What is Respectful Resolution?

This approach has more options for people to resolve issues together. The Respectful Resolution pathway has been developed with other NHS Trusts. Staff, managers and unions in these trusts have found the tools and to be practical and helpful. They are seeing less bullying and quicker, more positive resolution when poor behaviour does take place. The pathway has been tailored to meet the needs of our staff and our Trust.

Our HR policies – the new Mutual Respect Policy, and the Disciplinary Policy – are in place to address serious issues of misconduct. As a matter of principle (although there will always be exceptions), formal routes are not a first port of call. Instead, these are considered after informal routes have been explored and considered.

Respectful Resolution supports everyone with quick-guides to your options, and a 5-step resolution pathway. There’s an online toolkit you can access anywhere, as well as e-Learning packages to raise awareness of bullying and its impacts and guide you through your options.

The Respectful Resolution pathway is a approach to reduce poor behaviours to make it easier to call them out, and to provide support to anyone involved.

Overview of Approach

We all deserve a workplace where we are respected and supported; where positive behaviours are encouraged, modelled and appreciated; where poor behaviours including bullying are addressed, not tolerated; and where staff are supported to safely challenge negative behaviour.

Read the overview guide to discover how we manage issues with inappropriate behaviour.

Step 1: Creating a Safe Culture

Creating a safe culture involves having discussions within your team and raising awareness of inappropriate behaviour and its impact.

The Step 1: creating a safe culture guide shows you how to do this

Step 2: Reflecting on poor behaviour

Bullying is usually a negative behaviour, that harms someone’s physical or psychological wellbeing.

The Step 2- Reflecting on poor behaviour guide will help you to consider what’s happening and identify the behaviours, to make it easier to talk about and resolve.

Step 3: Direct Feedback

Learn about our Step 3 - Direct Feedback (BUILD) approach and how to use it. We welcome feedback as a gift and an opportunity to improve. It’s central to how we resolve issues, learn and improve.

Giving and receiving feedback is a core skill for all of us. We use the BUILD model to give respectful feedback to each other.

BUILD: Speaking up Safely

We are introducing a new approach to Speaking Up Safely, using the BUILD constructive feedback approach. The Foundations of Kinder Feedback is a 30-minute e-Learning package to learn and practice this proven approach to giving and receiving feedback in a just culture.

If we say nothing, nothing changes, so we need to be confident speaking up in a way that is productive, safe and kind.

The BUILD model is a simple 5-step structure for giving critical feedback, without criticising.

BUILD is a simple, kind and effective way to both give and receive feedback. At our organisation, like many other organisations around the world, we are making BUILD our way of giving feedback

Step 4: Supported resolution

This helps you to continue to de-escalate to find a resolution that works for everyone. This informal approach is designed to resolve concerns through dialogue and without a formal complaint. The informal process is not disciplinary and doesn’t disadvantage anyone involved.

Use this Step 4 supported resolution guide to help you.

Step 5: Formal Process

This Step 5 - formal process guide helps you when you need the support of our formal policies and procedures. When we progress formal complaints about behaviour through our Disciplinary Policy, we aim to:

  • take all allegations seriously
  • support everyone involved
  • protect them from victimisation
  • maintain clarity and privacy
  • be unbiased and fair

There are two ways you can tell us what happened