief executive; also I have the best manager anyone could ever have"
Promotion is often from within and the organisation has several directors from a healthcare professional background – its chief executive trained as a nurse. It’s also possible to progress through the ranks without qualifications – training to assistant practitioner level and beyond is on offer for people coming in with few or no qualifications.
The trust’s success has been recognised; it has recently taken over another trust and in April started to provide services to people in based in Luton and Bedfordshire. The acquisition might seem a risky move – key executives could be distracted by the new challenges and staff satisfaction could drop – but South Essex Partnership University Foundation Trust seems to have come through it with only positives. Good communication and engagement seem to be factors in this, as they are in so many elements of the trust’s success.
And one last point. In the employee questionnaire we also ask an open ended question, designed to draw out people’s real feelings about where they work, including those that may be negative. Inevitably some staff use this to have a moan about their employer, their boss and their pay, but it’s fair to say that there were remarkably few people who produced criticisms about South Essex in response to this. On the whole, staff do seem genuinely happy and content.
Winner in the independent sector
Briar Court – Castlebeck
The highest rated non NHS organisation this year is a small unit that caters for people with learning disabilities and challenging behaviour who are being helped along the path to more independent living.
As well as the main accommodation unit, Castlebeck’s Briar Court also runs an annexe, allowing clients to live increasingly independently and as part of the community as their rehabilitation progresses. The role staff play in this is key to their job satisfaction, judging by their comments. One says: “I’m given the opportunity to put into place nursing interventions which rehabilitate and enable the residents to further their independence.” Some residents have been able to take up college places and do NVQs.
Castlebeck is a relatively small organisation that specialises in providing care and rehabilitation to people with mental health or learning disabilities who challenge existing services. In some cases, clients will be on the autistic spectrum or have other complex needs. Its ethos is to provide person centred care with the opportunity to progress towards more community based living, where appropriate.
To provide that level of care needs a dedicated workforce; Castlebeck has recognised the need to be a good employer with five other units also rated among our top 100. Its sites tend to be quite small, usually employ less than 100 people, and are spread around the UK, which may present challenges of its own.
How does it achieve such a high rating from staff?
Castlebeck has a staff charter that emphasises its commitment to being an excellent place to work, developing staff and making them feel valued as part of a team with respect for their contribution. Many organisations may have similar credos, but Castlebeck’s seems to deliver and to mean something to staff. One says that there is a “feeling of self worth with the company”.
Exemplary training and development is part of the answer: staff at Briar Court often mention the opportunities for extra training they have been given, both internally and externally.
There are also opportunities to progress within the organisation, with one employee commenting that it is possible to make your way up the career ladder from support staff to hospital manager. Sue Browell, human resources director for Castlebeck, says three regional directors started as nurses and the chief executive officer was also an internal promotion.
The company started in the North East and has a strong work ethic. Support workers can access a programme to train as nurses, all new staff are trained to provide care to those with learning disabilities and the company has a leadership development programme that is accredited by the Institute of Learning and Development. Staff are offered internal support after challenging episodes with clients, and the company also retains an external employee assistance company, which can offer counselling.
There’s also praise for relationships with managers: “regular contact from the CEO, managing director and senior staff,” is highlighted by one employee while another talks of the “positive relationship with my management team”. Managers are seen as approachable and willing to discuss problems, whether they are work related or more personal.
Working within a multidisciplinary team is also valued by staff, and the level of team commitment leads to below average sickness rates. Castlebeck is keen to keep the staff in whom it has invested, offering flexible working opportunities. “If someone says they just can’t work the hours and will have to leave, we look at different working patterns,” says Ms Browell.
The company was highly commended in last year’s national Jobs4mums awards.