Mentoring Workshops for “Freedom to Speak Up” Guardians

Context

The National Guardian’s Office (NGO) leads, trains and supports a network of Freedom to Speak Up (FTSU) Guardians in the English healthcare system. Speaking up is about flagging “anything that gets in the way of doing a great job,” and Freedom to Speak Up Guardians support workers to do so if they feel that they are unable to in other ways. There are more than 1,000 Freedom to Speak Up Guardians in the NHS and independent sector organisations, national bodies and elsewhere.

NGO also provides challenge and learning to the healthcare system as a whole as part of its remit.

Foundation training to become a Freedom to Speak Up Guardian involves two parts:

• Part 1: independent e-learning consisting of a five-topic module and end of topic tests (Speak Up, Listen Up and Follow Up training)
• Part 2: a reflective conversation.

Whilst Part 1 is undertaken internally, NGO identified a need for external support with Part 2; training for experienced Guardians to develop their mentoring skills, allowing them to effectively facilitate reflective conversations with newly trained Guardians.

Requirement

In response to the above, Eliesha was contacted by the Senior FTSU Guardian Support Manager to design and deliver a bespoke one-day mentoring workshop for up to 35 experienced Guardians (initially, in year one). Virtual delivery was required due to the dispersed nature of the learners.

The aim of the training was to increase the overall confidence and effectiveness of the mentors to ensure they:

• felt equipped to have the reflective conversations
• developed their listening skills
• understood how to take further action and how to signpost this
• could effectively support new Guardians

Solution

We worked in a collaborative partnership with NGO to explore the requirement and how they related to their challenges. Across several exploratory meetings, Eliesha’s contract team and our L&D expert design/delivery lead discussed outcomes, processes, documentation and culture to ensure that a tailored solution could be provided.

It was agreed that learning outcomes would include:

• Able to describe what the Guardian Mentor role is
• Be able to facilitate an effective reflective conversation with the FTSUG, including creating a safe environment, listening at an appropriate level and using questions to support reflective learning. 
• Be able to understand and maintain appropriate boundaries of confidentiality
• Be able to self-assess and develop through ongoing skills practice and reflection and understand what support is available to you.

It was proposed that a highly interactive, whole-day virtual workshop was provided. During the agreement and sign off process for the course outline, high-level design and materials, it was also agreed that an element would be delivered by NGO’s Senior Support Manager, exploring the expectations and outcomes of the mentor role and ensuring all Guardian Mentors were clear on their responsibilities would be beneficial addition to the workshop.

The workshop included pre and post-workshop learning to complete (including reflective questionnaires and Eliesha’s proprietary microlearning pearls of wisdom® on a number of related topics). The session itself included ‘what reflective conversations look like’, ‘creating a safe environment’, ’emotional intelligence’, ‘recognising and valuing difference’, ‘structuring conversations and questions’, ‘levels of listening’, as well as periods of skills practice and action planning.

To ensure maximum engagement and impact, it was agreed to split the 35 mentors into 3 cohorts. The first session was held as a pilot to allow for feedback and evaluation and, as part of our continuous improvement process, minor tweaks were made for the remaining Resultssessions.

Results

During our first workshop, attended by 14 NGO staff of varying roles and levels of seniority, our Kirkpatrick Level 2 evaluations captured the following results:

• There was a self-assessed pre-course level of expertise and understanding of the workshop objectives of 72%. This rose to 92% when the delegates completed the post-course evaluations, representing a 28% uplift in knowledge.
• 95% of delegates found the event informative and helpful.
• 92% of delegates liked the methodology used within the workshop.
• 94% of delegates enjoyed the trainer’s style of delivery and how the workshop was delivered.
• 94% of delegates enjoyed the workshop overall.

/spacer

We also received positive feedback from senior NGO managers who attended on how the workshop was delivered, and positive feedback from NGO stakeholders about how the session was received internally.

Outcomes

Feedback from the workshop was collated into an evaluation report for NGO’s Senior FTSU Guardian Support Manager to review. Following this, discussions were held around further improvements that could be made to the workshop and its materials. For example, we altered the opening section of the material to make the introductions by Eliesha’s trainer and NGO’s personnel smoother. We additionally added NGO’s Mentor Guide into the delegate workbook for the workshop, so delegates attending can access both sets of information in one place.

Key to the success of these workshops is to see if the behaviours and skills required to be a Freedom to Speak Up Guardian are embedded within the delegates who attend these workshops. Feedback and comments that have been received from the first workshop have showcased that this has been the case and that delegates who have attended have been able to develop these behaviours and skills in the workshop through the skills practice exercise and beyond. This is an aspect of the workshops that will be continually monitored by National Guardian’s Office and Eliesha.

Testimonial

“The services (Eliesha) provide are professional and personable, offering valuable resources that complement the knowledge and skills of the trainer. They have always been willing to help meet our training requirements, arranging meetings with us in the early days to develop learning objectives and high-level workshop design, right through to meetings prior to the workshop to ensure its smooth running. Our first mentor workshop received excellent feedback from the delegates and follow up from Eliesha to ensure any suggestions from the feedback were implemented.”

– Jenni Fellows, Senior Freedom to Speak Up Guardian Support Manager

---