Our drive to develop and prioritise compassion in the workplace was born out of the impact of the pandemic on the wellbeing of our health and care workforce along with national and local drives across the NHS and Social Care to develop more compassionate leadership and workplaces. Our partnership working across Kirklees and Calderdale is first rate and is imperative for our joint approaches to promote compassionate cultures.
We started with our Compassionate Leadership Programme, endorsed by Professor Michael West CBE. We launched this at our first Compassionate Cultures Conference and Festival of Wellbeing in 2022 and then began to deliver to managers across our partnerships. The programme includes practical ways to translate the learning into compassionate practices within work settings and features cross-fertilisation of skills, knowledge, and experiences as part of the design.
The Festival of Wellbeing includes an annual programme of workshops and online events, designed to support staff health and wellbeing, and promote and build on compassionate cultures across Kirklees and Calderdale. It promotes the positive nature of wellbeing offers and activities from a celebratory perspective. Championing inclusivity, it is aimed at all staff in health and social care, exploring themes to support staff therapeutically and practically through self-help strategies. Students from the University of Huddersfield took a lead role on compassionate leadership within clinics, going on to write up their experiential accounts. Over 230 Practice Educators were given a briefing on self-compassion, as well as other specific groups.
Partners also attended a Train-the-Trainers Compassionate Leadership programme, established a Compassionate Leadership Community of Practice, and attended our Compassionate Cultures Design Group. This enabled the development of tools and methods to support compassionate practice for individuals, teams, and managers, helping to establish a deep empathy and compassionate response to our workforce.
Other programmes supporting the development of compassionate cultures include:
- Our Social Care Innovation ‘Caring for YOU’ Programme. Directly supporting our social care workforce in collaboration with Huddersfield University, Kirklees Care Association and HÄLSA Wellbeing, the roadshow events brought compassion into care homes with an emphasis on self-care and being kind to yourself.
- Our Kirklees and Calderdale Integrated Schwartz Rounds are now embedded across our partnerships, running regularly with both on-line and live rounds. We have engaged with 743 staff members to date.
Impact samples for Compassionate Leadership Programme:
- Before this course, I was feeling extremely over-whelmed in my role, the expectations put on me and the unhealthy work/life balance. This course taught me about being kind to myself and self-compassion. I had handed my notice in at work before attending, but this course helped me to implement a healthy work/life balance and I realised what I can do for myself to relieve these pressures that I was feeling at work, and that I had put these expectations on myself. I put self-compassion into practice, created a healthy work/life balance and retracted my notice as I love my job.
- While already practising self-compassion, I am actively working to reduce negative self-talk, it will be an ongoing process.
- Making more time for myself and others without guilt has contributed to better personal and professional balance
- Reduced stress and fatigue have resulted in greater focus and productivity.
- There has been a noticeable shift towards a supportive team culture, which has been recognised by new team members, fostering a culture of collaboration and inclusivity.
- Embracing compassion as a necessity within the organisation has improved workplace productivity and strengthened interpersonal connections.
Impact samples for Integrated Schwartz Rounds:
- At my first Schwartz Round, I was unsure what to expect. The protected space, dedicated to listening to real stories without set learning outcomes, was a profound experience. Having taken lots of reflective notes, it’s clear that my learning will be shaped by my personal needs rather than following a prescribed structure. The facilitated environment, where acknowledgement and shared experiences were encouraged, was incredibly meaningful.
- The session reinforced the importance of compassionate care across the workplace, ensuring that everyone benefits from it. I don’t think anything could have improved the experience, thank you to all involved.
- The round helped ease my concerns about work pressures. It was comforting to realize that my colleagues in health and social care face similar challenges and knowing that I’m not alone in my feelings has been deeply reassuring.
What made the difference to the outcomes of our approach was genuine enthusiasm from our partners and champions to build on compassionate leadership and practices, and so build compassionate cultures. The wings of compassion, in all its dimensions can bring new narratives for ourselves to find relief in times of need, and to experience a happy work life, this is our aspiration. Our Senior Responsible Officer for Workforce stated that our compassionate endeavours created hope, something we all need in times of challenge and change.
Mark Ambrose MBACP (Accred), Assoc CIPD, MAC, Kirklees Place Workforce Lead
Learn more
Learn more about our work in these short videos: