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Why is Leadership Training so Important?

Imagine having the ability to embed the climate agenda and transform every business decision? Leaders have this capability! Crucially, by the end of our Carbon Literacy (CL) for Healthcare Leadership course, you will be equipped to communicate it in the context of the NHS. 

Beyond an environmental education tool, Carbon Literacy training offers many wide-reaching benefits for those who engage with it. A blog written last year summarises the most effective ways to improve staff engagement in Healthcare, all of which can be fulfilled through our globally unique framework.  

Investing in your leadership team – it goes without saying that, when you roll out CL to your leaders, you are investing, time, money and resources. 

Provide learning and development opportunities – as a resource providing a day’s worth of learning, CL is undoubtedly perfect for this! 

Improving internal communication – a key element of the CL criteria is that the training is heavily group-based, offering numerous opportunities for team-building and collaboration. 

Recognising achievements – once training is complete, learners will be presented with a certificate displaying their Carbon Literate status, which will be recognised across multiple sectors. 

Acceleration of Action through Leadership

As a Project that supports staff to bridge the gap between climate policy and climate action, staff engagement is at the core of Carbon Literacy training. Healthcare leaders can utilise this to bring a team closer together, in addition to great mentorship and education. What’s more, our Healthcare Toolkit delivers a wide range of solutions to help Trusts meet the requirements of Greener NHS Plans. 

Case Study: Teaching Hospital Trust ‘Leeds’ the way

As senior members of staff, NHS leaders typically have extensive knowledge of workplace systems, paired with the level of authority to shape workplace culture. A recent case study from Leeds Teaching Hospital Trust (LTHT) demonstrates just how influential leaders are in driving low carbon action. Director of Estates and Facilities, Craige Richardson, used his position to mandate Carbon Literacy training for the whole Estates team. This action, inspired by his own attendance of a healthcare training session, has resulted in all 90 members becoming Carbon Literate in the short space of 3 months. 

“…we believe this training, this deepening of awareness, is a valuable tool in helping us to become a greener organisation.” – Craige Richardson, Director of Estates and Facilities, LTHT. 

Leadership Success in other Sectors

Local Authorities 

So far, we have seen really positive outcomes in the Local Authorities sector, particularly from Wyre Council. Training has led to approaching business plans from a climate change perspective, as well as rolling the training out to Councillors and Managers.  

“Our councillors, since doing the training, have become really engaged [and] wanting to get involved” – Sammy Gray, Lead Climate Change Officer, Wyre Council. 

They are now a Bronze Carbon Literate Organisation! 

Universities & Colleges 

Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU) has developed a course for University Leaders, so that they have climate knowledge and skills that are relevant to their role. This allows leaders to communicate their knowledge to a wider sphere of colleagues and students to support the drive of change at all levels. An extremely effective way to accelerate organisation-wide climate action, which is soon to be available as a shared resource.

Overview of our CL for Healthcare Leadership Toolkit Course

Our new CL for Healthcare Leadership course has everything you need to make the delivery process as easy as possible. The materials, which include a ‘Getting Started’ document, editable slide deck, extensive trainer manual and activity pdf are all included – meaning the only thing left for you to do, is train.

As an aside, we are hosting a trainer orientation session for those new to CL Toolkit training who are wanting to get things moving in their organisations – sign-up here. 

Once equipped with Carbon Literacy skills, leaders will be able to make low-carbon changes within their direct control, just like the LTHT Estates and Facilities team. The best possible outcome we envision is a ‘cascade’ of Carbon Literacy training, leading to widespread action – where Carbon Literate Leaders and Senior Management use their authority to drive CL throughout their teams and make substantial change. In this case, we have an NHS Generic Staff Course which can be used for a wider rollout. 

The rapid transition to a low-carbon culture via organisation-wide training, allows everybody to understand their role as an individual and as part of the wider organisation. The training will leave staff feeling empowered, and excited to use their agency to make changes that will benefit themselves, as well as building a future that is better for all. 

Download the overview pack of materials here. 

PS: Don’t forget to register for our ‘Leading a Net Zero NHS – How to engage your staff’ webinar on Thursday 9th of June.