So, you’re sat in your Departmental Board meeting, awaiting the news of a specific performance KPI you were under pressure to achieve by the end of the month. Perhaps your foot is anxiously tapping the floor, which no-one can see underneath the table and or you’re struggling to get comfortable in your seat. You’re wishing that the Chair of the meeting would fast forward through the Agenda so you could hopefully feel that sense of relief.

The moment is here, the results are in and it is announced that said Performance KPI was achieved; but not only was it achieved, you had exceeded it. Time stands still for a moment. You did it. You want to fist pump the air in celebration. The relief you feel is calming and you let out a subtle, long, gentle breath as the news sinks in. But then straight away, the following phrase is thrown at you ‘So, how are you going to sustain this level of performance?’

You take a moment, which can only be a split second because the faces around the table are looking at you for your answer. You reply with a response everyone seems happy with and without further ado, it’s onto the next Agenda item. You can’t quite believe the discussion is over, and that you spent more time in the meeting anxiously worrying about the result than the time in which the forum spent discussing it. You feel deflated.

You put a lot of work and effort over the two previous months into ensuring that one KPI was met; a KPI which everyone should take their own responsibility for but as the service manager, they are looking to you to make sure it is achieved. A KPI which very much relates to the phrase ‘you can lead a horse to water but can’t make it drink.’ You knew this but you gave it your all anyway.

You sent multiple e-mails both individually and to the team; you made sure it was discussed at every monthly meeting you had in the months leading up to the result in order to keep momentum and further improve engagement. You chased people down to discuss face to face and you risked the backlash you might receive, because this is just one more thing in a long line of KPIs you’re asking your staff to deliver on. In light of this, you know you may well be pushing your luck but you are equally under pressure to deliver.

So after putting so much into achieving this one KPI, you were a little disappointed that prior to the question being asked of how you were going to sustain performance, you never heard a much shorter phrase that has a much bigger impact: ‘Well done.’

The NHS Staff Survey results for 2018, published in February 2019 state that 46.1% of staff were happy with the extent their organisation values their work, which is an increase from 43% in 2017 (National Results Briefing, NHS Staff Survey Results 2018, published February 2019). However, of the 230 Trusts which took part in the staff survey, 162 saw no significant increase in the answer to this question compared to 2017.

Recently, one of our previous registrars on rotation came back to our department to start in a locum post after becoming a newly qualified Consultant. They recently said to me ‘You are the only manager I remember because you are the only manager I have known to say thank you to the Registrars and buy us chocolates!’ In that moment I quickly learnt to firstly, never underestimate the power of chocolate (!) and secondly, for them to go through all their rotations as part of their training and to only receive one thank you from one Manager they have encountered, is pretty poor. It was lovely to hear of the impact this gesture had on them and to have been remembered.

When such small phrases take two seconds to say or two minutes to type, it is a shame that these are not said more because hearing ‘well done,’ ‘great job’, ‘brilliant result’ or even ‘Please’ and ‘Thank you’ more regularly could quite possibly make a member of staff’s day; or be the difference between a team member staying or seeking opportunities elsewhere. There is also an art of balance to master because to say it too frequently, may mean it loses its impact.

But if you don’t manage a team, perhaps say it to a peer colleague to ensure they know their value. After all, and as stated in the NHS constitution: Everybody Counts.