Turning allyship into action

My role in NHSScotland 

I am a senior specialist lead in the Leading to Change team. We offer a range of development programmes and support for leaders at all levels in social work, social care and health. 

I joined the NHS after working in the private sector for over 10 years. I was looking for a role which better reflected my values and where I felt I could make a real contribution. We all have friends and family who have benefitted from the work that the NHS does. I was excited to be part of that. 

I focus on our equalities workstream. I look at how inclusive leadership practices can support the progression of aspiring leaders from all backgrounds.  Our team develops resources to support leaders at all levels, particularly those with protected characteristics who are currently underrepresented in leadership roles. We promote good practice and shine a light on different role models through events, blogs and podcasts. We try to offer bite-size resources that leaders can use for their development, at a time and in a format that suits them. 

My career choices 

I sort of fell into recruitment and HR, moving into managing teams and developing people policies and processes. Through this work, I found myself increasingly engaging in the diversity, equity and inclusion space. I have always been passionate about developing people and about fairness. I think that has pushed me towards roles where I hoped I’d be able to make things better. I’ve also been lucky to have some great managers and mentors. They’ve helped me to make a career from that and offered me opportunities to try lots of different things. 

Allyship 

Our agreed definition states: “Allyship is the work of actively supporting and advocating for marginalised groups.” Allies recognise where power is held within a system.  

They work in solidarity and partnership with marginalised groups to amplify, empower and help drive change. 

Allies support other people, aiming to secure basic rights and help them to be happy and successful in society. Allies are not part of the underrepresented group they support. However, they educate themselves and bring their backing and voice to a movement towards equity for all. 

What does this mean in the context of NHSScotland and your work?

We created the online Allyship Hub to support colleagues. It seeks to increase their understanding and practice of active allyship. It will help embed allyship to integrate anti-racist and anti-discriminatory practices across health, social care and social work in Scotland. 

A lot of information already exists but it can be hard to find and navigate. We wanted to spotlight accessible and engaging content which offers practical and actionable ideas. We worked closely with stakeholders across the sectors. We learned that there was an appetite for bitesize, anytime learning that provided real-life useful information relevant to individuals roles. We co-defined what allyship meant to us and sourced best-practice guidance to create a toolkit for individual or group development. 

We also celebrate stories of allyship with examples from our Leading to Change community of collaborative, compassionate and inclusive leaders. We intend for the Allyship Hub to develop over time as we learn more and develop our network. 

Find out more about the Allyship Hub

The importance of allyship 

I think allyship moves us beyond simply good intentions. Most of us want our workplaces to be inclusive. However, we know from various sources that this is not always the reality for many people. Allyship offers a meaningful way to engage in change as an individual. It is a relatively new term. The ideas behind it involve person-centred care, social justice and anti-discriminatory practice. These are core to the values that unite health, social work, and social care. Building towards a culture of inclusion helps everyone. A diverse and inclusive workplace promotes employee wellbeing, and in turn, employee wellbeing supports a more inclusive culture.