Innovation


Two Claires, one big idea: the Hallmark Care Accelerator


Hallmark Care Homes created the Care Accelerator last year to encourage new thinking at the Essex business. Here, head of innovation Claire Johnsen and head of learning & development Claire Collen explain how the programme has resulted in ideas being put into practice


We both joined Hallmark Care Homes in May 2020 and since then we have been impressed by how it always tries to do things differently. Hallmark has been leading change in the care sector for 24 years, recently awarded three national care provider and care home group of the year award titles, and we are proud to be a part of a team that has a track record for continually questioning existing practices and seeking out new ideas. In February 2021, we combined our


knowledge and experience integrating innovations and leadership development within large organisations to form an in- house ‘Care Accelerator’ at Hallmark Care Homes and sister construction company Savista Developments. The Care Accelerator, believed to be the first for the sector, has a clear vision and mission to find solutions to industry problems using the combined brain power and experience of our teams. Together, we bring knowledge and


expertise working for a suite of blue chip companies, and step-change innovation projects at Cambridge Science Park,


which involved working with multiple teams commercialising research and bringing new ideas to market. We had a vision to build a culture of enterprise and empowerment for our teams by developing an initiative which explores new ideas, takes measured risks, tests, analyses and streamlines a process to encourage creative thinking, and inspiration. From there, we created the Care


Accelerator and built on the enterprise ethos of the company. It was also a follow-on from our successful innovation challenge rolled out in July 2020, which revealed 269 inventive ideas and a huge appetite and enthusiasm for innovation.


The challenges A crack team of 17 professionals were identified by senior management to work on three knotty problems that, if resolved, would bring benefit to the company and the wider care community. We also allocated considerable resources to this programme to both empower and grow our teams along with a mentor for each working group.


For the first edition Care Accelerator,


three challenges were set. One focused on ways to recruit, retain and develop our nurses to meet the future needs of care. Another was on ways to operate care homes in an environmentally sustainable fashion. The last challenge was to provide building operations that are carbon neutral. All of the challenges are in line with the business’s future objectives and tie in nicely with Hallmark’s five company value: openness, individuality, quality, togetherness and growth.


To help the teams shape their ideas,


a variety of training was delivered to the groups from a diverse mix of speakers as part of a six-month programme. This included a blend of internal and external speakers and was designed to stimulate ideation along with providing practical tips and suggestions. Examples of speakers included Dr.


Lianne Taylor from Norwich Business School, who is a specialist in strategy and business psychology, while project management skills were explained by the head of Savista Developments, and Hallmark founder Avnish Goyal spoke of leadership and ways to inspire others.


Banking on innovation We decided that it would be beneficial to work with an organisation that specialises in accelerating new ideas so the Care Accelerator partnered with Barclays Eagle Labs for the first edition. Working with Barclays Eagle Labs brought a wealth of experience and introductions drawn from their fleet of 25 national incubator labs offices.


It also helped the teams grow their ideas and assess their business model, and working with an experienced team who could both challenge and encourage in


February 2022 www.thecarehomeenvironment.com 25


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