A perspective on employee health and well-being as core to business

In the wake of the pandemic clinical talent will be looking for employers that show leadership in supporting staff health and well-being.

Quality of life is a key issue when staff choose both their specialty and their employer. A 2017 study of junior doctors highlighted concerns that excessive work pressures were threatening their ability to work safely, and showed that work/life balance was a major priority as doctors planned their careers.

The General Medical Council has highlighted the evidence that better support in the workplace reduces burnout, improves job satisfaction and retention and delivers higher standards of care and safety. It also points out that the decision of increasing numbers of doctors to work part-time or as locums is a reaction to workplace stress rather than a positive career choice.

Now the pandemic and its fallout of record waiting lists and undiagnosed illnesses has ramped up the pressure to unsustainable levels. Staff, managers, NHS England, Health Education England and the government all recognise that long-term action must be taken. But inevitably, much of the heavy lifting will need to be done by local management teams.

In a report by former NHS England deputy medical director Prof Mike Bewick on workforce and talent development, just published, he stresses the need for boards to demonstrate “visible and persistent leadership” on staff health and well-being, embedding it as the core business of the organisation and at the heart of its values and culture. He highlights organisations such as Manchester University Foundation Trust which have made looking after their staff a key goal.

Practical actions that leadership teams can take include getting the basics right, such as providing somewhere to rest and get decent food any time of the day or night, talking with staff groups to agree a plan for supporting good physical and mental health, putting long-term resources into health and well-being services and agreeing and publishing measurements of progress.

“Practical actions that leadership teams can take include getting the basics right, such as providing somewhere to rest and get decent food any time of the day or night, talking with staff groups to agree a plan for supporting good physical and mental health, putting long-term resources into health and well-being services and agreeing and publishing measurements of progress.”

All this is immensely tough in the context of high-profile government commitments to drive down the waiting lists and the continuing absence of a national plan to train and recruit more staff. As always, boards are having to manage conflicting priorities.

But the experience of the pandemic has driven home the message that burnout and exhaustion undermine safety and morale and lead staff to quit. Our impression at Alumni is that there is a renewed determination among senior managers to make staff health and well-being a priority. When it comes to tackling the backlog of care, leadership teams know that this will take years rather than months, and that looking after the staff will be essential if that long-term pressure is to be made bearable.

With every NHS organisation competing for too few staff, the ones which provide that visible and persistent leadership on the health and well-being of the workforce and deliver tangible, measurable improvements will be the ones best placed to attract and retain clinical talent.

If you are interested in discussing the challenges around talent management and leadership in your organisation in the first instance please contact us.

A perspective on employee health and well-being as core to business

A perspective on employee health and well-being as core to business

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