The pain of change is inevitable. Suffering isn't.......
"If implementation is thought about quite separately from the planning and design of a change initiative, then it is likely that the initiative will have already failed."
Organisational Change – A Review for Health Care Managers, Professionals and Researchers. V. Illes & K. Sutherland
Raised expectations, increasing demands and diminishing resources are all driving change in the NHS. The pursuit of quality and value for money presents a daunting prospect in this context of shifting priorities. The urgency to implement effective change has never been greater: the task of doing so never more challenging.
Toyota, BP, The Highways Agency, Rolls Royce, McAlpine, Costain, Railtrack, The Environment Agency, The Ministry of Defence and even an England football manager have all benefitted from the work of Steve Brooks, our Senior Consultant with responsibility for Organisation Development (OD). With over twenty years of experience helping individuals and organisations learn and change, Steve has a vast storehouse of practical knowledge and skills from working with both the public and private sectors; and this expertise is available to you, to assist in the successful implementation of change in your organisation that you may have been putting off, or are currently finding so messy and difficult.
Having trained as a social worker, Steve’s initial work in OD was in the field of Social Care with the NHS and local authorities, before spending the last fifteen years working predominantly with blue chip companies in the private sector. Along the way Steve Has collected an MBA from the Open Business School and is British Psychological Society qualified in the use of a range of psychometric tools (SHL’s OPQ, the MBTI, Saville Wave plus other team and personality measures). These give a scientific insight and an objective edge to his OD work with individuals, teams and organisations.
Mental Health Strategies is dedicated to helping clients achieve positive and sustainable change. We help build effective organisations and outstanding performance through the engagement and involvement of your people. Our OD programmes borrow from many disciplines that offer insights into how people work in organisations. We link the ‘harder’ elements of structure, strategy and business processes, with the ‘softer’ aspects of people, interpersonal dynamics and organisational climate and culture.
It is the UK's largest register for pre-qualified contractors and consultants and aims to save time and money for buyers and suppliers by reducing duplication of work at the pre-qualifying stage.
We recognise that change is continual and that anticipation and adaptation are the keys to sustainable success.
Organisation Development in Healthcare
Implementation and Service Improvement Policy
"Organisations must be able to connect the requirements of the new policy with the established routines of the local organisation."
Organisational Development in Healthcare, Edward Peck
Through the use of OD tools and techniques, MHS is able to:
• Support the local implementation of national policy
• Identify the implications for the organisation and staff groups
• Facilitate the ensuring changes
MHS can construct opportunities for organisations and their stakeholders to reflect on current practice and collaboratively engage stakeholders in the planning and implementation of the change.
For example, the new behaviours and mindsets required in Foundation Trusts and the collaborative work with colleagues, community partners and the wider public demanded by World Class Commissioning.
Leadership
"Organisational change requires high quality leadsership at all levels."
Next Stage Review
MHS is able to deliver leadership development grounded in the context of the operational environment. This could include:
• Action Learning
• 360 degree feedback
• Social network analysis
• Coaching
• Specific workshops to meet the challenges of a particular leadership role
We seek to deliver highly effective managers with a sophisticated repertoire of knowledge and skills. We align an understanding of individual characteristics with the localised context and challenges that define the working world of the leader.
Joint/Collaborative Working
"Effective Joint working needs active leadership and purposeful relationship management."
The Audit Commission
In the multi agency environment in which contemporary Health and Social Care agencies operate, to leave the outcomes of the partnering relationship to chance is to invite failure. Key issues that require candid scrutiny include:
• co-operation
• communication
• inclusiveness
• management of any rivalries and differing agendas
• openness and transparency in decision-making
MHS can assist in the review and exploration of such issues that typically ‘bubble under’ multi agency forums .We can support the active management of such matters to optimise the positive outcomes. Partnering teams need a process to invade their own privacy.
Teams
"Studies have shown that the more staff work together as teams in hospitals, the lower the level of patient mortality."
Prof. Michael West and team, Aston University Business School
Teamworking is a key element of effective organisational change. Studies have repeatedly shown that better patient care is provided when health professionals work together in multidisciplinary team. MHS can support the development of high performing teams by:
• Psychometric profiling of the teams current levels of performance
• Working with the team around goal and role clarification
• Developing a team culture that drives results
• Network analysis and joint team working
• Team coaching
We use state of the art psychometric measures developed in the Health Service by Prof. Michael West at Aston University. We collaborate with you to establish an agreed way forward to implement effective team working and organisational change.
Innovation
"Innovation results in significant change that makes a large difference in performance whether achieved by the creation of new ideas or the adaptation of proven ideas from elsewhere."
Creating an innovative Culture, Department of Health
Quality through innovation is central to the reform agenda in Health and Social Care. With a duty to promote this now falling on SHA’s, it is recognised that innovation must become mainstream. Barriers may be:
• Cultural
• Professional
• Organisational
and include elements such as:
• Risk averse culture
• Poor access to information and evidence
• Lack of perceived reward for innovative individuals and organisations
MHS can encourage the growth of a more innovative organisation through the review of current blockages and support a targeted progression to a culture of innovation and collaboration.
Project Support
"The implementation of organisational change is invariably managed on a project basis and the control of the project 'roll out' is critical for its success."
“The implementation of organisational change is invariably managed on a project basis and the control of the project ‘roll out’ is critical for its success”.
• Clarifying purpose
• Accountability
• Communication
• Stakeholder strategy
• Establishing milestones
On track’ meetings support the project’s progress through to ‘close out’. Key learning from the project is identified in order to feed this back into the business.
To deliver success in all these areas, MHS has an experienced team of highly qualified consultants with specialist knowledge of working with organisational change and in depth expertise in the field of Health and Social Care. Consultancy Teams are put together to match the requirements of a specific project and solutions are bespoke to meet your particular needs.
If you would like further information please contact Tom McCarthy, Managing Director on 0161 785 1001 or email tom.mccarthy@mentalhealthstrategies.co.uk
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