The University of Central Lancashire recently published a report into the effectiveness of employee relations in the NHS (and People Management did an article about it, which you can find here: https://www.peoplemanagement.co.uk/article/1795305/inadequate-line-management-biggest-cause-nhs-conflict-research-finds).
The results were a mixed bag.
The good: 72% of respondents said the focus on equality and diversity initiatives was good or very good. ✅️
73% reported a good or very good relationship between management and the unions. 🤝
The bad: more than half believed incidents of bullying, harassment and of discrimination would remain the same, and around a third thought they would increase. ⚠️
The ugly: 74% said stress-related absence would increase by a significant or very significant degree in the next 12 months. ⛔️
I’m unsurprised that poor line management ranked as the most prevalent cause of conflict among NHS organisations.
Poor line management is at the heart of most organisational people challenges and yet still many organisations propel people into line manager roles without articulating “what good looks like” as a manager and without equipping them with the tools to be effective in this crucial capacity.
