There are a number of initiatives within Aintree, such as ‘Employee of the Month’, which acknowledge staff but this only reaches twelve a year out of over three thousand staff across the Trust, neither does it acknowledge the many smaller things that staff do which make them stand out to patients and colleagues.
There was not anything in place within the Trust which linked reward and recognition to the Trust values. Nor was there anything that linked the Trust values with front line behaviours.
Aintree’s solution The Shining Star initiative, adapted from a similar approach used in the US, is simple, positive and provides highly visual feedback; this encourages staff to deliver high standards of care and links front line behaviours with the following Trust values;
- Deliver safe, compassionate care
- Improve through learning and innovation
- Communicate honestly and openly
- Work as a team
- Use resources wisely
- Value each other
The concept includes a white board, post box and nomination forms sited in a highly visible area of the department/ward. The form guides the nominator to recognise positive behaviours under one or more of the six trust values; there is also the opportunity to write comments.
The ‘Star Champion’ in each department creates and displays a star from each nomination which recognises the individual (nominee) and the Trust value they have displayed. By identifying the positive value based behaviour, it emphasises and reinforces the Trust values to staff and raises awareness of them. In clinical areas the nominations are from patients and in non-clinical areas or in areas such as operating theatres, the nominations are from colleagues. Although the acknowledgement is for an individual, the department work as a team to accumulate the most stars which are fed into a divisional league table.
A trophy is awarded monthly to the department with the most stars. After an initial set up, there are no ongoing costs due to the equipment being reusable.
The Shining Star initiative recognises positive attitudes and behaviours and helps demonstrate that the organisation values staff. This brings two benefits; firstly the potential to have a positive impact on culture and secondly to create a value-aligned organisation.
Value-aligned organisations display the following attributes;
-a positive culture
- value based behaviours
- improved performance and outcomes
- improved staff engagement
- enhanced quality and patient experience
Staff can use the feedback as evidence to support revalidation and personal development portfolios. Ward managers can identify which Trust values members of their team are highlighted for and those not being recognised and can focus on these for development.
What outcomes have we seen? The pilot has only recently been launched but early signs are positive. We hope that this simple initiative will help staff to feel valued. In time this may ultimately have the potential to be reflected in the annual staff survey.
What next? The initiative will be evaluated with a view to rollout across the trust to clinical and non- clinical areas.
For more information please contact; Sara Dalby, Surgical Care Practitioner [email protected] Joanne Nelson, Specialty Lead, Digestive Diseases Dept. [email protected] Liz Clark, Consultant Anaesthetist [email protected]