Communicate08 awards - Best staff engagement

Team goes for the personal touch

Get out from behind your email!

That’s the message from the NHS Leicester City team – winners of the Staff Engagement Award.

While the electronic age brings benefits in reaching widespread groups, to truly engage with employees, this lot prove that you can’t beat talking to people face to face.

Raising morale

When two primary care organisations merged into one, morale across the PCT was low, highlighted in the national staff survey. ‘It was a difficult time with lots of change, and staff were worried about the future,’ says Natasha Pennant, Staff Engagement Manager.

‘As a new directorate, we had a lot of work to do in communicating the way forward and addressing colleagues’ concerns.

‘It’s easy to rely on email, but it can be very impersonal, and we wanted people to put names to faces, so we hold ‘open door surgeries’ with senior managers to encourage more open conversations.’

Different tactics

Held over two days, ‘The Big Event’ was a key engagement tool, where chief executive Tim Rideout and board members outlined to staff the PCT’s vision and values for the next five years.

It was also a chance to capture people’s views about the merger on film, which was then made available to everyone on the intranet. Alongside this interactive work, the team recorded ‘Making Leicester City Better’, a film reminding staff of their great work in improving the lives of local people.

And for staff who go beyond the call of duty in improving patient care and developing services, Extra Mile Awards – including cash prizes to spend on making further improvements – are a great way to reward their efforts.

Regular briefings with presentations from directors also allow staff to have their say, leading to continuous development ideas.

The face-to-face approach didn’t mean an end to traditional communication methods. A bi-monthly staff magazine was launched, jam-packed with staff stories to build a sense of community, and personally delivered to office-based staff by the comms team.

On a weekly basis, employees can look forward to an e-bulletin, keeping staff up to date with key events.

At any time, people can post feedback and drop ideas into suggestions boxes in kitchen areas, which are picked up and acted on by the comms team.

The results

The latest internal staff survey showed that nearly 75 percent of employees felt communications were better today than a year ago. Over 95 percent said the magazine, e-bulletins and staff briefings were either ’very useful’ or ‘fairly useful’.

And in keeping with the spirit of more frequent engagement, the team conducts regular online polls.

Good evaluation is crucial, says Natasha. ‘How else can you check to see if what you’re doing is having a positive effect?’ People have also voted with their feet.

‘Voluntary attendance at staff events has increased dramatically to over 50 percent,’ she added.