Wickland Westcott

NHS Trafford PCT - Leadership Assessment

A ground-breaking project with Trafford Primary Care Trust was recently show-cased in the Health Service Journal.

Members of Wickland Westcott's Public Sector Practice have first-hand knowledge of working in public services, specifically the NHS, and they drew on this experience to develop an innovative Leadership Assessment Toolkit. The toolkit enables Trafford PCT's recruiting managers to work hand-in-glove with HR colleagues to construct and run tailored assessment events. The practical range of tools ensures the accurate and fair measurement of senior job applicants against the NHS Leadership Qualities Framework. The exercises themselves also provide candidates with a realistic job preview, enabling them to reach their own conclusions about the suitability of the role.

Robust selection processes

Rolled-out via training workshops, these user-friendly tools are deployed alongside the classic selection methods of CV and experience-based interviews. Human Resource Director Claire Scrafton,comments: "This toolkit, and associated training,has equipped the PCT to deliver rigorous, robust selection processes that, as a model employer, we can be proud of".

Empowering future development

Trafford also intends to use the valuable data obtained to inform future organisational development, talent management and succession planning activity, in order to underpin the critical journey towards World Class Commissioning. Similarly, for the PCT's provider unit, the toolkit will help ensure that it has the leadership capability to improve the delivery of healthcare and ultimately, health outcomes.