Hein's blog: Loose words and the impact on Culture Change

Everything we say the way we say it and how we behave all reflect our own personal values. At a personal level, clearly this impacts our families and friends primarily – but in the workplace the way that we express our views and thoughts is equally important. I wanted to take the opportunity to reflect on our values, how we behave in relation to them and how they impact the way that we work here at EEAST. 

So just to recap, we have five values: Care; Quality; Honesty, Teamwork, and Respect. These values were developed with our people so hopefully everyone recognises and identifies with them. However, these words are meaningless if yours and my behaviours do not reflect these values and principles. It is very easy to believe that the way in which we speak and behave is simply a personal issue – but in the workplace it has far wider ramifications.

The impact of language becomes very clear when we consider the findings of our three surveys on the experiences and perceptions of our BME colleagues, our LGBT+ people and colleagues living with a disability or neurodivergence. The themes of all three surveys were consistent in terms of poor behaviours, ignorance, and inappropriate comments. Some of the comments made to colleagues were almost unprintable. The message is clear – the way that we speak and the content of what we say has a huge impact on our colleagues; on how comfortable they feel at work and how easy it is to do their jobs.

As my Executive colleague Marika Stephenson (Exec Director of People Services) reflected recently, being polite and respectful means that we could resolve workplace issues and problems at an earlier stage - spending less time on disciplinaries and employee relations cases. This would not only improve everyone’s experiences of working at EEAST but also enables the Trust to free up more time that can be focussed on patient care. 

However, it is also our actions - not words alone - that bring about change and the way in which we treat each other. Our culture is made up of not only the lofty vision and aims of the Trust – but also the everyday experience of everyone who works within it. In Time to Lead, I believe we have put our values into action – allowing honest and respectful discussion and making changes as a team. People have told us that they have truly felt that we listened and took onboard their feedback. This in turn means that the changes will have a much greater chance of success and again this improves the whole organisation.

Living our values allows us to develop better relationships, a deeper understanding of the issues impacting on our colleagues and an ability to move the Trust forward. It is so important that, to live by our value of respect, that we treat everyone the same, whether Executive Directors or peers and colleagues.  

We need to think about our Trust values at every opportunity, and to call out inappropriate behaviour – in this way we can all work to create a positive culture at EEAST.

Dr Hein Scheffer, Director of Strategy, Culture & Education