Bob was very popular with staff and was seen as fair and approachable with an ‘open door’ policy. However, they’re unsettled and apprehensive about their new CEO. Zephyr Care’s staff pride themselves on having a positive working culture and the organisation has a very low staff turnover. They selected Rose as the new CEO through a thorough recruitment process to ensure that she would bring values, experience, skills and knowledge to the CEO role which aligned with Zephyr’s mission statement and business objectives. Their CEO, Bob, has just retired and Zephyr Care externally recruited to the post. They offer residential and home care, mainly to older people. Zephyr Care is a successful multi-service organisation that employs 550 staff. Read the scenario and answer the questions below. They also suggest that involving staff is one of the best ways to drive improvement. The CQC’s ‘Driving improvement: case studies from nine adult social care services’, guide found that failing organisations tend to have cultures in which staff are afraid to speak out, don’t feel they have a voice and are not listened. It also provides opportunities for everyone to share their views and ideas, including people who need care and support. Good communication helps to create mutual and trusted respect in the workforce, regardless of individual roles and responsibilities, and reduces mistakes from miscommunication. However, every individual is personally responsible for the tone, content and the style of delivery of the communication. This will set the standard for staff to copy in their interactions with others. Leaders can set the example by having an open door policy, being approachable and visible, listening to their staff, praising when things go well and taking responsibility when things don’t. Good communication is also essential where teams are widespread, based over several sites or where members are lone workers, such as in domiciliary care and support services. Assisted living technologies (ALT) are just one example of tools that can support people to communicate in different ways.
Remember, communication is more than the spoken word so you should consider how people communicate in non-verbal ways, particularly where individuals have difficulties communicating, for example if they’re living with dementia or a learning disability. You should avoid using jargon, acronyms and other practices that could exclude people or lead to misunderstandings. Open and transparent communication is a vital element in a positive workplace culture.Īll your communication should be clear and understandable - whether you’re discussing an individual’s care and support needs with them, agreeing appraisal outcomes with staff or writing the business plan.