Staff Urged to Join Our Open Conversations
Have a voice in building the best place to work together
Our Open Conversations - what are they and why should you get involved?
From 30 November to 14 December 2023, all staff working in health and care in Birmingham and Solihull have the opportunity to take part in the first of Our Open Conversations.
Via an online virtual discussion platform, every single member of our workforce will be able to safely, openly and anonymously share their opinions and ideas - with the promise that your contributions will be heard, recognised and actioned.
This is a unique opportunity for staff to tell us about their frustrations; where we are getting things wrong; what’s stopping them from doing their job in the way they want and need to, and what we need to do to make things better.
We want to know about what is leaving you dispirited or disappointed; what types of behaviours you expect and those you will no longer tolerate; and what is blocking us from making the changes our staff need.
Nobody knows better than our staff, and Our Open Conversations will allow us to get to the root causes of our challenges to put in place an action plan that will make every part of health and care in Birmingham and Solihull the best place to work.
Why are we doing this and how is this different from other staff surveys?
We are determined to make working in health and care in Birmingham and Solihull the best place it can be.
We can only do this by tapping into the wisdom of our workforce – we need a full and honest picture of the challenges of day-to-day working life so that we can make genuinely transformative change.
Our Open Conversations differ from staff surveys as they allow you to not only share your own views, but to also comment and vote on the thoughts and ideas of your colleagues in an interactive and ‘live’ discussion.
What happens with what is said?
Our independent partner, Clever Together, will analyse every contribution and produce a report about what you said. We will then use this to create a first draft of the action plan. This will be our plan to make every organisation delivering health and care in Birmingham and Solihull the best place to work - from recruitment to retirement - so that people join, stay and build their futures with us and in our communities.
You will then have a chance to check and challenge this draft in a second Open Conversation in Spring 2024. This will be your chance to refine the draft even further and offer your honest feedback. What did we get right? What is wrong? What have we missed?
The Conversation is:
- Anonymous – your name is not attached to anything you share
- For all staff in our ICS
- Available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week while the Conversation is live
- Accessible from wherever you may be, on any computer, tablet or smartphone
- Analysed independently, so you can feel safe to share how you really feel
How do I get involved?
For staff at BSol ICB, BCHC, UHB, BWC, BSHMFT, ROH
When the Conversation launches, you will be sent your unique login details and a link to access the platform. All you need to do is follow the link and enter your login details.
For staff in Primaray Care, Birmingham City Council, Solihull Metropolitan Council, and Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust, WMAS, and care and support providers.
When the Conversation launches, you can visit www.openconversations.clevertogether.com/welcome and click the “Register” button to sign up.
You can then read what everyone is saying, post, comment and vote anonymously. If you’ve got an experience or idea to share, or want to know what other people are saying, then log in and join Our Open Conversation.
Toolkit
Between now and 14 December is a crucial time in which we need your support in building noise around this initiative to ensure staff engage in our first Our Open Conversation. To assist, we have created a Communications Toolkit, which you can access here: 
BSOL - Comms Assets
Thanks so much for getting involved in this exciting opportunity. Let’s build the best place to work together.