TRAINING
of the performance that needs to be improved, rather than the problems one is keen to guard against.
On diagnosing required improvement(s), and setting a goal for how much to increase or decrease the performance goal by, a current culture reality check is needed (see Fig. 1). Among the questions that need to asked are: n What is currently working for and against operating procedures?
n How aligned is the workforce? (Individually, as a team, and with leadership perceptions).
This inquiry process requires investment in time, time that people say they don’t have, but how much time and other resources are wasted by not taking this step at the beginning?
Assessing how aligned the workforce feels against what the leadership team perceives and desires highlights ‘hotspots’ that need working on. This process alone will provide some intriguing insights, identifying where the focus should initially go and a roadmap for ongoing development. It may even reveal that training might not be the right intervention to focus on initially.
Desired organisational culture Policies, systems, and processes should be reviewed and aligned to reflect the current and desired organisational culture and values of the leadership. These are dynamic documents that should act as job/performance and education aids for those implementing them. Whatever the problems being experienced, ignoring the human factor is asking for repeated mistakes, inconsistent practices, and slow performance improvements. To change practice, to improve performance, to be excellent and not just the same, put the human element at the centre. Reframe ‘training’ to ‘development’, and invest the time to really carry out the analysis around the different job roles, and what those in particular roles specifically need to do to meet the desired performance improvement goal.
The main challenge for healthcare revolves around the fear of making mistakes – the fear of legal proceedings as a result of the mistake, and of blame. If an environment of fear is created, we are less willing to admit our mistakes, and if we do not reflect on those mistakes, we block the learning process. Research in learning and memory studies has found that learning by doing (progressive), also described as experiential learning,6
leads
to better understanding and knowledge. This is also highlighted in the book, Make It stick. The Science of Successful Learning, where it is written that ‘making mistakes and correcting them builds the bridges to advanced learning’.
Stop training for training’s sake Learning from mistakes requires educators to create a ‘safe’ learning environment, where the individuals participating have an opportunity to reflect on events, explore all forms of the feedback mechanism, and encourage people to share their experiences. In conclusion, as an educator I say stop training for training’s sake. It promotes boredom, and herd mentality, and fails to promote and develop the skills that employers are saying they want and are hard to find.
How did I make water, decontamination and infection prevention and control inspiring and engaging? How did I bridge the gap in language, while demonstrating quality improvements? I spent several years going to many seminars, training programmes, and courses all over the world, finding out how our brains work, and how we can connect as people by removing the negative learnt barriers we create – by ‘doing’.
It is imperative to walk the talk, ensuring that continuous learning behaviours are modelled by you and your leadership team. That’s excellence. If your leaders have a barrier to learning, how do you expect others to follow?
There are seven steps to follow when you shift from an organisation-led to a worker-centred approach (see Fig. 2). By assessing the ‘Values’ of your human capital you identify staff’s experience of the current culture, and these results provide: n The baseline measure from which return on investments in people development initiatives can be seen, and therefore managed.
n The psychological stage of development of the organisation and the workforce,
Becky Hill
Becky Hill is the founding owner and CEO of Solutions 42, which provides ‘a holistic approach and measurable solutions to learning and development interventions in healthcare’.
Her experience is built from her foundation as an applied biology and microbiology research scientist, who ‘transitioned’ into the corporate world, developing her knowledge skills and expertise in the field of water treatment and purification.
With over 30 years’ experience in healthcare environments, she has specialist subject knowledge and skills covering: Water hygiene, purification, and quality assurance; Environmental cleaning; Medical device decontamination, and Infection prevention and control.
She is further trained and certified in human potential and developmental psychology, holding diplomas and certifications supporting adult training and education, team/organisational culture transformation, and leadership development. She co-authored chapter 11 on ‘Pure water in healthcare’ published in the reference book, Decontamination in Hospitals and Healthcare,5
edited by Dr Jimmy Walker,
has developed and tutored an online Water module course supporting a University Medical Device Decontamination education pathway, and has created an ‘Infection Prevention and Control/Outbreak Toolkit’, with associated ‘IPC Champion’ development programme and performance management system, for a community care home group. Becky Hill also speaks at numerous healthcare-related events.
October 2019 Health Estate Journal 69 and how aligned or misaligned they are.
n Where to prioritise the focus to handle the ‘hotspots’ that are creating the barriers to consistency and productivity.
As Sam Walton, founder of Wal-Mart, once said: ‘Outstanding leaders go out of their way to boost the self-esteem of their personnel. If people believe in themselves, it’s amazing what they can accomplish.’ Don’t be the Same. Be Excellent.
References: 1 Department for Education. Employer skills survey 2017: UK findings. August 2018 [
https://tinyurl.com/y3wxbd8m].
2 Brinkley I, Crowley E. From ‘inadequate’ to ‘outstanding’: making the UK’s skills system world class. CIPD. April 2017 [
https://tinyurl.com/y6z6scjx].
3 The Bloomberg Job Skills Report 2016: What Recruiters Want. Bloomberg, 9 February 2016.
[
https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/ 2016-job-skills-report].
4 Department for Education. Gutman LM, Vorhaus J. The impact of pupil behaviour and wellbeing on educational outcomes. February 2012 [
https://tinyurl.com/jt4jrzr].
5 Walker JT. Decontamination in Hospitals and Healthcare, 1st Edn. Elsevier Science & Technology, Woodhead Publishing Ltd, December 2013.
6 Kolb DA. Experiential Learning: Experience as the Source of Learning and Development. New Jersey: Englewood Cliffs, Prentice-Hall, 1984.
7 Brown PC, Roediger HL, McDaniel MA. Make It Stick. The Science of Successful Learning. Harvard University Press, 2014. ISBN 978-0-674-72901-8.
hej
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136 |
Page 137 |
Page 138 |
Page 139 |
Page 140 |
Page 141 |
Page 142 |
Page 143 |
Page 144 |
Page 145 |
Page 146 |
Page 147 |
Page 148 |
Page 149 |
Page 150 |
Page 151 |
Page 152 |
Page 153 |
Page 154 |
Page 155 |
Page 156 |
Page 157 |
Page 158 |
Page 159 |
Page 160
