Investors In People (IIP) Silver

09/07/2015 Achievement

NHS Forth Valley has achieved the prestigious Investors in People (IIP) Scotland Silver status which is a significant achievement for our staff and the organisation as a whole.

Following a three year rolling assessment covering all areas of the organisation, our External Assessor has deemed that we not only met the basic requirements of the Standard, but that we have achieved Silver status which is a step up from our previous Bronze status. We are now the only NHS Board in Scotland to achieve silver status for the whole organisation.

This award recognised NHS Forth Valley’s ongoing commitment to being a Learning Organisation and to developing its staff. Attainment of the Silver Level Award demonstrated that Forth Valley excelled in certain areas over and above the ‘standard’ and has steadily progressed in meeting many other areas of the standard since its Bronze level achievement in 2012.

The Assessment…..

Each year, since 2012, interviews have been completed, with 80 staff (approx 4% each year) participating over a 3-day period.

Year 1: Acute Services review – completed in June 2013
Year 2: CHP and Community Services will be assessed in year 2 – completed in June 2014
Year 3: Corporate and Support Services – completed in June 2015

Each of the assessments above, involved the IIP Assessor meeting informally with staff on a face to face basis, either individually or in small focus groups. These short interviews are confidential and responses are only seen by the IIP Assessor. Only collated and anonymised feedback is contained in the NHS Forth Valley final collated Review Report.

We would like to thank all those staff who took time out of their busy schedules to talk to the external assessor, this is greatly appreciated.

The 2015 Report and Recommendations ……

The IIP review surveys how NHS Forth Valley involves its staff in contributing to and delivering the healthcare strategy. Themes surveyed include how the organisation leads, engages, rewards and develops its staff. Shortly after completion of the interviews, the IIP Assessor completed a report with recommendations and submitted this to IIP Scotland for verification. The NHS Forth Valley Assessor Report was supported by the IIP Verification Board for a Silver Award, demonstrating how the organisation has measured up to the IIP Standard, Principles and Indicators and has demonstrated a year on year improvement.

Please see the Briefing note below for a summary of the areas of good practice for NHS Forth Valley and areas for further development:

IIP Update 2015 Good Practice & Recommendations

Investors in People Standard, Principles and Indicators

The Investors in People Standard has 3 Key Principles:

– Develop strategies to improve performance
– Take action to improve performance
– Evaluate and improve performance

The Standard also has 10 Indicators which we require to meet:

BUSINESS STRATEGY – A strategy for improving the performance of the organisation is clearly defined and understood
LEARNING & DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY- Learning and development is planned to achieve the organisation’s objectives
PEOPLE MANAGEMENT STRATEGY- Strategies for managing people are designed to promote equality of opportunity in the development of the organisation’s people
LEADERSHIP & MANAGEMENT STRATEGY – The capabilities managers need to lead, manage and develop people effectively are clearly defined and understood
MANAGEMENT EFFECTIVENESS – Managers are effective in leading, managing and developing people
RECOGNITION & REWARD – People’s contribution to the organisation is recognised and valued
INVOLVEMENT & EMPOWERMENT – People are encouraged to take ownership and responsibility by being involved in decision-making
LEARNING & DEVELOPMENT – People learn and develop effectively
PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENT – Investment in people improves the performance of the organisation
CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT – Improvements are continually made to the way people are managed and developed

Organisations are assessed against each of these Indicators and can attain the Standard or can be recognised as performing beyond the Standard at Bronze; Silver or Gold Levels.

Next steps…..

NHS Forth Valley will continue to celebrate and recognise the excellent work done by our staff and ensure that we maintain the standards which brought us a Silver Award and take forward improvements in the areas highlighted for further development.