By Kay Vessey, Master PRINT® Coach and L&D Specialist at H&H internal communications and employee experience agency.

March 1943. British families huddled around their radios, eager to grasp some positivity amidst a war that had been raging for three and a half years.

It was during this radio broadcast that Winston Churchill coined the phrase ‘from the Cradle to the Grave’.

Whilst Churchill was speaking more broadly about the need for a form of social insurance that would protect every British resident, his phrase later became synonymous with the critical work of the NHS.

Thankfully, it’s been over 70 years since we faced such global conflict. However, the Coronavirus pandemic has seen battle lines drawn up as nations fight a disease that has in some way touched the lives of us all.

And at the frontline of this fight are key workers from across the NHS who continue to treat, protect and educate us – ‘from the cradle to the grave’ – in the battle against COVID-19.

As the PRINT® Coach at H&H I have the pleasure of building relationships with our UK coaches, finding out about how they apply PRINT® and the impact it has on the people they work with.

This week we’re celebrating two of our wonderful coaches from two local NHS Trusts and the amazing work they’ve been doing to continually develop their people – both pre and during the Coronavirus outbreak.

I caught up with both of them to discover how PRINT® has enhanced and added value to their people development practice, and how it is supporting people within the trust to navigate their way through the global pandemic.

What are some of the ways you’ve incorporated PRINT® into what you do?

“PRINT® has so many applications that we’ve been able to embed it across the entire employee life cycle. So, I’ve used it as a coaching tool, embedded into our talent programmes, integrated it into leadership development programmes and more. As well as targeting specific teams to be PRINT®ed, we now always PRINT® newly-formed teams and new recruits.”

“I use it with three strands within the NHS – individuals, teams and leadership development – and it’s really enhanced my practice. When I use it in coaching it brings the narrative to a level that is easy to understand, and this really resonates with the audience. I’ve also integrated it into my leadership development programmes.”

What have been the biggest benefits of adding PRINT® to your coaching toolbox?

“Finding out the WHY – why people do the things they do – has been incredibly enlightening for everyone, it’s like no tool we’ve ever used before. PRINT® has now become a language within the trust. People are sharing their profiles between and beyond their team, which has resulted in improved behaviours and creating strategies right across the trust.”

“PRINT® is so intuitive – it does the job for you! I’m accredited for quite a few tools but there’s something different about PRINT®, something that brings it to a level that people ‘get’ immediately.”

How have your people responded?

“Our Executive team love PRINT® and are completely sold on it – they revisit it on every away day to refresh their knowledge. I don’t need to sell it to anyone. In fact, it’s proved so powerful and popular that I’ve had to put the brakes on it a little!”

“For me, it has pedigree. Its high validity and robustness means it’s spot on – 99.9% of people completing PRINT® agree with the profile and that creates quality learning.”

How has PRINT® supported you and your people to navigate the greatest public health threat in over a century?

“The pandemic has created a lot of clinical change for NHS staff, which has had major unsettling effects. We’ve used PRINT® to help navigate the situation. I’ve found the PRINT® ‘Change’ module particularly useful and have used it a lot.”

 

We’re honoured to have so many talented people developers across all sectors as part of our PRINT® community. Could you be the next? Get in touch and discover how PRINT® can unlock potential for you.