Using our Leadership Profile we are providing a mechanism to identify those at all levels of our services showing the greatest potential to develop into our leaders of the future.
Walking with the change makers – Talent Management.
Overview
Using our Leadership Profile we are providing a mechanism to identify those at all levels of our services showing the greatest potential to develop into our leaders of the future. An inclusive approach to talent management – based on individual agency – has been designed to help identify and develop future leaders at all levels. We encourage colleagues from all backgrounds and at all levels to participate. This is supporting us to identify, nurture and empower a more diverse leadership cohort, more strongly aligned to our population.
The year’s highlights in Talent Management
Increased engagement
There has been a consistent increase in the number of people engaging in the Project Lift talent management process both through registering on the website and completing the Self-Assessment Questionnaire (SAQ).
Diversity in reach
The range of individuals has continued to increase as we are seeing individuals from not only the NHS but Social Care and the third and voluntary sector.
Supporting local systems
As we have continued to embed the Career Conversation process for our Aspiring Directors, we have also been working with local systems to identify how our tools and ethos can support local talent management strategies.
Case study
Walking with the talent – being alongside those who come through the career conversation process even when the formal conversation stops.
"Having a Project Lift colleague walking with me has enabled me to develop a more focussed and self-assured approach to working collaboratively. Being able to bounce questions and observations off someone I trust and who is impartial has helped me to reflect more objectively about my operating context, including key relationships. Stepping back with this person has helped me walk forward more confidently and look forward with more creativity and purpose."
Sharon Hammell, NHS Highland
Our plan for the this year
- We are continuing the iterative development of our digital Talent Management platform, ensuring both ease of access for individuals, improvements in the quality of data and reporting, and more effective communications across communities.
- We are expanding access to the Talent Management platform across Health and Care, with a particular focus on leaders from Local Authority backgrounds through 2019-20.
- Through our Talent Management approach, we will widen access to collaborative opportunities within Health and Care and across the wider Public Sector
- Through the creation of the Talent Management Board in Summer 2019, we will be able to strengthen a coherent and proactive national approach to Talent Management and succession planning.
- We will continue to broker active connections between people who have been identified as having leadership talent (through the Project Lift Talent Management process) with existing and emerging leadership challenges across the system.
What have we achieved - the 2020 reality.
- Continued to engage with the system and encourage individuals to get involved with Project Lift. This has seen a continuing upwards trend throughout the year
- Increased engagements in registered users, SAQ completions and career conversations see ‘The Year in Numbers’ for more statistical data
- Development of Career Conversation Review process that acts as a touch point in the individual’s development and takes account of the progress they have made with their development recommendations and what might be the most suitable next steps.
- Development of 360 tool that aligns with the Leadership profile. Initially available for those that have a Career Conversation but with the potential to be used by a wider audience.
- Initial development of a Career Conversation Lite process for early years leaders. The intention is to launch a pilot as part of the onboarding process for the 2020 SCLF cohort as part of their onboarding process.
What have we found difficult this year and how might we do things differently?
- While it has been a busy time in developing the range of added talent management processes and tools, we are also keen to remain sensitive to the needs of local systems and the operational pressures that prevent or slow down this process.
- We are working hard with Human Resources and Organisational Development teams to understand how we can support their local approaches to talent management.
- This process takes time and local systems are at various levels of readiness for this depending on what work has already taken place and the pressures that the systems are under.
- In addition, engaging colleagues in Health and Social Care Partnerships, care providers, and the 3rd /voluntary sector is still challenging as traditional routes may miss some of these harder to reach organisations.
2020 and beyond.
- In partnership we will continue to work on and develop our suite of talent management approaches and how it can best support heath and care in Scotland.
- This will be a combination of increasing the visibility throughout local systems, integration into talent management strategies and engagement with organisations that are currently underrepresented.
- We will be embedding the new tools and approaches and working exploring how they can add value both centrally and to the wider system.
- We will also be exploring and developing a process for individuals that have had a Career Conversation, their review and how we can best serve them in their leadership journey. This will start to take effect in summer 2021 with the planning starting much earlier.
Diversity in talent
“It’s an algorithm that selects one person type is that what we want?”
So the beauty of it is that it doesn't select anyone and it certainly doesn't select a single person type.
One of our founding principles is around increasing diversity and what we mean by that is about diversity of thought.
I would argue that it has gone a long way to help us in understanding that our current systems possibly do not encourage that diversity we face, so I would ask people that if it's not doing that then please do tell us because we need to change that if that's the case.
Dave Caesar, Head of Leadership & Talent Management, Health and Social Care, Scottish Government.
Career Conversations – real feedback from real people