By Carie Martin (Pharmacy Workforce Development Lead); Kiran Channa (Operational Head of Pharmacy); Uzo Ibechukwu (Director of Pharmacy)

As a department focused on exceptional patient care, our primary responsibility is to cultivate a safe and effective care environment. However, we understand that change is inevitable, requiring our leadership approach to evolve alongside it. The COVID-19 pandemic emphasised the importance of work-life balance, prompting us to reassess traditional practices for improvement.

From the start, we recognised the importance of continuous improvement in sustaining a culture change. We therefore worked closely with our Quality Improvement team whether in framing messages or receiving feedback, while focusing on key initiatives:

Gaining trust with our team and ensuring every voice counts

Understanding trust’s role in collaboration and engagement, we prioritised open communication. Our staff survey in 2021 revealed low morale, frustration and disengagement from work, along with a perceived lack of support for flexible working or work-life balance, with a 57% response rate.

To address this, we established an Improvement Board to gather team members' ideas for improvement and empower them to take ownership of their work. This facilitated a culture of empowerment as we had weekly huddles where we discussed and implemented suggested changes.

Just as importantly, we ensured senior management presence to ensure we were visibly engaged, providing an informal setting for staff accountability.

Through a feedback-driven approach, we showed our commitment to employee wellbeing and gained valuable insights into areas for improvement. As a result, our staff survey response rate increased to 82% in 2022 and 86% in 2023, reflecting a growing sense of engagement and trust within our team.

Aligning change with organisational levers such as staff survey and quality improvement

Utilising Quality Improvement (QI) tools, we shifted our focus from hours worked to results achieved, promoting continuous improvement. Through Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycles and waste reduction initiatives, we identified areas for efficiency gains and innovation. Empowering teams to champion ideas cultivated ownership and accountability, while celebrating staff efforts.

Engaging and developing our leaders in pharmacy

Effective leadership involves prompt action on feedback. In response to staff feedback, we now prioritise leadership development and line manager training to better support our teams. Identifying that leadership is not a position, we aim to cultivate leaders who embody these values wherever they go.

Embracing an evolving landscape to support inclusivity and flexibility

In response to the evolving digital landscape, we embraced flexible working arrangements to meet staff needs. Approving all flexible working requests, we promoted individualised work-life balance.

Our ongoing message is ‘there is always room to improve’. We now use  “smileys” for staff mood feedback, which provides insights into staff satisfaction and morale to focus on improvement.

The culmination of these changes has:

• Improved our vacancy rates from 27% (2022) to 0.5% (2024).
• Improved each element of staff engagement: autonomy, ability to raise concerns, ability to improve things in our work environment
• Halved our staff turnover rate

In conclusion, prioritising employee wellbeing is strategic and morally important. By cultivating trust, feedback implementation, and embracing flexible working arrangements, we want an environment where employees thrive, driving innovation, productivity, and overall success. Our efforts have produced tangible and self-sustaining results, laying the foundation for sustained success and growth.

Read our latest Workforce Wellbeing Roundtable Report. 

Read more RPS blogs.