Maintaining and retaining staff through a career coaching programme

What the organisation faced

LICS was experiencing a high turnover across its workforce. It was unclear why this was, so the organisation undertook a deep-dive survey to find out more about the motives of employees across all pay bands leaving local NHS organisations. 

From this research, it emerged that one of the reasons for leaving was a perceived lack of career progression options. Therefore, it was determined that existing staff members needed an opportunity to reflect on their current situation and to help them contemplate their strengths, talents, and priorities. The desired outcome was to encourage employees to develop their skills and to make their next career move within the local system. One-to-one career coaching was identified as the best way to make this happen.

What the organisation did

LICS started by engaging with key organisational development contacts within each of the system trusts to understand the current coaching options in each. 

A dedicated, independent career coach was appointed to facilitate the project for 12 months, which was paid for from the organisation’s wellbeing and retention funds.

It was imperative to convey the right messages to staff about what the programme entailed and what was required of them. It was also important to reach out to everyone who may have an interest, so all communication channels were used to promote it, using a new year, new you campaign approach. 

The programme operated virtually so that anyone employed within the system could access it without any geographical barriers. Everyone who registered was offered three separate 30 minute sessions with the possibility of increasing to six sessions, if it was required to meet their needs. The conversations focused on wellbeing and aspirations, current career highlights and longer term ambitions, with the aim of creating an action plan that considered the resilience and the confidence of the individual to be able to progress. 

Having career-focused discussions away from normal line management allowed participants to be more open and access unbiased support. 

Everything discussed within the sessions was private and confidential. However, in order to measure the success of the programme an evaluation was required and so there were follow-ups with individuals to check if they had remained within the organisation either in the same role or a different role, or if they had opted to develop their skills in some way. 

Not all participants wanted to look at their career prospects, some just needed to make adjustments (such as altering their working patterns) in order to make their current role more fulfilling and optimal for them and therefore remain working within the Lincolnshire system.  

Overcoming obstacles

Some staff members were unfamiliar with this type of coaching and so their expectations were not fully aligned with the remit of the programme. For example, some participants were only looking for specific guidance or job matching. Others struggled with being able to commit time to completing the programme. The capacity of the career coach was also limited and so there was a long waiting list. 

To try to maintain expectations, each participant had an initial session to fully explain coaching and the scope of the programme. If any misunderstanding became apparent during the session, the coach worked with the individual to find solutions that benefitted them.

Results and benefits

Career coaching sessions offered a change of perspective in terms of challenges and difficulties for the individual so they could find alternative ways forward. It empowered staff to reflect on their skillsets and make decisions about their next possible career steps. 

Evaluation data demonstrates that out of 80 participants, 58 fully completed the programme, 54 are still employed within LICS and eight have already secured alternative positions and promotions or are undertaking further training and development. Several have also chosen to stay in their role when they were initially planning to leave the organisation.

Current and future work

As highlighted in the NHS Employers’ 2024 Workforce Supply Conference, the coaching programme was enabled through one-off funding for 12 months only, therefore LICS has had to take a different approach and introduced a career planning programme of three elements, delivered by an external consultancy firm. This is funded from a system bid for talent funds.

The programme is designed to improve the participants’ understanding of career planning. They are offered a one-day session to consider personal career planning or a day of looking at how to support others. There is also a series of one-off virtual sessions with themes of unearthing, developing and embedding and participants can choose to focus on one element or all three.

This project will be measured against the career coaching programme to compare them and determine what has been the more beneficial/successful approach. Long term sustainability for continued support still needs to be identified.

Take away tips

• Ensure that interested participants fully understand the scope and process of career coaching by communicating detailed and clear information about the programme.
• Try to find a career coach from outside of the system who can deliver a holistic approach so that participants feel more comfortable and can explore all different aspects of themselves. 
• Offer flexibility with the structure and delivery of the coaching so it is tailored to each participant’s intended aims and objectives.
• Continually review the programme to ensure it is beneficial to the organisation’s aims and objectives as well as for participants.
• Be patient – it takes time for new initiatives to have an impact but often the results are positive and worth waiting for. 

Further information

Please contact Vicki Lightfoot, system retention lead, Lincolnshire ICS: vicki.lightfoot@nhs.net