What we did

Right at the start of the process, during a Board development session, we challenged members to answer some bold questions: what do you want YAS to be, what will be different, how ambitious will we be and what will success look like?

We took a wealth of feedback and suggestions away and, working closely with YAS’s Director of Strategy, Planning & Performance, put in place project oversight arrangements and developed a detailed stakeholder map to identify the voices of those who need, use and interact with YAS’s services, as well as the people who work there.

We set out an ambitious and highly targeted engagement programme that – at the request of the Trust - would help to facilitate the co-creation of the new strategy three months earlier than originally planned.

Following one-to-one interviews with Board and senior leaders across all divisions, some high-level ambitions and priorities emerged. A leadership engagement event attracted 120 attendees and generated 600 unique ideas, all of which built on these themes and fed into the creation of draft statements for further discussion across the organisation and beyond.

At each stage, the statements were developed on an iterative basis – they evolved from one discussion to the next to reflect the latest feedback and thinking. So, by the time we were ready to reach out more widely to colleagues and external stakeholders, the engagement pack was an accurate reflection of the emerging direction for debate and discussion, with detail of both what we wanted to achieve and how we would go about it.

In Autumn 2023, the conversation was extended across the organisation and into the community. More than 2,200 staff members took part in an online survey, while more than 200 contact centres, emergency departments and ambulance stations were visited. Eight community group sessions were hosted, alongside capturing the views of system partners – including NHS Trusts, community care and primary care providers – at events in all corners of the region.

Thousands of colleagues, patients and partners were successfully given a voice, including those who find it ‘harder to be heard’ – for example volunteers, service user representatives, disabilities groups, those from ethnic minorities and the LGBTQ+ community.

We held the pen when it came to crafting the new strategy, purpose, vision, values and bold ambitions, calling on our expertise to distil a high volume of complex information into a product that carefully reflected the words and sentiments of all stakeholders and delivered against the original brief. We were able to strike the right balance in terms of content, positioning and tone, and subsequent feedback from people across the organisation was overwhelmingly positive.

Having gained Board approval, our attention turned to developing the branding for the strategy – something that not only met accessibility standards, but also marked a bold new direction for the organisation and ensured that it stood out amongst its peer Trusts. The vibrant look and feel of the new brand identity leans on the triangle as a symbol of strength, the shape’s three points reflecting the fundamentals of the new YAS vision and its peak a subtle nod to the rolling terrain of Yorkshire and the Humber.

The final part of the process was to support the in-house communications team with a launch programme. As well as ensuring Board and organisational alignment, the aim was to embed key messaging and bring the new strategy to life, so as to inspire YAS’s workforce, partners and patients alike.

In addition to a four-page easy read guide to the strategy and a credit card-sized concertina leaflet summarising its key elements, we identified video as a powerful tool to reach and engage stakeholders in a new and innovative way. Alongside a launch vlog from the Chair and Chief Executive, we created eight short videos focused on each of YAS’s new values and bold ambitions, featuring interviews with colleagues from across the organisation.

 

The result

By supporting discussions with thousands of people and accurately capturing and reflecting what was important to them, we were able to demonstrate to stakeholders how they had directly helped to create and shape YAS’s new purpose, vision, values and strategy.

The strategy was formally launched across the organisation in early 2024, and leaders have reported its positive influence on every aspect of Trust operations, giving colleagues a shared purpose which is distinctive to external stakeholders.

Utilising the employee voice through a series of launch videos proved incredibly powerful in terms of encouraging ownership of strategy delivery at all levels, instilling a sense of familiarity and passion for the future ‘on the ground.’ People knew exactly what would constitute success in the short, medium and long-term, and they were clear on the part they could play in delivering shared goals.