Highly Commended - OpenLearn Impact Award for Supporting Business and Organisational Goals
Learning at Work Week at The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust supported its five-year joint strategy with Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust. This has four strategic aims and a shared vision to ‘deliver exceptional care together to improve the health and wellbeing of our communities’.
Its Learning at Work Week aimed to facilitate cross Trust working to support collaboration and networking and the joint strategy by providing learning directly linked to its four strategic aims – Care, Colleagues, Collaboration and Communities.
To support close working between the Trusts, the week’s activities were delivered online so they were easily accessible. The Corporate Learning Team secured subject matter experts from both Trusts who delivered a variety of sessions and networking. Each session focused on the four strategic aims and clearly tagged these so colleagues could see the link - this further promoted the joint strategy.
Current pressures on the NHS combined with the high cost of living mean staff wellbeing is high on the agenda for both Trusts. It made sense to combine Learning at Work Week and Mental Health Awareness Week which ran at the same time, and offer a range of events with a strong wellbeing focus.
Overall, the week hosted 14 events including seven wellbeing events, five career development events and two skills development sessions. Colleagues could also access speed coaching sessions and explore external resources, with videos and session recordings available on demand.
The Corporate Services Team designed unique Trust branding for materials highlighting the partnership between the two Trusts on the theme of ‘Create the future’. To kick off the promotion, the team shared a ‘coming soon’ poster to spark colleagues’ interest and prepare them for the full schedule in the coming weeks. Further promotional materials were shared on Facebook, in the Chief Executive’s weekly update, on the intranet and the learning management system (LMS), and team meetings to engage as many colleagues as possible. Colleagues could easily access things of interest via a dedicated, eye-catching interactive hub on the LMS. Sessions were recorded and made available for clinical staff who were unable to attend live events due to operational demands.
More than 250 colleagues joined sessions with many more accessing the learning, post event. They were able to focus on wellbeing, career development and explore the range of apprenticeships. Colleagues fed back on their personal commitment to ‘creating the future’ which prompted reflection on their roles, their work, their learning and wellbeing.
Employees reported a range of benefits from finding ways to relax to remembering to focus on self-care, to accessing all round support and reviewing their finances , from learning how to be a leader, to networking and engaging in learning. The week supported networking between both Trusts and supported the joint strategy. By providing time for colleagues to participate in dedicated week, the Trusts highlighted the value they place on wellbeing and staff development.