How a Talent Transformation Saved This NHS Trust ￡3M

At The Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS Foundation Trust

A holistic, digital talent strategy to create a great place to work and an employer of choice, delivering efficiencies, better employee experiences and over ￡3M cost savings in two years

By Sonia Mooney

Contents

1. Background
2. The Brief
3. Discovery Findings
4. Vision & Opportunity
5. Approach & Methodology
6. Programme Workstreams & Goals
7. Agile HR Principles
8. The Journey
9. New Ways of Working
10. Results
11. Takeaway Tips
12. Thank you
13. Testimonial

1. About the RUH

The RUH aspire to being one of the leading Trusts in the UK

Launched in 1948 the NHS is the National Health Service of the UK. Employing over 1.5 million people, the NHS sits within the top five largest workforces in the world.

The Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS Foundation Trust (RUH) provides acute treatment and care for around 500,000 people in Bath, and the surrounding areas. Services provided include medicine and surgery, services for women and children, accident and emergency and diagnostic and clinical support services.

The RUH aspire to being one of the leading Trusts in the UK and are proud to put people at the heart of everything they do, striving to create an environment where everyone matters.

2. The Brief

"Break it apart and put it back together again"

The RUH People leadership team approached me with a problem - they had significant challenges with their recruitment. However, they weren’t sure of the root cause, and they didn’t know where to start.

I shaped a detailed discovery phase to work with their teams mapping out end-to-end processes to identify risk, waste, pain points, the impact on candidate and manager experience and Trust outcomes. I’d gather all available data and have conversations with Recruitment teams, HR, IT,?stakeholders, cross functional teams, hiring managers and new employees.?

From here I’d analyse findings, provide an overview of the current landscape, the root cause of the problem, practical quick fixes along with key priorities and a longer-term plan.

In line with their aspiration to be a leading Trust I asked if they’d be open to a blank piece of paper approach - to harness opportunity and for me to shape a vision for the future. The People Leadership team agreed confirming “break it apart and put it back together again in a way this is simple and customer focused. And help us build capability in our teams”.?

The discovery phase then kicked off followed by a further project to take forward the new vision.

3. Discovery Findings

A leading NHS Trust must be enabled by an exceptional HR function with inclusive, effective recruitment and onboarding practices

My discovery and analysis revealed a disconnected structure with recruitment managed across different teams. The teams were, in the main, providing a recruitment administration service with much of the recruitment process sitting with hiring managers, many in clinical roles.

Processes were complex and manual, managed through spreadsheets alongside the NHS jobs website, with duplication and waste. Legacy ways of working and silo’s created delays and re-work within the system.

There was an absence of an inclusive recruitment strategy and practices, despite this being a key objective for the Trust.

The experience for candidates, hiring managers and new employee's was impacted through often lengthy processes, confusion and frustration. As a result, 24% of new hires were leaving within their first year costing an estimated ￡2.8 million annually.

To realise their aspiration of becoming a leading NHS Trust, the RUH needed an exceptional HR function with inclusive and effective recruitment and onboarding practices. An integrated approach to collaboration and digitalisation was required.

The opportunity to transform was significant, to deliver efficiencies, great experiences for candidates, hiring managers, new employee's, and the best outcomes for RUH people, the Trust, and Patients.

4. The Vision & Opportunity

A holistic, digital talent strategy to create a great place to work and an employer of choice

In line with the RUH's aspiration to be a leading employer, I shaped a new vision for a seamless, digital, engaging and inclusive employee experience. Helping people to be at their best and enabling managers to focus on their core roles, delivering exceptional outcomes for their people, the Trust, and Patients.

5. Transformation Approach & Methodology

Simplify - Digitalise - Innovate - Collaborate

At the core of the transformation approach was agile. Utilising an agile mindset and key principles to create a fast-moving programme driven by excellence and customer value.

Changing perceptions, driving?innovation and collaboration whilst leveraging technology.

Creating streamlined, effective, inclusive and consistent solutions with?the employee experience at the core.

6. The Programme Workstreams & Goals

Six workstreams each with their own goals, designed to work collaboratively and together enable the overall vision

The Digital Talent Programme was launched, co-sponsored by the Chief People Officer and Chief Digital Officer, with a cross functional team and six work-streams, each with their own individual goals, designed to work collaboratively, and together enable the overall vision:

Talent Acquisition & Onboarding

The goal: a fast, effective, inclusive talent acquisition and on-boarding experience creating high engagement, promoting the RUH as an employer of choice.

Technology & Data

The goal: an automated, efficient, reliable and data driven recruitment and onboarding experience creating efficiencies, and enabling resources to be re-invested into value adding activities.

EVP & Attraction

The goal: an authentic and compelling EVP and attraction strategy to drive talent attraction, engagement and retention, positioning the RUH as an employer of choice.

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

The goal: inclusive and equitable recruitment, on-boarding and progression practices with transparent and real time data, building and sustaining diversity in the workforce.

Talent Management & Retention

The goal: inclusive and equitable development and progression practices with transparent and real time data, creating an environment where everyone matters.

Comms & Engagement

The goal: authentic, compelling?communications to involve, engage and inform RUH people and bring them on the journey.

7. Enabling the Journey - My Agile HR Principles

Harnessing the power of Agile to transform ways of thinking and working

I introduced the teams to my Agile HR principles with six easily understandable steps, utilising some of the core concepts of agile. This jargon free approach enabled them to quickly start thinking differently and operating in new ways to realise the benefits of agile without having to learn new methodologies or frameworks.

Creating an environment of enablement & empowerment

Helps optimise flexibility, creativity and productivity, enabling people to do their best work.

Make the shift from process to experience

Instead of focusing of what we need to get done, re-design based on the experience for our people to speed up performance and results.

Lead with simplicity

Successful transformation is as much about removing what we don’t need as creating what we do need. If it’s not adding value, it’s got to go.

A culture of collaboration & continuous improvement

We are greater than the sum of our parts. Build cross-HR and cross functional collaboration to co-create the best possible solutions.

Design with our people, not for them

Bringing our people into our HR world to understand the problem from their perspective. Co-create streamlined, effective, compliant solutions that are easy to use, with strong adoption.

Deliver early, often and incrementally

Releasing improvements in stages and using the voice of our people to continually review progress enables us to deliver results quickly and frequently.

8. The Journey

Think big, start small - test, learn, iterate

A fast-moving programme of work designed to build capability and deliver value as soon as possible. Co-creating successful, buildable, sustainable solutions that will grow with the RUH as their organisation, and the world around them evolves.

Discovery

?Process mapping

?Baseline data and feedback sources in place

?Risks, issues and root cause identified

?Future vision shaped

Transformation Begins

?HR and IT Partnership launched

?Cross functional project team assembled

?Strategy, plan and operating rhythm shaped

?Co-creation approach launched

Data Driven

?Quarterly customer surveys providing actionable insights

?KPI’s built with transparent processes and sharing of data

?Dashboards and heatmaps developed

?From reactive to proactive, and eventually predictive

Simplification

?Building a simplification mindset

?Removing non-value-add activity

?Removing duplication end-to-end

?Streamlining legacy complexity

Digitalisation

?Digital first mindset developed

?HR and IT co-creating the future

?Moving from manual to digital solutions

?Automation to maximise resources

Onboarding

?Onboarding strategy and messaging shaped

?“Join the RUH" onboarding experience launched

?Tools for hiring managers and buddies

?New employee guidebook and checklist

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

?Inclusive Recruitment e-learning design and build in partnership with Kineo

?De-biasing the recruitment process underway

?Candidate attrition reporting at each stage of the operational process with a DEI lens

?Reasonable adjustments process re-design

Employer Value Proposition (EVP)

?HR and Comms partnership created

? BRETOM selected as partner to lead the EVP co-creation

?Discovery completed, EVP narrative and pillars shaped

?EVP creative and messaging built, and tested with focus groups

9. New Ways of Working

Key Foundations Built

Strong foundations have been built to ultimately deliver more value with less work, re-investing critical resources back into value-adding activities.

Collaboration

The foundations for a culture of collaboration have been built with a partnership between HR and IT, true cross functional working and the teams co-creating the new solutions.

Visibility

A digital recruitment process is now in place from vacancy approval through to onboarding providing clarity on the process, data, and visibility of the recruitment position for the first time.

Data & Insights

Collaboration and sharing of data sources between HR, IT and external partners has provided the ability to be data driven. Dashboards and heatmaps will enable decision making and better Trust outcomes.

Simplification

Real progress has been made in removing legacy complexity to create simpler, more effective and sustainable solutions. Teams are adopting a simplification mindset, driving continuous improvement.

Employee Experience

A shift is underway from managing transactional processes to focusing on the experience for candidates, managers, and new employee's, building on the aspiration of creating the RUH as an employer of choice.

External Insights

Strong relationships have been established with other NHS Trusts and?corporate organisations around the world to share best practice, using learning and insights to help shape the new solutions.

10. The Results

The landscape and mindsets have been transformed. New ways of working have been embedded delivering more streamlined, digital, data driven and inclusive employee experiences

Together, we broke it apart and put it back together again. New ways of working have been embedded and both the landscape and mindsets have been transformed. Significant efficiencies have been realised, much better employee experiences are in place and the RUH employer brand has been elevated. A culture of collaboration and being data driven is paving the way forward, and new hire attrition has been transformed. The transformation has also picked up multiple industry award nominations at the HR Excellence awards and the British HR awards.

Discovery Phase – 2022

1. New hire attrition 24% - cost ￡2.85M annually?
2. Customer dissatisfaction, root cause unclear
3. Manual process and spreadsheets
4. Minimal data and targets
5. Workload driven
6. Voice of the customer gap
7. No onboarding solution
8. Separate recruitment teams & silos
9. DE&I gap - no education or support
10. Legacy complexity - e.g. 16 offer letters
11. Functional silos and process black holes
12. Candidates and managers are numbers
13. No EVP to differentiate the organisation
14. Unable to quantify value

?

Transformed – 2024

1. New hire attrition 2.5% - 2023 + 2024 saving = ￡3M+
2. Clarity, transparency, clear goals and progress
3. Digital end-to-end recruitment process
4. Detailed reporting, KPI’s, surveys and insights
5. Data driven
6. Voice of the customer led
7. "Joining the RUH" onboarding experience - strategy, tools and support
8. One Recruitment team
9. Inclusive Recruitment custom built e-Learning
10. Simplified – e.g. 2 offer letters
11. Cross functional collaboration and co-creation
12. Candidates and managers are customers
13. Authentic, compelling EVP in place
14. Can demonstrate clear ROI

11. My Takeaway Tips

Powerful principles to enable success

Fix the Root Cause

Identify the root cause of problems and shape effective, sustainable solutions.

Simplify Everything

Remove everything holding you back - legacy policy, process, documentation, thinking.

Get Comfortable Being Uncomfortable

If it was easy, everyone would do it. Don’t be afraid to challenge anything that’s not working.

Cross Functional Collaboration is Key

We're all part of the same organisation with the same overall strategy and goals. Play on the same team to maximise your resources and co-create the best possible solutions.

Move From Process to Employee Experience

Make the shift from focusing on your processes, to designing around the employee experience to create much better outcomes.

Be Data Driven

Use data, insights and the voice of your people to drive your path to sustainable organisational success.

12. Thank You

Thank You to the RUH

With thanks to the amazing leaders, teams and people at the Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS Foundation Trust, whose commitment, collaboration and determination enabled this transformation.

13. Testimonial

"Sonia has been a phenomenal support in transforming the way we acquire talent. She has created a passion for excellence and customer focus that has truly set us apart"

Alfredo Thompson

Chief People Officer at the Royal United Bath Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

Sonia Mooney is an HR Transformation Leader and Consultant with 25 years experience?helping HR functions around the world transform, delivering exceptional, sustainable business outcomes. Find out more at soniamooney.com