LOUISE PALMER
Chief Experience Officer, Dental Health Services Victoria
Fostering a respectful workplace: a foundation for cultural and service transformation
OVERVIEW
In June 2016, following extensive stakeholder consultation, Dental Health Services Victoria published its Strategic Plan for 2016 – 2021 which was grounded in a commitment to transform public oral health services in Victoria. The plan sought to drive transformation across the following strategic themes:
- Improve health outcomes
- Improve the experience
- Be global leaders with our local partners
- Be a great place to work and a great organisation to work with
To achieve the envisioned transformation it was recognised that a program of cultural disruption was required that would be underpinned by a commitment to fostering a respectful workplace culture.
The Respectful Workplace initiative involved implementation of a framework that is: underpinned by principles of equity, diversity, inclusion, flexibility, wellbeing and safety; enacted through core values of respect, accountability, collaboration & transformation; embedded through our people systems & processes; and realised through leadership, and employee engagement.
While our journey to cultural transformation continues, there is strong commitment throughout the organisation to building a respectful workplace. Notably staff are increasingly ‘stepping up and standing out’ in holding themselves and others accountable for living our values and behaviours enabled by supportive leadership, systems and processes.
OUTCOMES
The learning to date from this initiative includes:
- the importance of broad consultation with staff and other key stakeholders in: identifying action based core organisational values; and articulating the above and below the line behaviours related to each value.
- ensuring the cultural change program:
- proceeds from a base of guiding principles that are articulated and well understood by all stakeholders
- is supported by relevant and inspiring cultural artefacts and an ongoing program of learning and development
- embeds and makes explicit the principles and values across the people value stream and within organisational systems and processes
- provides a workplace environment that supports psychosocial safety and engages staff through purposeful co-design and co-creation initiatives
- is lead through supportive leadership, from the Board to frontline managers, modelling the values and behaviours
BIO
Louise Palmer has significant senior and executive management experience including the tertiary education sector. She has particular expertise in areas of co-designing, leadership and management, strategy and culture, workforce learning and development, organisational design and innovation, including Lean people systems and processes.
Louise Palmer, as part of her role at Dental Health Services Victoria (DHSV) leads projects that involves partnership, engagement and collaboration with communities and consumers to co-design healthcare that enhances consumer and employee wellbeing and experience. She is responsible for identifying, recommending, leading and driving key cultural and structural change projects across DHSV in relation to healthcare transformation.
FORMAT
Practitioner Presentation
TOPICS
Organisational Transformation, People and Culture