The Isle of Man’s health and social care provider has recently developed a People, Culture and Engagement Strategy, aiming to build a fully engaged, inclusive and high-performing workforce. Since Manx Care’s inception, one of its key priorities has been to improve the culture of the organisation, and the Board’s approval of this strategy in early September 2023 is a positive step in achieving this goal.
The Mandate from DHSC and Manx Care’s Operating Plan include explicit commitments to cultural improvement, and over the last two years, the provider has made good progress on its workforce and culture ambitions. Manx Care is committed to the ongoing development of its culture, building on the foundations that have already been put in place.
The People, Culture and Engagement Strategy has been developed over the last five months with input from a wide range of internal stakeholders including staff-side partnership groups, members of Manx Care’s Executive Management Committee, People and Culture Operational Group, People Committee, Clinical Directors Group and Executive Leadership Team. The Strategy also went out to consultation across the whole organisation for a three-week period in August.
The People, Culture and Engagement strategy aims for a workforce that aligns with our CARE Values (Committed & Passionate, Accountable & Reflective, Respectful & Inclusive, Excellent & Innovative) and has five Strategic Workforce and Culture Ambitions:
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To be an organisation where colleagues feel valued, respected and empowered, and which promotes compassionate, visible, distributed and clinically-led leadership
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To build and develop our approach to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in all that we do
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To build and develop our plans around recruitment and retention to ensure we attract the best talent to our organisation, and retain our skilled and dedicated workforce
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To build and develop our workforce plans and associated skills development plans to ensure the workforce has, and continues to develop, the skills to continuously improve and transform our services, and to provide the highest quality of care to our patients, service users and their families
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Enhance the health and wellbeing of our colleagues through a range of plans focused around improving emotional and physical wellbeing
During Manx Care’s first two years of operation, a significant amount of work has been undertaken relating to culture development and driving organisational change, with dedicated support and resource provided to Manx Care by the Workforce and Culture team who are part of the Cabinet Office Health and Care Transformation Programme. Manx Care is grateful for the level of support provided so far, and it is important not to underestimate the progress that has been made to date, resulting in a solid foundation from which to build between 2023 to 2026.
Some of those achievements include:
- Refreshing the organisation’s Care Values and providing training for all leaders in our new CARE values
- Launching an intranet site to improve communication and information sharing across the organisation
- Progressing an international recruitment programme for and increasing the number of on-Island training opportunities both pre- and post-registration to address some of our clinical workforce shortages
- Recruiting and embedding a network of Change Coaches across the organisation to support change at all levels.
The People and Culture Operational Group are working to implement the strategy, with plans to be refreshed annually. Colleagues will be regularly updated as developments progress, and are encouraged to continue to share their views with managers and the executive team to ensure the strategy aligns with the needs of the organisation.
Teresa Cope, CEO of Manx Care, said:
'Whilst we have made good progress in developing our organisational culture in the last two years, it is clear that there is still a lot of work left to achieve, and we do not underestimate this. Our People, Culture and Engagement Strategy identifies our priorities for the next three years, and will also align with the ambitions and deliverables of the Isle of Man Government’s ‘Our Public Services’ programme.'
She added:
'We are confident that by working in partnership with our colleagues and our staff-side representatives, we will continue to see real progress and lots of incremental steps which will add up to a big difference over the long-term.'
