How to become a compassionate leader

While numerous critical pay negotiations continue between the Government and trade unions, several colleagues have reinforced to me the message that the ‘conditions’ element of ‘pay and conditions’ is a significant driver in how likely we are to remain in our roles, how enabled we are to deliver our roles and how this benefits others.

Kelly et al (2022) reported that, according to the NHS Staff Survey, a range of issues were associated with the probability of staff leaving their jobs, and this varied for different staff groups. In the case of nurses, Kelly concluded that, where there was higher reported staff engagement, there was a lower probability of leaving.

There is much written about the need for compassionate leadership in the NHS and there is a strong evidence base underpinning the benefits of compassionate leadership, summarised by West and Sinsky (2022) as: