We want to do more across Hampshire and Isle of Wight (HIOW) to keep staff happy and healthy at work.
The HIOW Retention Project has helped us to understand why people leave their jobs and what we can do to encourage our people to stay and thrive in their roles.
The programme aims to deliver in these seven areas:
1. Cost of Living Help
Issue
Cost of living challenges mean that staff who would otherwise stay in their roles can no longer afford to do so because they cannot meet basic living costs. Others have concerns about the cost of living crisis. Better pay elsewhere is playing a role in decisions to leave.
Approach
Trusts are already proactively taking action to support their people. The programme has gained membership to a national research consortium that will look at how employers can fairly support their workers with non-pay offers through the cost of living crisis.
2. Having a good break
Issue
Our people are exhausted and feel guilty taking breaks. If they do, there often isn’t anywhere appealing to go and there is little opportunity for good quality recovery.
Approach
A task and finish group is being established to look at improving the quality of breaks through environmental improvements and enabling people to see the value in taking a break and feeling that they have the permission to do so.
3. Make HIOW a beacon for flexible working
Issue
Increased access to flexible work is a priority for staff across all groups. In the 2021 staff survey, only just over half of respondents were satisfied with the opportunities for flexible working patterns. Fewer felt that their organisation is committed to helping them balance their work and home life.
Approach
A task & finish group is being established to look at the need to balance home and work life, as well as exploring flexible rostering, agile working, flexible retirement and how these can be embedded into everyday service delivery.
4. Developing line managers
Issue
Our people told us that managers’ behaviour is inconsistent, limiting access to flexible work, compromising effective performance appraisal and career development discussions and the perception of value.
Approach
The programme will work alongside Occupational Development colleagues across HIOW to review the provision of leadership and management development, to give managers the skills and confidence to create the most nurturing environment for their team members.
5. Improve career mobility and role transitions
Issue
Staff are frustrated with the lack of investment in their development and are moving between HIOW organisations to access promotion and development opportunities.
Approach
A task and finish group is being established to share best practice to improve early and open conversations around roles, locations and career pathways. It is recommended that all organisations have processes in place to enable easy internal movement between certain roles to retain them within organisations.
6. Support for menopause
Issue
Our staff describe a lack of consistent manager support and limited access to flexible work and work accommodations, all of which have been found to improve retention of those with menopausal symptoms.
Approach
The programme will work alongside the Health and Wellbeing Programme to ensure existing interventions are well communicated across organisations so that staff know that their employers understand the challenges they are facing and that they feel supported and are able to access help.
7. Understanding Data
Issue
Organisations do not have a robust approach to understanding their own data that gives useful insights into the experience of staff, including reasons for leaving.
Approach
A task and finish group is being established to review how information about leavers is currently collected , including reasons for leaving, on ESR and exit surveys. Scope to include commonalities and differences in how data is recorded and reported and to consider whether the implementation of one system across HIOW would be beneficial.
Want to know more?
To learn more about the HIOW Retention Plan, please contact Angela Murphy:
angela.murphy28@nhs.net or 07787187483