Retention Charter action 1.2

Action 1.2: Develop an organisational culture that celebrates diversity, role models inclusive behaviours, and takes accountability for addressing discrimination, bullying, and harassment.

Action 1.2 is part of Domain 1 of the RCPsych's Retention Charter for employers - which relates to creating a culture of belonging.

What stage is your organisation at?

Use this maturity matrix to assess what stage your organisation is at, in terms of Action 1.2. 

  • Organisational policies exist in relation to discrimination, bullying and harassment and are consistently applied for all psychiatrists. Information and resources to support staff experiencing discrimination, bullying or harassment are readily accessible and regularly communicated.
  • Communication channels are used effectively within the organisation to convey and celebrate the diversity and representative nature of the workforce.
  • Good quality training is delivered for all staff to improve their knowledge relating to equity, diversity and inclusion.
  • Specific and measurable organisational objectives are in place to improve equity, equality, diversity, and inclusion.

  • Allyship networks and training exist to support staff in developing the attitudes, knowledge, and skills to actively support and advocate for marginalised groups. Such networks/groups are empowered to identify local issues and contribute towards the organisational equality, diversity and inclusion agenda.
  • Mechanisms are in place to ensure safety and support, including psychological and peer support for psychiatrists reporting discrimination, bullying, harassment or violence from colleagues, patients, or members of the public. Feedback is collated to understand staff experiences and views on the effectiveness of support offered.
  • The organisation regularly reviews data on bullying, discrimination, harassment, and violence to determine trends and if any particular staff groups are disproportionately affected. Co-produced plans (i.e. developed with staff impacted by such issues) are implemented and reviewed at least annually to address identified problems.
  • Feedback is regularly collated to understand staff experiences of discrimination, bullying, and harassment including understanding their confidence to raise concerns and views on support offered

  • Regular review of learning and implementation of policies relating to discrimination, bullying, and harassment occurs at board level and board members and senior leaders actively promote equity, equality, diversion and inclusion.
  • The organisation partakes in national efforts to tackle discrimination and inequality in the health service, sharing examples of good practice outside of the organisation and implementing learning and guidance from national agencies.
  • A healthy freedom to speak up culture exists where staff feel confident raising concerns, evidenced through formal feedback which is regularly acted upon.
  • Active steps are taken by the organisation to build a diverse workforce including ensuring that recruitment activities reach diverse communities and supporting underrepresented staff groups to develop their careers.

Advice and recommendations

  • Incorporate training on equity, equality, diversity and inclusion into organisational induction processes. This training should be co-produced, involve people with lived experience, develop empathy and cultural competency, and raise awareness of organisational policies relating to discrimination, bullying, and harassment.

  • Provide active bystanding training to empower staff to challenge poor/discriminatory behaviours in the workplace, and specific training for line managers focussing on effectively supporting Psychiatrists who experience discrimination, bullying, or harassment.

  • Ensure visibility of information on the organisation’s intranet relating to the prevention and management of discrimination, bullying, and harassment. This should include who to contact if staff have concerns, and links to relevant guidance and services including how to access staff counselling and wellbeing support.

  • Ensure that safe reporting mechanisms exist for staff to raise concerns without fear of negative consequences, including advertising the role of Freedom to Speak Up (FTSU) Guardians and Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) champions in supporting staff to speak out.

  • Systematically conduct surveys and audits to understand staff experiences of discrimination, bullying and harassment and to assess compliance with relevant organisational policies preventing and managing these behaviours.

  • Use information collated from staff surveys, incident management systems, and other reporting tools to develop awareness of the major facilitators and barriers to equity, equality, diversity, and inclusion within the organisation, including identifying staff groups and locations at greatest risk of experiencing discrimination, bullying, harassment, and violence. Use this information to devise and implement improvement plans aimed at addressing key issues and to inform organisational EDI objectives.

  • Establish support networks and/or peer groups for staff with protected characteristics and their allies. Support these groups to meet regularly and establish clear mechanisms for them to provide feedback to management, ensuring their involvement in developing policies which directly affect them.

  • Review the membership of organisational decision-making forums and ensure that there is appropriate representation of staff from various backgrounds and professional groups. This involves ensuring that there is diversity in leadership, that a broad range of perspectives are considered at organisational meetings, and that the impact of organisational policies on all staff groups is actively considered.

  • Work with the communications team to ensure visibility and celebration of the diverse workforce in formal communications (e.g. in the staff newsletter, organisation website, intranet etc). This could include visually displaying the profiles of senior leaders, promoting the achievements of staff from diverse backgrounds, celebrating religious holidays, festivals, and special events across all cultures, and organising events to learn about different cultures.

  • Work with external organisations, such as other hospitals, NHS England, the BMA, GMC, and RCPsych to share and learn from examples of good practice in relation to celebrating diversity and promoting equity, equality, diversity, and inclusion. This includes signing up to relevant charters or campaigns, such as the act against racism and sexual safety charter and implementing recommendations from national agencies.

Links and resources

 

Examples of good practice

The RCPsych has produced guidance and resources to help tackle racism in mental health organisations including information about the Act Against Racism campaign, resources and a toolkit to support this campaign, guidance for Psychiatrists experiencing racism at work, and information for allies.