Bringing about a just culture
Mary Walsh, Freedom to Speak Up Guardian, writes about her role as a critical friend to Barts Health and enabling colleagues to speak truth to power.
Hello, my name is Mary and I’m a Freedom to Speak Up Guardian. This means I support supporting Barts Health by being a ‘critical friend’, highlighting concerns raised by colleagues about barriers in their workplace. Ultimately, my aim is to help bring about a 'just culture’. This means enabling staff to speak freely about their worries without the worry of negative consequences.
Speaking truth to power
To this end, I am available to any member of staff, regardless of banding, to have a chat about workplace concerns. This is an interesting and often challenging role. Sometimes I just need to listen and sometimes I’m a coach, helping that person decide upon a course of action that they can carry out themselves. Other times I need to escalate a concern (anonymously if requested) with the relevant person within the trust who has the authority to resolve it. I never drop anybody in it, and everything said to me is utterly confidential. If staff are treated fairly and respectfully, they are far more likely to have the energy to treat their patients in a similar manner. As an external and independent Freedom to Speak Up Guardian it is often easier to speak to me as I have no preconceived ideas about the person, the service, the management team etc. and I need have no fear in helping individuals speak their truth to power.
An open culture
An open culture encourages everyone to speak up. And it encourages innovation, creative thinking, problem identification, and greater productivity from people who work within Barts Health. As such, creating an open culture where everybody can speak up and be heard is not just good practice, it is an imperative.
Opening that line of feedback and supporting colleagues to speak will provide insight and much needed transparency of where problems might lie, but also see what works well and what does not. For example, many of the problems I help with include junior colleagues feeling unheard by the hierarchy. This is particularly pertinent when they have good ideas and solutions for issues they are closest to on the shop floor. Ensuring everyone has the opportunity to raise concerns freely means preventing mistakes, building trust and saving staff leaving a good job because of a poor relationship with their manager or colleagues.
Join the social movement
Providing safety for freedom to speak-up opportunities is something everyone can all do. It’s a social movement that we need everyone’s support for. You can support this process by finding ways to speak up yourself and encouraging colleagues to speak up. We can all help build an open culture where it feels safe to share views, and to recognise and celebrate our differences.
As always, we're here if you need us.
e: contact@theguardianservice.co.uk
t: 0333 003 2241
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