We started by getting some statistics from the HR department , telling us how many of the 9,000 people in the trust were perceived to be in a leadership position.  It does depend on where you ‘draw the line’ on your levels.

We also had data on themes such as ethnicity and gender.  The tool helped us to discuss this, particularly if people felt, for example, that the organisation was stereotypically white and male.  It was interesting because when we showed people the data, they were able to reflect on that as well.

The next part of the process was very much focused in the senior level, and because we had data from other tools such as the board interviews, we felt that we were missing out on our middle managers, for example our general managers.  We decided to look below the board.  Using this tool enabled us to get the insights of people in leadership positions into:

• how well they have been trained
• how well developed they were when they were brought into the trust
• How were they inducted into the trust as a leader?

The questions within the tool provided a huge wealth of information , not only about the quantitative data of the hospital, in terms of how many people you have in leadership roles,  demographics and levels of diversity, but also the perception of the leaders in terms of how they felt leadership was in the trust.

Analysing talent management within the organisation is massively important.  I found that there is a huge skill set in leadership that we are not always sharing. Some people are very well trained and have lots of skills and don’t always have the opportunity to share that, equally there are other leaders in the organisation who are keen to have more development.

John Stammers, Trauma and Orthopaedic Consultant, St George’s University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust