Competency Framework for
Equality and Diversity Leadership
Contents
Foreword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Executive Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Terminology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Why a competency framework?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Equality legislation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Public sector equality duty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
The importance of defining and positioning leadership . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
People and structures. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Relationship to the Equality Delivery System (EDS) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Who do we mean by an Equality and Diversity leader? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
What do we mean by ‘competence’?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
How were the competencies developed? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
How does this framework relate to other health competency frameworks?. . . 15
What makes a competent Equality and Diversity leader?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
To operate from a human rights context . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
To build capacity to respond to diverse and changing community needs . . . . 16
To apply a robust equalities and human rights analysis to service planning
and improvement to benefit patients, carers and service users. . . . . . . . . . . . 17
To communicate a compelling business case for equality, diversity
and inclusion and influence strategically . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
To influence and lead change to improve equality outcomes for
patients, carers and service users . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Using the Competency Framework. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
For organisations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
For individuals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Competency descriptions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Grading and positioning the ED&HR leadership role. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Band 7. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Band 8. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Band 9. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Progression and Competency Levels at Bands 7, 8 and 9. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Professional development pathways. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
The need for career paths. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Band progression . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
The need for continuous professional development (CPD) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Training needs analysis (TNA). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Forms of CPD. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Effective positioning and management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Acknowledgements
This work has been led by NHS North West and jointly funded by NHS North West and the
Department of Health. The development was steered at each stage by a group consisting of
experienced Equality and Diversity leaders from several Strategic Health Authorities, Primary Care
Trusts, NHS Provider Trusts, and NHS Employers. Special thanks are due to staff from NHS South
Central, NHS South East Coast and NHS North West for their active part in testing the various
components throughout the development.
The steering group members:
Dean Royles
Director of Workforce & Education
Steering Group Chair
(until December 2010)
NHS North West
Shahnaz Ali
Associate Director for Equality,
Diversity and Human Rights
NHS North West
Surinder Sharma
National Director for
Equality and Human Rights
Department of Health
Paul Deemer
Equality & Diversity Consultant
NHS Employers
Claudette Webster
Associate Director, Access and Inclusion
NHS Manchester
Michelle Cox
Head of Equality and Diversity
Liverpool PCT
Brian Colman
Head of Equality and Inclusion
NHS Westminster
Anjum Gray
Equality and Diversity Manager
Leadership and OD
NHS South Central
Gillian Mayo
Head of Inclusion
NHS South East Coast
Maqsood Ahmad
National Director for the NHS Equality
Delivery System Implementation
NHS East Midlands
Swarnjit Singh
NHS EDS National Programme Manager
NHS Newham
Farhat Hamid
NHS Transformation Lead
Department of Health
The Department of Health and NHS North West would like to pay particular tribute to
Barbara Burford who, sadly, passed away during the development of this project.
Barbara conducted the initial research nationally and internationally that identified
the leadership competencies demonstrated in organisations delivering high quality
E&D outcomes. Her work forms the foundation for this competency framework.
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Forewords
This national framework has come about as the logical extension
of work that has been carried out in the North West region of the
NHS. In 2008, our mapping exercise, Landscape of the Region, set
out to measure the strengths, weaknesses and overall capability of
the 63 NHS commissioning and provider organisations in North
West England to meet equality and inclusion expectations, and to
level up the outcomes experienced by all protected groups (both
staff and service users).
Our research confirmed previously anecdotal observations
concerning the systemic weaknesses that have limited progress
towards equity for staff and patients in the NHS for many years. Although we focussed on our own
region, it was clear, from the feedback on our findings and conclusions, that these weaknesses were
universal. Many of our specific conclusions and recommendations related to aspects of enabling
effective change management leadership within organisations.
Our findings indicated significant and unacceptable inconsistencies in the job descriptions, experience
and capability specifications, certification, grading, professional development, line management and
executive championship for managers which would enable them to provide strategic leadership and
appropriate levels of influence over their management peers.
The solution, while it might take time and consistent effort to attain, was to provide senior
management in the NHS with a tool to help secure the right expertise and skills in their organisations,
and to position and support managers appropriately in order to improve equality outcomes across
the board. Individual E&D managers also lacked clear and consistent job profiles and a recognised
career pathway – something which other managers in the NHS take for granted. It should be possible
for managers to move into, gain experience and move on from leading in this area in the same way
that rising talent is enabled to experience other aspects of the full leadership portfolio. Equality and
Diversity management should never be perceived as a career cul-de-sac.
The resulting Equality & Diversity Leadership Competency Framework now sits alongside the newlylaunched Equality Delivery System as an essential tool to help the NHS recruit, retain, develop and
motivate the right workforce to deliver the best services for our communities.
Many people contributed to the project, including the Steering Group chaired by Dean Royles
(now the Chief Executive of NHS Employers), our colleagues leading this agenda in other SHAs
and the Equality and Diversity Team at NHS North West. I am grateful for all their hard work and
commitment to this important task. Especial thanks are due to Barbara Burford, who played a key role
in this work, but tragically passed away before she could see it come to fruition.
Shahnaz Ali,
Director of Inclusion, Diversity and Human Rights,
NHS North West
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NHS staff are the most important resource at the disposal of
the NHS. They plan and deliver services. They need to work
with a diverse range of patients, communities and colleagues,
understanding what diversity means for service delivery and
working environments and to respond accordingly.
Those NHS colleagues who lead on ensuring services and
workplaces are personal, fair and diverse have a key role to play.
They can be both champions for change in their organisations and
a great resource that managers and staff can turn to for advice and
support.
As the NHS is transformed over the coming years, it is vital that NHS organisations retain and
promote the skills and expertise of their equality leaders and champions. Without their input, the
reforms may fail to fully deliver the changes we all want to see.
The Equality Delivery System is central to the efforts of the NHS to ensure that their workplaces are
inclusive, supportive and free of discrimination, enabling staff to work well together and deliver
services that are personal, fair and diverse. The EDS was rolled-out to the NHS on 29 July 2011.
One of the EDS outcomes asks NHS organisations to adopt this Competency Framework so that
they have a national tool to help them acquire or retain the right skills and expertise to deliver
equality and diversity outcomes, and that individual managers charged with equality and diversity
leadership have a clear picture of their role, and how their careers can develop.
The Department of Health and the National Leadership Council have supported the development
of the Competency Framework, and continue to support its implementation.
I would specifically like to thank those colleagues who have worked on the Competency
Framework, including the members of the Steering Group. Particular thanks should go to Shahnaz
Ali and her team at NHS North West for co-funding and jointly overseeing this work. Colleagues in
South Central and South East Coast regions, together with colleagues in the North West, are also
thanked for piloting the framework. All these efforts have resulted in a helpful and timely piece of
work.
Surinder Sharma
National Director of Equality and Human Rights
Department of Health
August 2011
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Executive summary
This work was developed in a partnership between
NHS North West and the Department of Health.
It aims to offer an holistic, comprehensive and
evidence-based overview of the competencies
required to support improved equality in health
outcomes and workforce diversity across all of our
communities.
We developed the framework for several reasons:
● To provide senior management teams with a tool to help them to
ensure that they have (between them) the right skills and expertise to
excel in leading their organisations to successful Equality and Diversity
(E&D) outcomes;
● To provide individual managers charged with E&D leadership with a
clear picture of their role and the expectations attached to it, so that
they can plan their own career development;
● To provide the NHS with a consistent national approach to developing
the skills and expertise needed to deliver healthcare in a way that takes
proper account of issues of equality, diversity and inclusion – and the
outcomes required by the Equality Delivery System (EDS).
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The document explains how the framework was developed and gives
comprehensive descriptions of five competency areas:
● To operate from a Human Rights context;
● To build capacity to respond to diverse community needs;
● To apply a robust equalities and human rights analysis to service
planning and improvement;
● To communicate a compelling business case for Equality, Diversity and
Human Rights (ED&HR) and influence strategically;
● To influence and lead change to improve equality outcomes for
everyone.
We tested and piloted the framework in three SHAs, with E&D leaders from
a range of backgrounds, working in a variety of settings. This testing shows
clearly that local E&D leaders should normally be at Agenda for Change
Band 8, and that organisations will need to re-consider the positioning
and management of this work in the new NHS landscape, to ensure full
participation in Quality Innovation Productivity and Prevention (QIPP)
planning and implementation.
The testing phase also demonstrated that the framework is robust,
internally consistent and fit for purpose. It highlighted the desire and need
for continuous professional development for this group of staff across the
country.
A step change is needed from individual E&D leaders in relation to extending
their leadership influence across the sector and being seen as critical business
partners in all substantial decisions.
But developing leader capability will not in itself produce the required
step change. This will come from a longer-term process of organisational
development in health sector bodies, where equality, diversity and inclusion
need to be part of their DNA and QIPP programme, so that excellent
outcomes are achieved for staff, patients, carers and service users from all
parts of the community.
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Introduction
Welcome to the Competency Framework for
Equality and Diversity Leadership. This work has
been developed in a partnership between NHS
North West and the Department of Health. It aims
to offer an holistic, comprehensive and evidencebased overview of the competencies required to
support improved equality in health outcomes
and workforce diversity across all of our diverse
communities.
To support all of the partners engaged in delivering health services, the
Department of Health’s Equality and Diversity Council (EDC) has published
the Equality Delivery System (EDS), which clearly describes the outcomes that
a high-performing health service commissioner or provider would be working
towards achieving to ensure equality and human rights are built into all
aspects of the health service.
This Competency Framework has been specifically designed to underpin and
support the implementation of the Equality Delivery System and outline a
professional standard of practice for Equality and Diversity leadership. The
framework is based on a combination of in-depth research followed by testing
with professionals who already lead the Equality and Diversity brief at a senior
level in their organisations. The information and guidance it contains should
therefore inspire confidence in potential users. The EDS is largely based on the
Equality Performance Improvement Toolkit (EPIT) performance measurement
model developed by NHS North West, who were also the lead developers of
this framework.
The Framework complements the broader Leadership Framework which the
NHS is currently developing using a very similar process. This framework
adds detail and depth to the Equality, Diversity and Human Rights (ED&HR)
elements of the Leadership Framework.
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Benefits of the E&D Leadership Framework include:
● helping senior management teams to ensure that they have the right
skills and expertise between them to excel in leading the Equality and
Diversity work in their area
● helping individual E&D leaders to plan their career development
● enabling the NHS to develop a consistent national approach to
developing the skills and expertise needed to deliver healthcare in a
way that takes proper account of equality, diversity and inclusion, and
deliver the outcomes required by the Equality Delivery System (EDS).
This introductory section of the report answers the following
questions:
● Why have a Competency Framework?
● How are roles defined and positioned?
● Who do we mean by an E&D leader?
● What do we mean by competence?
● How were the competencies developed?
● How does this framework relate to other health frameworks?
● What makes a competent E&D leader?
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The Competency Framework is in two parts. The first part:
● introduces the framework and its rationale;
● presents and describes the competencies;
● explains the framework’s many uses, including its role in professional
development.
The second part is a resource pack, intended to support those
using the Competency Framework. It contains:
● A detailed mapping of the competencies against the NHS Knowledge
and Skills Framework (KSF) to enable people to develop appropriate
and consistent profiles for their E&D leads.
● A cross-reference from the competencies to existing KSF profiles, so
that users can compare new roles with roles elsewhere in the NHS.
● Sample indicative job descriptions at KSF Bands 7, 8a/b, 8c/d and 9.
● The tools used in the Training Needs Analysis (TNA) so that leaders can
use the framework to assess themselves or their colleagues.
● A description of a planned programme of Continuous Professional
Development, which can be adapted by readers in their own contexts.
● A description of how the framework was tested and piloted, to confirm
that it is robust and fit for purpose.
Terminology
The words used to describe various aspects of this work vary from Trust to
Trust and from region to region. Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) is
increasingly common, as is Equality, Diversity and Human Rights (ED&HR). As
this work focuses particularly on the leadership competencies associated with
equality and diversity, we have usually chosen the term Equality and Diversity
(E&D), recognising that the framework requires people to operate from a
Human Rights context.
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Why a competency framework?
Background
The concept of universal access has been at the heart of the NHS since its
inception and, every day, skilled men and women provide great quality care
across all our diverse communities.
In recent years the professional practice of Equality and Diversity leadership
has grown. Health service organisations across the country have employed
skilled leaders and practitioners to support them in achieving improved
equality outcomes. However, much of this work was developed on an
individual basis with limited or no clear understanding at an organisational
level of the skills and abilities required to perform well in these roles.
This has led to great variations in the employment grades and career
opportunities of individual staff members, but more importantly in the quality
of the work delivered and the outcomes for communities. This is one of the
reasons it is so important for the NHS to systematise work in ED&HR, through
EDS and other mechanisms. The Equality and Diversity Council has led ED&HR
work in the NHS at a national level; but local leadership and improvement is
everyone’s responsibility, with success being measured by the EDS.
Equality legislation
In roughly the same period there have been far-reaching changes in equality
legislation, culminating in the Equality Act 2010. Protected characteristics
have been steadily extended, and now include:
●Age
●Disability
●Gender
● Gender reassignment
●Race
● Religion or belief
● Sexual orientation
● Pregnancy and maternity
● Marriage and Civil Partnership
For most groups all kinds of discrimination – direct, indirect, harassment,
victimisation – are covered both in employment and in service delivery. (There
is as yet no protection concerned with service delivery and age, marriage or
Civil Partnership.)
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Public sector equality duty
There is also a Public Sector Equality Duty, which requires all public sector
organisations to meet the General Duty. They must have due regard to the
need to:
● eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment, victimisation and other
conduct prohibited by the Act;
● advance equality of opportunity between people who share a protected
characteristic and those who do not;
● foster good relations between people who share a protected
characteristic and those who do not.
The NHS began to take more note of human rights as a result of the Human
Rights Act 1998: see Human Rights in healthcare: a framework for local action
(2008).
The importance of defining and
positioning leadership
The establishment of the National Leadership Council and its work to develop
‘a systematic approach to supporting the leaders of today and developing the
leaders of tomorrow’ is evidence that the NHS is taking the issue of leadership
seriously. The EDS also focuses on leadership, and one of its four main
objectives measures the achievement of inclusive leadership at all levels.
The accountability for delivering and supporting Equality and Diversity
continues to be managed very differently across the sector. Local services
must be able to respond flexibly in their staffing and resourcing decisions; but
to do so effectively, they need a clear and shared understanding of the skills,
knowledge and attributes required for competent performance.
People and structures
Each organisation’s challenges are different, and this is particularly true now,
when far-reaching changes are taking place. There will be a great variety in
the specific tasks or activities individual organisations should do to arrive at
‘Achieving’ or ‘Excelling’ assessment in the EDS. Those outcomes depend on
the quality and competence of the senior management in the organisation.
Senior managers are the ones who provide strategic leadership, analytical
skills and effective change management to identify strengths and build on
them; and who can identify areas of weakness and remedy them.
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Similarly, organisational and structural arrangements that would best serve
the advancement of the E&D agenda in each organisation will also vary.
There are several models currently in operation, with E&D leadership and
practice based in Human Resources, or in Public and Patient Engagement;
more unusually from the Chief Executive’s office, from Corporate Governance
or Corporate Affairs. Deciding where this leadership role is positioned,
who manages it and how it is championed by the Board is as important as
matching the required competencies to carry it out.
The leadership function described here need not equate to a single individual.
Within increasingly lean organisational models the brief may be divided up.
The Competency Framework describes the skills that any organisation will
need to lead change and improvement in this area, regardless of how the
responsibilities are allocated.
Of course equality and diversity is everyone’s business, but roles and
responsibilities need to be allocated to make sure all the work is carried out
in an accountable way; it also needs to be built into QIPP planning and
implementation, so that all organisations, including GP consortia, integrate
the issues into their work.
Relationship to the Equality Delivery System
(EDS)
This Competency Framework underpins and supports the EDS by helping
organisations achieve the equality outcomes that the EDS measures
objectively.
Organisations will remember that EDS assesses equality performance results,
through evidence that is reviewed with local stakeholders. The organisation
as a whole needs the right approach to produce results of sufficient quality to
make sure that EDS measures success, rather than failure.
Having leadership with the competencies spelled out in the Competency
Framework is an essential enabler for achieving good outcomes in all four of
the EDS objectives. Objective 4 is about inclusive leadership, and outcome 4.3
measures how effectively the organisation uses the framework, to underpin
the achievement of strong equality outcomes, and other desirable benefits
related to diversity, across the board.
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Below is the relevant outcome description as it appears in EDS.
The organisation uses the NHS E&D Competency Framework to recruit, develop and support
strategic leaders to advance equality outcomes.
Outcome 4.3 is measured according to how effectively the Competency Framework itself is
used.
Undeveloped: The organisation is not yet using the NHS E&D Competency Framework to
professionalise E&D leadership.
Developing: The organisation is using the NHS E&D Competency Framework to identify
how to structurally embed E&D change leadership, at the appropriate pay grade, and with the
appropriate line management, personal development and support structure around them.
Achieving: The organisation has used the NHS E&D Competency Framework to identify
weaknesses in the skill sets of leaders whose responsibilities involve managing functions that can
impact on equality outcomes.
Excelling: The organisation is using the NHS E&D Competency Framework to address missing
E&D leadership competencies across the whole management team. The organisation is aiming
to ensure that all managers see E&D outcome improvement as part of their remit.
Who do we mean by an Equality and
Diversity leader?
In the NHS ‘Equality and Diversity’ is a core competence required by every
member of staff and Board member to carry out their roles in ways that
support equality and value diversity.
However, each organisation will have named officers who have specific
accountability for setting the vision for change and assuring the delivery of
successful equality outcomes for the organisation. These officers currently
include:
● the E&D lead on the Board or Executive Team and/or non executive
board members. This needn’t be a specific individual as long as it is
clear that leadership (as in other areas) is distinct from the activities of
managing change and delivering successful outcomes.
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● functional leads for services who hold operational accountability
for delivering ED&HR outcomes; for example, Head of Workforce
Development, Head of Commissioning, Head of Community
Engagement.
● Equality and Diversity managers.
● Managers who hold Equality and Diversity accountability within a
broader job role; for example, HR manager, quality manager
● Equality and Diversity officers who deliver specific programmes of work
under appropriate professional supervision
Although many staff may benefit from using the competency framework, it is
specifically targeted at supporting ED&HR leadership.
To help understand this distinction better, the following table sets out the
different responsibilities of leaders and practitioners.
Although some aspects of practitioner work can be bought in or outsourced
by organisations, strategic leadership is something that must reside in-house
to assure successful and sustainable equality outcomes.
Equality Diversity and Human
Rights leadership
Equality Diversity and Human
Rights practice
Leads vision and strategy for delivering
equality outcomes
Contributes to ED&HR strategy and
develops robust operational plans
Determines appropriate allocation and
distribution of ED&HR resources
Delivers operational programmes of work
Communicates directly with Executive Team
and Board members
Will be held as an internal organisational
accountability
Communicates with senior managers and
management teams across the organisation
Aspects of practice may be shared across
functions or outsourced – work such
as research, training, consultation and
engagement and and Equality Impact
Assessments
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What do we mean by ‘competence’?
For the purpose of this framework we suggest that to be ‘competent’ is to
be able to deliver the results required in a particular job role to a specified
standard.
It includes being able to apply the appropriate skills, knowledge and personal
attributes in each of the four dimensions of:
● Task: The leader can carry out the required task to the quality and
performance level required.
● Task management: The leader can do this while carrying out and
managing all of the other components of their job role.
● Contingency management: The leader can solve problems and
adjust their performance to manage contingencies effectively.
● Job role/ environment: The leader can adjust their application of
the competence to the range of environments and job roles that they
find themselves in.
How were the competencies developed?
NHS North West, in partnership with the Department of Health,
commissioned a series of research and development activities to identify
and describe the core competencies that were displayed by highly effective
Equality and Diversity leaders nationally and internationally.
The draft competencies were then mapped to the NHS Knowledge and Skills
Framework, and the Leadership Qualities Framework, and tested with groups
of Equality and Diversity leaders and managers across three Strategic Health
Authorities. An overview of the testing and pilot process is also outlined in
the separate Resource Pack (Part Two) which complements this document.
The development of this work was overseen by an Equality and Diversity
Competency Framework Steering Group, hosted by NHS North West. The
group was made up of senior Equality and Diversity leaders from across
the NHS who together have substantial experience of delivering equality
outcomes across health and other public sector agencies.
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How does this framework relate to other
health competency frameworks?
To ensure alignment and full integration into mainstream NHS development
pathways, the Equality and Diversity Leadership Competency Framework
has been mapped to the Knowledge and Skills Framework (KSF) the
Leadership Qualities Framework (LQF) and the NHS Leadership
Framework. The summary mapping against these frameworks is included
in the competency statement and more detailed mapping against KSF is
included as a resource in the second part of this document. Although LQF is
being superseded by the NHS Leadership Framework, it is retained here as
readers will be familiar with it. The new Framework is referenced alongside it
to aid comparison.
The KSF and LQF were the most commonly used frameworks across the
health sector for performance management and career development and this
framework aims to add specialist input for leaders and managers in building a
shared understanding of what good Equality and Diversity leadership practice
looks like.
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What makes a competent
Equality and Diversity leader?
A competent Equality and Diversity leader can be
counted on to reliably and consistently deliver
results against five key areas of performance:
To operate from a human rights context
Promoting the values of Fairness, Respect, Equality, Dignity and Autonomy
(FREDA) in all interactions, relationships and decisions involving patients,
service users and colleagues is a central requirement of the Human Rights Act
(1998). The FREDA principles provide a framework for agencies to create a
positive culture of inclusion and respect.
The FREDA principles are also reflected in the NHS Constitution. The very first
principle refers to the duty to provide a comprehensive and accessible service
to every individual, irrespective of gender, gender identity, race, disability,
age, sexual orientation, religion or belief. It adds the wider social duty to
promote equality, and to pay particular attention to groups or sections of
society who experience health inequalities.
This competence links directly to this principled and rights-based approach.
To build capacity to respond to diverse and
changing community needs
This competence links directly to the patient access, experience and outcomes
goal of EDS. It requires:
● building the organisation’s internal capacity to identify and respond
to diverse and changing community needs at a local, regional and
national level.
● creating and sustaining flexible organisations that can fulfil our
commitment to personalised and patient-centred services and which
reduce health inequalities within the local population.
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To apply a robust equalities and human
rights analysis to service planning and
improvement to benefit patients, carers and
service users
The E&D leader must play a key role in the organisation's capacity to
understand and meet the needs of its diverse communities by:
● maintaining an accurate and up-to-date view of the local population;
● developing mechanisms to engage with the community in planning
and developing health improvement interventions, integrated into the
QIPP programme;
● ensuring a focus on the needs and preferences of communities
experiencing the worst health.
EDS outcomes 1 and 2 are particularly relevant here.
To communicate a compelling business case
for equality, diversity and inclusion and
influence strategically
Improving Equality and Diversity remains an area of operations that can
provoke a range of reactions from apathy to hostility. The skilled leader is
willing to fully appreciate concerns, understand questions and communicate
a compelling and relevant message to engage stakeholders. This relates to
the third EDS outcome, about empowered, engaged and well supported
staff, who need to understand the business case for ED&HR work in order to
respond well to patients’ and communities’ needs.
To influence and lead change to improve
equality outcomes for patients, carers and
service users
The role of the Equality and Diversity lead is at heart that of a change agent.
Communities are diverse and dynamic and therefore the organisations that
Page 17
serve them need to be dynamic and change-oriented. The E&D leader’s role is
to ensure that these changes are built into the QIPP programme, and result in
● improved health outcomes for all sectors of the community
● a narrowing of health inequalities,
● a vibrant and healthy work environment.
This competence links well with the EDS outcome of inclusive leadership at all
levels, and is mirrored in the new NHS Leadership Framework.
Although competent practitioners may hold some of the skills and abilities
and can use the framework to inform their professional development
decisions, the expectation is that those holding leadership accountability
will demonstrate and apply this competency set in the execution of their
leadership role.
Influence and
lead change to
improve equality
outcomes for
patients, carers
and service
users
Communicate
a compelling
business case
for ED&HR
and influence
strategically
Page 18
Build the
organisation’s
capacity to
respond to diverse
and changing
community
needs
Operating
from a
Human
Rights
Context
Apply a robust
equality and human
rights analysis to both
workforce development
and service planning/
improvement
to benefit staff,
patients, carers and
service users
Using the Competency
Framework
This section outlines the ways in which
organisations and individual E&D leaders will use
the framework.
The Competency Framework is designed to support the development of high
quality professional leadership of Equality and Diversity and is intended for
use by all stakeholders.
If you are
interested in
working in
Equality and
Diversity
You can use
the framework
to identify the
transferable skills
and competencies
you already have
and the new
competencies you
need to develop
If you are
an Equality
and Diversity
leader
You can use
the framework
to inform your
performance
management
and professional
and career
development
conversations
If you
manage an
Equality and
Diversity
leader
You can use
the framework
to develop
appropriate job
descriptions
and support
appropriate
professional
and career
development
Page 19
The Competency Framework offers distinct benefits to organisations and to
individual E&D leaders.
For organisations
The framework offers a whole organisation resource for the planning and
implementation of a robust E&D people development strategy and can
specifically support:
Aspect of
workforce
development
Use the Leadership Framework to
Workforce
planning
Identify the scope and deliverables required of ED&HR
leadership across the organisation, alongside the
Equality Delivery System
Assess the overall capability and capacity within
existing resources to deliver the ED&HR outcomes
Identify appropriate mix of internal leadership
accountability, delivery team requirements and, where
appropriate, contracted resources
Identify gaps in capability and at what level and make
informed resourcing decisions
Recruitment and
selection
Create job descriptions and selection criteria
appropriate to delivery expectations and available
resources
Develop robust selection criteria
Inform the make-up of selection panels and selection
processes to ensure high-quality candidate assessment
Performance
planning and
development
Create appropriate performance plans, matched to job
band and capability
Design and implement effective performance
management and coaching structures to ensure
effective supervisions
Develop and implement appropriate professional
development pathways and opportunities
Succession
planning
More effectively integrate the E&D leadership role
with the broader leadership development agenda
Identify specific capabilities and gaps in the broader
leadership team to support succession planning
Page 20
For individuals
For individuals considering a career in ED&HR or currently in an ED&HR role
the Framework offers a clear understanding of the delivery expectations at
each band and a pathway for planning their professional development.
Aspect of
workforce
development
Use the Leadership Framework to
Career planning
Identify the scope and deliverables required of ED&HR
leadership across the organisation, alongside the
Equality Delivery System
Identify the competencies and underpinning skills
required at each level and map these to potential
pathway roles
Recruitment and
selection
Match current competencies via the KSF to the
requirements of the ED&HR leadership roles to
demonstrate match to the E&D leadership roles
Use the competency framework to identify examples
of competence as they relate to E&D leadership
Performance
planning and
development
Create individual performance plans with clear and
measurable delivery expectations based on the
organisation’s needs and resources available
Secure effective professional supervision and coaching
Secure appropriate professional development
pathways and opportunities
A flow chart on page 49 shows development routes and Section 1 of the
Resource Pack provides a detailed mapping of role progression in relation to
the Agenda for Change and the KSF.
Page 21
Competency descriptions
This section contains a detailed description of each
of the competencies identified. Each competency
statement contains:
● a description: this is a broad description of the context and area of
practice to which the competency relates.
● key performance deliverables: this section describes the behaviours
or outputs that the leader would demonstrate if they were competent
in this area of practice.
● map to the KSF, LQF and the NHS Leadership Framework: this
section identifies the specific dimensions of the Knowledge and Skills
Framework and the Leadership Qualities Framework that most closely
match the Equality and Diversity Leadership Competency. (Although
the LQF is being superseded, it is retained here because it is familiar to
readers.)
● underpinning knowledge, skills and attributes: these sections
describe the underpinning knowledge, skills and attributes that a
competent leader would need to have developed to fully demonstrate
competence in this area.
The colour coding
in the diagram
matches that of
the competency
descriptions in the
following pages,
to aid navigation.
Page 22
1. Operate from a Human Rights,
equality and inclusion context
Title
Operate from a Human Rights, Equality and Inclusion context in all
aspects of the role
Description
The promotion and protection of Human Rights, Equality and Diversity are
central to delivering improved health outcomes. Broadly, this means ensuring
that our engagement and interaction with patients, service users and the
community and each other display the values of: Fairness, Respect, Equality,
Dignity and Autonomy (FREDA) which underpin the Human Rights Act (1998)
and the NHS Constitution.
From an operational perspective, working from a Human Rights and Equality
and Inclusion context applies in all aspects of service design and delivery and
employment practice. It is built on the guiding principles of:
● participation and involvement
●empowerment
● protection of vulnerable individuals and groups
● identifying and removing disadvantage and discrimination.
These guiding principles are further developed in the NHS/ BIHR Human
Rights in Healthcare: Framework for Local Action.
Performance
deliverables
The competent leader will:
● identify and facilitate opportunities for service users and staff to partner
the agency in critical decision-making that affect service design and
delivery;
● support leaders and managers to incorporate service user, staff and
community contributions to strategy and service planning;
● support the agency to build relationships with key stakeholder
communities and service partners internally and externally and
promote opportunities for dialogue and partnership;
● support the agency to analyse the equality and human rights impact of
all significant service design, delivery and employment decisions;
● support leaders, managers and service providers to develop practices
that promote individual human rights, applying the FREDA principles in
all interactions;
● empower and as appropriate support individuals to take action if their
human rights, individually or as a group, are being compromised.
● support the agency to achieve excellence in all EDS outcomes.
Page 23
Relationship
with
Knowledge
and Skills
Framework
Equality and Diversity
(Level 4) Develop a culture that promotes equality and values diversity.
Promote health and well being
(Level 3) Plan, develop, implement and evaluate programmes to promote
health and well being and prevent adverse effects on health and well being.
Quality
(Level 3) Contribute to improving quality.
Leadership and management
(Level 3) Lead across teams and contribute to a culture of leadership.
Service improvement
(Level 3) Appraise, interpret and apply suggestions, recommendations and
directives to improve services.
(Level 4) Work in partnership with others to develop, take forward and
evaluate direction, policies and strategies.
Relationship
with
Leadership
Qualities
Framework
Drive for results:
● Actively seeking out opportunities to improve delivery of service
through partnership and new ways of working.
Leading change through people
● Sharing leadership – with the team and with others in the organisation
and partnership organisations.
● Taking a collaborative and facilitative approach to working in
partnership with diverse groups.
Collaborative working
● Understanding and being sensitive to diverse viewpoints
● Striving to create the conditions for successful partnership working.
Empowering others
● Taking personal responsibility for ensuring that diversity is respected
and that there is a genuine equality of opportunity.
● Fostering the development of others across the health community so
that the health improvement and service development agenda can be
created and owned by the communities concerned.
● Developing relationships with service users which are equal, open and
honest and modelling the power sharing that is required if solutions are
truly to be at the discretion of the patient.
Page 24
Relationship
with NHS
Leadership
Framework
Acting with integrity
Value, respect and promote equality and diversity.
Identifying contexts for change
Understand and interpret relevant legislation (such as the Equality Act and the
Human Rights Act) and accountability frameworks.
Developing the strategy
Strive to understand others’ agenda, motivations and drivers, so that they can
develop sustainable strategies.
Building and maintaining relationships
Listen to others and recognise different perspectives.
Empathise and take into account the needs and feelings of others.
Developing networks
Identify opportunities where working in collaboration with others within and
across networks can bring added value.
Actively seek the views of others.
Encouraging contribution
Provide encouragement and the opportunity for people to engage in
decision-making and to challenge constructively.
Respect, value and acknowledge the roles, contributions and expertise of
others.
Planning
Gather feedback from patients, service users and colleagues to help develop
plans.
Essential
skills and
capabilities
● Community engagement and development skills.
● Can apply a range of tools and techniques to support participative
decision-making.
● Can describe how the FREDA principles are applicable in a broad range of
job roles and service contexts.
● Coaching skills to support individual and team empowerment.
● Can develop outcomes-based ED&HR objectives and performance
indicators.
● Can professionally and appropriately challenge practice and behaviour that
compromise human rights or result in discrimination or disadvantage.
Page 25
Essential
knowledge
and
understanding
● Has a broad understanding of the human rights implications of health
service delivery and emerging policy directions.
● Has a sound understanding of the relationship between individual human
rights and addressing issues of systemic disadvantage.
● Has a sound understanding of the regulatory framework applicable to
their service context in relation to Equality, Diversity and Human Rights,
including EDS.
Leader
personal
qualities and
atributes
● Is personally committed to ensuring equality and human rights for all
individuals and communities.
● Models the FREDA principles in their everyday interactions with colleagues,
managers, community members and service users.
● Actively engages stakeholders in participative decision-making and
empowers other leadership.
● Maintains a positive and future-oriented approach to delivering improved
equality outcomes.
Page 26
2. Build capacity to respond
to diverse and changing
community needs
Title
Build the organisation’s capacity to plan for and respond to diverse
and changing community needs
Description
Whether experiencing radical and fundamental change or moving through
continuous improvement processes, healthcare organisations, like all
contemporary successful enterprises, need to be equipped to plan for and
respond to the different and changing needs of their community.
Their success in doing so will be the result of a rich understanding of, and
engagement with, the community; the ability to build their internal diversity
capability and maximise its influence; and structured processes that build
capacity.
This competency specifically relates to the Equality and Diversity lead’s
capacity to support the organisation to develop:
● a rich understanding of the community and their needs;
● effective mechanisms to enable the organisation to build strong and
effective relationships with diverse stakeholder communities internally
and externally;
● intercultural competence in responding to different needs;
● systems and processes that can respond flexibly whilst ensuring
consistency and transparency;
Performance
deliverables
The competent leader will:
● develop effective mechanisms for building and maintaining an accurate
profile of the local community;
● agree across the service and with partners the relevant equality,
diversity and human rights performance measures relevant to their area
of service delivery;
● work with key partners to share information to build a deeper and
richer understanding of community needs and opportunities for more
targeted service delivery;
● appreciate and demonstrate sensitivity to the cultural and political
histories of groups who may be reluctant to share equality information;
Page 27
Performance
deliverables
(continued)
● work in partnership with others to clearly communicate the reasons for
collecting equalities information;
● ensure that equalities data is collected, analysed and retained in a
systematic, valid and ethical manner;
● diagnose the intercultural competence at an individual, team or
organisational level and identify the appropriate development
approaches;
● apply effective and appropriate development strategies and initiatives
to build cultural competence at the individual, team and organisational
level;
● support leaders and managers to develop different cultural perspectives
when considering service delivery options;
● partner key capability building functions across the organisation and
align Equality and Diversity outcomes to all large-scale organisational
development interventions;
● support and lead the agency to achieve excellence in EDS, especially
outcomes 1 (better health outcomes for all) and 2 (improved patient
access and experience).
Mapped to the Information collection and analysis
Knowledge
(Level 3) Gather, analyse and present extensive and /or complex data and
and Skills
information.
Framework
Capacity and capability
(Level 3) Contribute to developing and sustaining capacity and capability.
Quality
(Level 4) Develop a culture that improves quality.
Equality and Diversity
(Level 4) Develop a culture that promotes equality and values diversity.
Service improvement
(Level 4) Work in partnership with others to develop, take forward and
evaluate direction, policies and strategies.
Communication
(Level 4) Develop and maintain communications with people on complex
matters, issues and ideas and/or in complex situations.
Page 28
Seizing the future
Matched to
the Leadership
● Making the most of current opportunities to bring about improvements
Qualities
that are of benefit to staff, carers or patients.
framework
● Being able to interpret the likely direction of changes in the health
service and beyond, using political astuteness.
● Using insights into the broad strategic direction of health and social
care to help shape and implement the approaches and culture in the
organisation, and to influence developments across the wider health
and social care context.
Broad scanning
● Making it a priority to know about how services are being delivered
and what the experience is of patients and users on the ground.
● Having systematic ways of informing self about key developments to
achieve service improvement.
Intellectual flexibility
● Being receptive to fresh insights and perspectives from diverse sources
both internal and external to the organisation (driven by values of
inclusiveness and service improvement).
● Being open to innovative thinking and encouraging creativity and
experimentation.
Holding to account
Setting clear targets and standards for performance and behaviour, ensuring
that processes are in place to support individuals in achieving these standards.
● Creating a climate of support and accountability, rather than a climate
of blame.
● Holding people to account for what they have agreed to deliver.
● Being prepared to be held account by others for what they have
contracted from the organisation.
Empowering others
● Fostering the development of others across the health community so
that health improvement and service development agendas can be
created and owned by the communities concerned.
Page 29
Relationship
to NHS
Leadership
Framework
Developing networks
Promote the sharing of information and resources.
Applying knowledge and evidence
Use appropriate methods to gather data and information.
Carry out analysis against an evidence-based criteria set.
Use information to challenge existing practices and processes.
Influence others to use knowledge and evidence to achieve best practice.
Making decisions
Participate in and contribute to organisational decision-making processes.
Educate and inform key people who influence and make decisions.
Implementing the strategy
Identify and strengthen organisational capabilities.
Establish clear accountability for all elements of the strategy, hold people to
account, and expect to be held to account themselves.
Developing the vision of the organisation
Actively engage with colleagues and key influencers including patients and
the public about the future of the organisation.
Managing performance
Work with others to set and monitor performance standards.
Embedding the strategy
Support and inspire others responsible for delivering strategic and operational
plans.
Managing people
Support team members to develop their roles and responsibilities.
Page 30
Essential
skills and
capabilities
Specific skills include:
Conceptual skills to:
● articulate a clear and concise question for analysis;
● scope the data required to provide a sufficient and valid basis of
information to answer the question;
● apply an effective data collection process to secure information
required.
Diagnostic skills to:
● understand the operating culture of the organisation; and
● identify the appropriate development interventions.
Communication skills to:
● communicate effectively the reasons for collecting an equalities profile
of the community and the organisation;
● describe the organisational culture and aspects of the culture that
promote or block improved equality and diversity performance.
Essential
knowledge
and
understanding
Knowledge and understanding of:
● the data indicators relevant to measuring equality access, experience
and outcomes in the community and across the organisation;
● the principles of reliable and valid data collection and analysis, both
quantitative and qualitative;
● the principles of community engagement and a broad understanding
of the difficulties of securing data from diverse groups;
● an understanding of the different stages of cultural competence and
appropriate development interventions at each stage;
● a well-developed understanding of the organisation’s planning and
decision-making structures;
● knowledge of a range of organisational development tools and
techniques to build capability and capacity;
Essential
personal
qualities and
attributes
● is intellectually capable and comfortable with complexity;
● personally operates at an advanced level of intercultural competence.
Page 31
3. Apply a robust equalities
analysis to service planning
and improvement
Title
Apply a robust evidence-based equalities analysis to service
planning and improvement
Description
Healthcare is a complex and sometimes fragmented environment where
leaders need to make decisions that meet the direct healthcare needs of their
local communities whilst ensuring a focus on more strategic areas of health
promotion.
Healthcare organisations are also often large employers in their communities.
Their employment practices can have a direct effect on the local employment
market as well as a very real impact on the capacity to deliver service.
This competency focuses specifically on the leader’s ability to conduct robust
and high-level equalities analysis of national strategy, local service needs and
employment practice and to ensure that this analysis informs service planning
and improvement.
Performance
deliverables
The competent leader will:
● analyse and interpret the priorities in the strategic and operational
plans to understand the potential equality, diversity and human rights
implications;
● work effectively with service quality, performance and equalities data
to identify opportunities for service improvement which will deliver
strategic goals and reduce health inequalities;
● develop workable processes and systems to build in equality, diversity
and human rights impact analysis as a core component of due diligence
in key decision-making processes;
● support service providers to identify realistic and relevant equality
performance measures that will drive improvement in their service;
● support service providers to design monitoring and evaluation
processes that are fit for purpose in their business unit and provide the
most useful indicators of improvement;
● support the agency to achieve excellence in EDS, in particular in
outcomes 1 (better health outcomes for all) and 2 (improved patient
access and experience).
Page 32
Mapped to the Promotion of health and well being and prevention of adverse effective
Knowledge
to health and well being
and Skills
(Level 3) Plan, develop and evaluate programmes to promote health and well
Framework
being and prevent adverse effects on health and well being.
Service improvement
(Level 3) Appraise, interpret and apply suggestions, recommendations and
directives to improve services.
(Level 4) Work in partnership with others to develop, take forward and
evaluate direction, policies and strategies.
Quality
(Level 3) Contribute to improving quality.
Personal and People Development (Level 3). Develop oneself and others in
areas of practice.
Equality and Diversity
(Level 4) Develop a culture that promotes equality and values diversity.
Communication
(Level 4) Develop and maintain communications with people on complex
matters, issues and ideas and/or in complex situations.
Broad scanning
Matched to
the Leadership
● making it a priority to know how services are being delivered and what
Qualities
the experience is of patients and service users on the ground.
framework
● being persistent in getting the key facts of a situation.
● having systematic ways of informing yourself about key developments
to achieve service improvement.
Political astuteness
● being attuned to health strategy and policy at a national and local level
and being able to plan ahead to take account of these strategies.
Intellectual flexibility
● being receptive to fresh insights and perspectives from diverse sources
both internal and external to the organisation (driven by values of
inclusiveness and service improvement).
Collaborative working
● Ensuring that the strategy for health improvement and the planning,
development and provision of health services are cohesive and joined
up.
Page 33
Matched to
the NHSD
Leadership
Framework
Planning
Gather feedback from patients and service users and colleagues to help
develop plans. Anticipate the impact of health trends and develop strategic
plans that will have a significant impact on the organisation and the wider
healthcare system.
Implementing the strategy
Ensure that strategic plans are translated into workable operational plans,
identifying risks, critical success factors and evaluation measures.
Managing people
Inspire and support leaders to mobilise teams that are committed to
organisational values and goals.
Critically evaluating
Synthesise complex information to identify potential improvements to
services.
Managing performance
Use information and data about performance to identify improvements which
will strengthen services.
Facilitating transformation
Promote changes leading to system re-design.
Essential
skills and
capabilities
Demonstrates skills in:
● analysis to identify areas of greatest opportunity and priority for service
improvement in line with strategic plans;
● building equality improvement measures into existing organisational
performance management systems and processes;
● evaluation and monitoring skills to track improvement.
● writing and presenting to communicate improvements to the relevant
bodies.
Essential
knowledge
and
understanding
Demonstrates knowledge and understanding of:
● systemic disadvantage and the possible barriers to access for specific
community groups.
● the likely or possible patterns of disadvantage based on understanding
of the community profile.
● where and how to source equalities data internally and in the wider
community.
Page 34
Essential
knowledge
and
understanding
(continued)
● the ethical and confidentiality issues associated with data collection and
use.
● service improvement strategies for access, experience and outcome,
which might include:
• physical adaptations to buildings or relocating services
• changing the way a service is delivered
• providing support technology or services to improve access and
experience ( e.g. hearing loop, translation services)
• delivering skills building/ learning and development to service
delivery staff
• implementing a community engagement / communication strategy
• reallocating or recruiting specialist staff to work with specific
communities.
● continuous improvement tools and processes.
● data collection and analysis tools for quantitative and qualitative
analysis.
● specific groups who might experience discrimination or disadvantage
based on protected characteristics addressed by the Equality Act:
• Gender
• Gender reassignment
• Age
• Ethnicity
• Sexual orientation
• Disability
• Religion or belief
• Pregnancy and maternity
• Marriage and civil partnership
● additional areas which may emerge in organisations including:
• socio-economic status
• caring responsibility
• role ‘status’
• work patterns
• union membership
● the Equality Act 2010 and public duty information requirements;
knowledge of the Human Rights Act (1998), the NHS Constitution and
the EDS.
Essential
personal
qualities and
attributes
● an optimistic approach to delivering whatever improvement is possible
within the constraints of the organisation and resources.
● the capacity to see patterns and relationships to identify levers for
greatest improvement.
Page 35
4. Communicate a compelling
business case for ED&HR and
influence strategically
Title
Communicate a compelling business case and rationale and
influence strategically
Description
Equality and Diversity has not as yet been embedded in the core decisionmaking systems, processes and practices of healthcare delivery. The Equality
and Diversity lead therefore needs to continue making the case for improved
Equality, Diversity and Human Rights practice and secure support for this
approach. This competency focuses on the leader’s ability to:
● develop strategic relationships with targeted community groups
to build culturally appropriate and representative communication
strategies;
● accurately and appropriately identify key stakeholders and influencers
and build relationships;
● apply effective communication strategies to engage with different
individual and group motivations;
● present and represent the Human Rights, Equality and Inclusion agenda
as a positive contribution to achieving the organisation’s strategic goals;
● understand and use their personal and positional power effectively.
Performance
deliverables
The competent leader will:
● identify key stakeholders in improving human rights and equality
outcomes internally, in partner agencies and in the broader community;
● develop strategic relationships with target communities and develop
effective communication and engagement mechanisms;
● prepare for communication by understanding the motivations and
drivers of key stakeholders and address any barriers to effective
communication;
● identify the most effective communication strategy to engage with
each individual or stakeholder group, addressing different cultural,
community and access needs;
● use personal power and communication skills to deliver compelling
Human Rights, Equality and Inclusion messages;
Page 36
Performance
deliverables
● consistently communicate the benefits of improved Equality, Diversity
and Human Rights performance;
(continued)
● support and lead the organisation to achieve excellence in EDS,
especially for outcomes 3 (empowered, engaged and well-supported
staff) and 4 (inclusive leadership at all levels).
Mapped to the Communication
Knowledge
(Level 4) Develop and maintain communication with people on complex
and Skills
matters, issues, ideas and/or in complex situations.
Framework
Leadership and management
(Level 3) Lead across teams and contribute to a culture of leadership.
Equality and Diversity
(Level 4) Develop a culture that promotes equality and values diversity.
Quality
(Level 4) Develop a culture that improves quality.
Service improvement
(Level 4) Work in partnership with others to develop, take forward and
evaluate direction, policies and strategies.
Effective and strategic influencing
Matched to
the Leadership
● Influencing relationships which are critical to achieving change in terms
Qualities
of service improvement.
framework
● Being able to cope with ambiguity, as organisations continue to change
role and shape, and the agenda for change in health gathers pace.
● Employing a range of influencing strategies, one that will work for the
long term and bring about change in modernising the health service.
Matched
to the NHS
Leadership
Framework
Developing the strategy
Engage with key individuals and groups to formulate strategic plans to meet
the vision.
Building and maintaining relationships
Listen to others and recognise different perspectives.
Empathise and take into account the needs and feelings of others.
Communicate effectively with individuals and groups.
Gain and maintain the trust and support of colleagues.
Page 37
Matched
to the NHS
Leadership
Framework
Facilitating transformation
Inspire others to take bold action and make important advances in how
services are delivered.
(continued)
Developing the vision of the organisation
Actively engage with colleagues and key influencers, including patients and
the public, about the future of the organisation.
Communicating the vision
Communicate their ideas and enthusiasm about the future of the organisation
and its services confidently and in a way which engages and inspires others.
Express the vision clearly, unambiguously and vigorously.
Essential
skills and
capabilities
● Clarifying the objective of the communication which could include:
• to share information
•
•
•
•
•
to reach consensus or secure support
to input into policy
to represent the organisation’s position
to resolve differences
to build reputation
● Ability to analyse, select and use appropriate communication to ensure
communication objective is achieved.
● Ability to interact confidently with groups in formal and informal
workplace situations.
● Ability to speak with confidence and listen critically.
● Ability to use appropriate communication to clarify meaning, explore
issues and solve problems.
● Ability to respond to group diversity.
● Business acumen skills to identify service improvement drivers and
measures that will secure cross-organisation support.
Page 38
Essential
knowledge
and
understanding
Knowledge of:
● organisation’s policies, protocols and etiquette for effective
communication.
● different communication approaches to suit different groups and
communication needs – these might include:
• catering to political sensitivities
• balancing debate and action
• consultative and collaborative approaches
• using reason
• using humour appropriately
• techniques to deal with opposing views and positions
• techniques of emotional intelligence
● ways to influence the interpretation of spoken communication.
● NHS frameworks, including EDS, designed to support leaders in the
achievement of equality outcomes.
Essential
personal
qualities and
attributes
Attributes include:
● a genuine interest in hearing and including a variety of stakeholder
views;
● self confidence to communicate with people in positions of power and
authority;
● intercultural competence to engage with stakeholders from diverse
communities with diverse needs;
● high levels of emotional intelligence.
● skilled in conscious use of self as a powerful influencing mechanism.
Page 39
5. Influence and lead change to
improve equality outcomes
Title
Communicate a compelling business case and rationale and
influence strategically
Description
Equality and Diversity leads are essentially change agents and are charged
with facilitating the delivery of the organisation’s Equality, Diversity and
Human Rights strategy.
High-performing health services have equality and diversity considerations
built in to their major change processes and incorporate equality and diversity
analysis both in the business case for change and in their risk assessment.
This competency focuses on the leader’s capacity to:
● use organisational change initiatives to improve ED&HR performance;
● apply a structured organisational development (OD) approach to
leading change, using their internal consulting and influencing skills;
● identify and implement interventions to reduce inequality for staff and
in service delivery.
Performance
Deliverables
The competent leader will:
● identify opportunities in change initiatives to deliver improved equality
and diversity outcomes;
● identify and successfully engage key project stakeholders in supporting
a partnership approach to delivering improved equality outcomes;
● agree equality and diversity goals and success measures for change
initiatives;
● Apply a structured change management approach to delivering and
embedding systemic change;
● Use EDS and other NHS frameworks to support equality-related
innovation.
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Mapped to the Information collection and analysis
Knowledge
(Level 3) Gather, analyse and present extensive and /or complex data and
and Skills
information.
Framework
Capacity and capability:
(Level 3) Contribute to developing and sustaining capacity and capability.
Personal and people development
(Level 3) Develop oneself and contribute to the development of others.
Leadership and management
(Level 3) Lead across teams and contribute to a culture of leadership.
Equality and Diversity
(Level 4) Develop a culture that promotes equality and values diversity.
Quality
(Level 4) Develop a culture that improves quality.
Service improvement
(Level 4) Work in partnership with others to develop, take forward and
evaluate direction, policies and strategies.
Seizing the future
Matched to
the Leadership
● making the most of current opportunities to bring about improvements
Qualities
that are of benefit to staff, carers or patients.
Framework
● using insights into the broad strategic direction of health and social
care to help shape and implement the approaches and culture in the
organisation, and to influence developments across the wider health
and social care context.
● underpinning the vision and action with a strong focus on local needs.
Political astuteness
● understand the climate and culture in the organisation and in the wider
health and social care environment.
● know who the key influencers are - both internally and externally - and
how to go about involving them as required.
Effective and strategic influencing
● influencing relationships which are critical to achieving change in terms
of service improvement.
● being able to cope with ambiguity, as organisations continue to change
role and shape, and the agenda for change in health gathers pace.
● employing a range of influencing strategies that will work for the long
term and bring about change in modernising the health service.
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Matched
to the NHS
Leadership
Framework
Influencing the vision of the wider healthcare system
Seek opportunities to engage in debate about the future of healthcare and
related services.
Work in partnership to develop a shared vision.
Facilitating transformation
Promote changes leading to system re-design.
Framing the strategy
Use sound organisational theory to inform the development of strategy.
Developing the strategy
Strive to understand others’ agendas, motivations and drivers in order to
develop strategy which is sustainable.
Implementing the strategy
Identify and strengthen organisational capabilities required to deliver the
strategy.
Embedding the strategy
Create appropriate organisational culture to support delivery of the strategy.
Essential
skills and
capabilities
● Strategic thinking skills to identify the levers for improving equality and
diversity performance.
● Environmental scanning skills to identify emerging issues and trends in
equality and diversity.
● Political astuteness to identify key stakeholders and levers to influence
decision-making and resourcing.
● Advanced written communication and presentation skills.
● Diagnostic skills to assess current situation and identify appropriate
intervention.
● Ability to select and apply the appropriate development intervention to
the presenting situation.
● Ability to use EDS and NHS leadership Framework to inform the QIPP
programme, OD initiatives, and to leverage support for the ED&HR
agenda.
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Underpinning
skills
Knowledge of:
● organisational development principles and practices.
● change management and change leadership processes and techniques.
● tools, techniques and processes to use at each stage of a change
process. These might include:
• process mapping tools
• analysis tools.
● tools, techniques and processes for securing buy-in and engaging
stakeholders.
● tools, techniques and processes for influencing decision-making.
● tools, techniques and processes for building capability and capacity.
Essential
personal
qualities and
attributes
● Demonstrates mental and emotional resilience.
● Comfortable with ambiguity.
● Has a capacity for self management and motivation.
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Grading and positioning the
ED&HR leadership role
This section shows how the competencies are linked to KSF Bands 7, 8
and 9.
It gives a strong recommendation that competent leadership
of the ED&HR brief at a local commissioning or provider level
should normally be at Agenda for Change Band 8.
Equality, Diversity and Human Rights Leadership at a regional
or national level will normally be at Band 9 or above. In the
changing landscape, organisations will increasingly need
skilled and experienced E&D leadership at these senior grades.
A detailed mapping of the Equality and Diversity Leadership Competency
Framework is included in the Resource Pack.
This mapping work and the competency analysis that supported the
development of the framework clearly suggest that to operate at a level
that will deliver sustainable equality and diversity outcomes, organisations
should consider appointing leaders with a level of skill and capability typically
required for Band 8 roles and above.
In larger and more complex organisational settings, where resources for
an Equality and Diversity team are available, or alternatively in smaller
organisations, it may be sufficient to appoint a manager at Band 7; however
to develop their career and professional competence it is critical that they
have access to someone with advanced Equality and Diversity leadership
competence for line management or professional supervision.
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Band 7
Band 7 managers are developing their strategic ability and could be
realistically expected to perform in an operational leadership role, developing
the Equality and Diversity performance of the organisation within a broader
strategic framework owned by the Board and executive team. The scope of
this role will focus on the internal operations of the organisation and in service
delivery.
The pilot and testing process undertaken during the development of the
Competency Framework would suggest that it is not appropriate to appoint a
Band 7 E&D leader without effective technical supervision in roles where the
impact of the role can have significant and long-term effects on community
health.
The key functions of a Band 7 manager might include responsibility to:
● develop and implement the organisation’s equality and diversity action
plan, aligned to the strategic plan outcomes;
● develop and implement equality impact analysis processes and systems;
● develop and implement equalities monitoring processes for
highlighting patterns of inequality in service delivery and workforce
development;
● develop and implement opportunities to improve participation and
engagement of people from ‘protected characteristic’ groups –
internally and across the community;
● support appropriate equality and diversity staff development
programmes and initiatives;
● support community consultation and engagement processes to
increase the representation of ‘protected characteristic’ communities;
● provide specialist advice and input to managers and leaders on equality
legislation and issues of compliance.
At Band 7 the manager is likely to work as part of a multi-functional team
or in a specialist consultant role to the organisation. It is not recommended
that at Band 7 the manager holds line management accountability for other
equality and diversity practitioners.
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It should be recognised that at Band 7 the E&D manager has more limited
authority in decision-making and less formal access to the senior leadership
team. They will therefore need to rely on their personal influencing capacity
to make an impact on the organisation’s culture should there be no senior
Equality and Diversity leader in the Trust.
The development and testing process clearly demonstrated that it is
unreasonable to expect a position holder with the skills and knowledge
appropriate to a Band 7 role or below to deliver strategic or sustainable
equality outcomes.
Band 8
Band 8 offers a wide range of development and opportunity to address the
different levels of complexity and accountability found in the wide range of
E&D leaders’ roles in different NHS organisations. At Band 8 the leader can be
expected to expand from an operational leadership accountability to a more
strategic approach to improving equality and diversity outcomes.
Band 8 leaders will expand their focus to create and develop partnerships
across the community and build a more holistic and inter-agency approach to
improving equality in health outcomes.
The key functions of a Band 8 leader might include accountability to:
● develop cross-community consultation and engagement strategies with
particular emphasis in developing ongoing dialogue with ‘protected
characteristic’ communities;
● develop and implement workforce development strategies to increase
representation, retention and outcomes for protected characteristic
communities;
● develop and implement a range of capacity building initiatives to
increase the cultural competence of staff across the Trust;
● build equality and diversity risk management and compliance processes
across all aspects of the Trust’s decision-making;
● establish and grow strategic partnerships to agree whole community
Equality and Diversity goals and strategies;
● provide equalities analysis to major health policy and programme
initiatives based on the current and future population profile and
provide specialist advice and input to leadership team.
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At Band 8 entry level (8a, b and into c) this work might be conducted within
more defined community settings and focus on specific organisational goals
and outcomes. At Bands 8c/d and into Band 9 the leader might be expected
to play a role across health and social care economies and provide leadership
to more complex cross-cutting health and Equality and Diversity initiatives.
At Band 8c/d the leader might reasonably be expected to manage a team
of Equality and Diversity practitioners and could competently manage team
members from other disciplines engaged in organisation capability building
and/or community engagement. The general management skills required
at this level are consistent with other specialist leadership roles that have
historically led multi-disciplinary professional teams.
Appointment and movement through Band 8 would be based on the size and
complexity of the organisation, and the strategic nature of the equality and
diversity challenges they are addressing. The level of challenge relates to the
complexity and difference in health outcomes across the target community,
rather than the specific profile of the community.
Band 9
Band 9 Equality and Diversity leaders will operate as key members of senior
leadership teams and will have developed a breadth of leadership capabilities
throughout their career. A high-performing Band 9 leader will have the
capacity to operate in a range of leadership roles, bringing a strategic equality
and diversity analysis to underpin service planning and decision-making.
Additionally Band 9 leaders, as strategic experts across the spectrum of
ED&HR, might offer professional supervision to leaders across organisations at
Bands 7 and 8 where local line management arrangements do not offer such
expertise.
Band 9 roles support large and complex health service planning and delivery
and offer expertise and advice to region-wide and national strategy.
As the health landscape evolves, it will be crucially important to secure this
expert level of knowledge and skills to navigate the new health landscape,
create national and regional mechanisms for addressing Equality, Diversity
and Human Rights issues and building sector capability.
New commissioning and delivery bodies will benefit significantly by
developing a strategy to secure these valuable and unusual skills during the
Page 47
forthcoming major re-structuring in the NHS; and by using this unique skill
set to support cross-community approaches to improving health outcomes.
More specifically in relation to position banding, as the new health landscape
develops it is recommended that:
● if an Equality and Diversity leader is expected to hold accountability
for the delivery of strategic and sustainable equality improvement,
then positions should be appointed at Agenda for Change Band 8 and
increasingly at Band 9.
● if Equality and Diversity leadership roles are to be appointed at Agenda
for Change Band 7 then appropriate operational delivery outcomes are
agreed and professional supervision arrangements are put into place.
● when developing role descriptions and selection criteria for positions,
the criteria contained in this framework should be used to ensure a
consistent national approach to developing professional equality and
diversity leadership practice.
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Progression and competency levels at
Bands 7, 8 and 9
Band 7
Band 7
Delivery will include
Progression to include:
● supervised development of E & D action
plan
● management training so the manager can
● link to organisational outcomes, but
delivery on these developed at a more
senior level
● increased knowledge of, and involvement
● EIAs, equalities monitoring, consultation
and engagement supported, but not
delivered
● support for Boards and managers in
achieving EDS outcomes
Band 8
Delivery will include
● strategy and action plans that link E & D practice
to organisational outcomes
● producing and putting into practice workforce
development strategies with stakeholders
● equalities analysis of major health
programmes linked to local need
● building through coaching and learning
and development programmes the cultural
competence of leaders and all staff
supervise staff on E & D and engagement
with, strategic outcomes of the organisation
● development of partnership working across
all public sector bodies
● development of coaching and influencing
skills to support the building of cultural
competence of staff across the organisation.
Band 8
Progression to include:
● developing engagement and delivery in
large and complex healthcare settings
cutting across organisations, and
working beyond direct health partners
● closer involvement with senior
leadership team.
● opportunities to work across
organisational priorities and outcomes
at an organisational and regional level.
● support and lead the organisation’s EDS work
Band 9
Delivery will include:
● being a key member of the senior leadership team.
● strategic equality and diversity analysis that feeds into and underpins development of strategic outcomes
and delivery, such as QIPP and EDS
● skills developed and delivered in the workplace in relation to change management and strategic
influencing across organisations
● local line management and development of Bands 7 and 8 where this is not available locally
Page 49
Professional development
pathways
This section discusses:
● The need for Continuing Professional Development (CPD) as
highlighted by the development of the Competency Framework
● The need to build skills holistically and in a variety of ways
The need for career paths
As Equality and Diversity is a still an emerging profession, there has been no
obvious and consistent pathway that people have taken as they moved into
ED&HR leadership roles.
Additionally the lack of clearly agreed and consistently applied selection
criteria and delivery expectations has created different entry points into these
roles, as well as little or inconsistent professional development while in the
role.
During the development and testing process, leaders often described being
‘given’ accountability for the E&D leadership portfolio whilst having little
understanding or expertise in this area. There was also some evidence of
leaders being concerned that their their choice to lead ED&HR would have a
negative impact on their overall career development.
The testing and piloting phase
The testing and piloting phase of the Competency Framework highlighted
the need for career paths and continuing professional development (CPD).
This phase had two key objectives:
● to test the competency model for ‘completeness’ – that is, did it
describe as fully as possible the capability requirements for an ED&HR
leader in healthcare?
● to secure a ‘picture’ of the current ED&HR leader pool and develop
an understanding of the current capability across the leader body,
compared with the Equality and Diversity Leadership Competency
Framework and Agenda for Change Bands.
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This was carried out using three distinct activities, which are described in the
Resource Pack.
A group of E&D leaders from three SHAs were invited to pilot the framework,
and every attempt was made to ensure that this was a representative sample.
This process presented some clear patterns of outcome across the leadership
body.
In particular it demonstrated that, overall, the E&D leaders showed higher
levels of skill and capability in:
● operating from a Human Rights Context
● building organisational capacity to respond to diverse and changing
community needs
These results were not surprising, given that the majority of position holders
bring a high level of personal commitment to equality and human rights and
share a strong belief in the core human rights principles of Fairness, Respect,
Equality, Dignity, Autonomy (FREDA).
In addition the E&D role has historically focused on raising organisational
awareness, supporting consultation and EIA processes and operating as a
specialist resource to manage compliance. To deliver in these areas of work
the leader will develop and build these first two competencies.
We concluded that these results may also reflect the number of leaders in
Bands 7 and 8a roles who took part in the pilot process and whose work
appears to be predominantly operational in focus.
Our analysis indicated that areas for further development in these two
competencies should specifically focus on expanding the leaders’ knowledge
and skill in:
● identifying and engaging with a broader spectrum of the community;
and
● supporting the organisation to build processes and mechanisms for
doing so.
The pilot leadership group had some development needs against
competency 3:
● apply a robust equalities analysis to service planning and improvement.
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Again, the traditional E&D role has built some capacity in this area
and leaders demonstrated clear skills in analysing equalities data and
understanding the equality impact of policy and service development.
The areas for further development relate to:
● building robust analysis into service planning processes;
● ensuring that this analysis is incorporated into service and policy
development and implementation decisions; and
● understanding more broadly the human rights implications of service
and policy developments as distinct from equalities per se.
The areas where they have the most significant development needs are in:
● communicating a robust rationale and influence strategically; and
● leading change to improve equality outcomes.
These areas are critical if we are to ensure equalities practice is embedded in
the new framework for health care.
In summary the new Framework requires leaders to make a step
change in terms of their leadership influence across the sector, and
establish themselves as critical business partners in all substantial
business decisions.
Band progression
The testing and pilot phase was not able to show a clear relationship
between Agenda for Change band and performance against the Competency
Framework. Although there were very clear examples of what would be
considered competence at each grade, there were also a significant number
of candidates where this was not the case.
Clear competency expectations at each grade will assist both ED&HR leaders
and organisational leaders to better recruit and develop leaders in these posts.
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The need for continuous professional
development (CPD)
The process of developing and testing the Equality and Diversity Leadership
Competency Framework generated a number of conclusions, specifically that:
1. The skill set required to deliver effective equality and diversity
leadership is highly holistic in nature; that is, high level skill in one area
does not compensate for lack of skill in another;
2. Some of this capacity can only be built over time, is experiential in
nature and requires both personal and professional growth;
3. There is little evidence that leaders develop this skills set through
their health service career; that is, there are very few career paths that
demand a similar skill set at the level needed for E&D leadership.
As a result a CPD programme is needed for E&D leaders. E&D leaders need
opportunities to develop or enhance their capacity in all five competencies;
which in turn should enable them to build a career in E&D, or to transport
their considerable change management and leadership skills into other
leadership roles.
Such development opportunities have not until now been routinely available,
and it was apparent that there is a need to develop a nationally-endorsed
specification for this work.
Peer networks
Peer networks have been important in providing professional support to E&D
practitioners, but they are not equipped to provide senior level leadership,
and are not a substitute for it. Equally important, the piloting phase showed
that strong and explicit leadership, such as is available in some regions, has
made a visible difference to the advancement of the E&D agenda.
Details of the CPD programme currently being developed are in the Resource
Pack.
Training needs analysis (TNA)
The first step in developing a CPD programme is TNA. A variety of TNA
tools were devised and trialled in the development of this Framework. They
are described in detail in the Resource Pack, and can be used, adapted as
necessary, to support professional development.
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Forms of CPD
To take up any future career development opportunities, leaders clearly need
to build their competence and capability over time. Like any professional
development process, building ED&HR leadership capability needs a
combination of:
● assessment of current capability: this happens through feedback
and personal reflection. Leaders can use the 360° questionnaire for
self-assessment or to secure competency based feedback. Using the
IDI or other diagnostic tools offers insight into strengths and areas for
development;
● personal growth: the ED&HR role requires the leader to apply ‘the
conscious use of self’ to influencing and affecting organisational
behaviour. Also seeking out opportunities to partner or participate in
large-scale change initiatives and expanding one’s capacity to work
with difference will build ED&HR and personal leadership strength;
● skill building: the framework outlines a broad range of underpinning
skills that can be developed through formal coaching and training
opportunities or through ‘on the job’ and action learning interventions.
Building skills and developing tools and processes to support
organisational change and development are critical new skills for future
ED&HR leaders;
● conceptual awareness: the framework outlines the current scope of
knowledge and conceptual skills to support delivery of the ED&HR
leadership role; the level of conceptual skill required grows significantly
as leaders move into more senior roles. Practice of critical enquiry,
systems thinking and business acumen will provide a robust foundation
for future ED&HR leadership.
Effective positioning and management
The professional development of individuals depends on the way they are
supported and managed within their organisation. This positioning affects
their access to different opportunities, networks and different kinds of
experiences at work, which challenge and stretch them appropriately.
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So the Framework is not only about individual E&D leaders performing well,
and improving their performance, in their organisations and communities.
It is also about organisations understanding the work that they do, and
creating an environment, from Board level throughout the organisation, in
which professional people, and those who use their services, can thrive. Only
by developing these competencies, and recognising and supporting the
leaders who demonstrate these skills, will organisations achieve the excellence
demanded of them by EDS.
The development and testing of this framework point to the need to
reconsider this positioning and management of ED&HR work within
organisations in the new healthcare landscape.
It is already clear that success in this area requires:
● a Board level champion
● strong visible leadership provided by one or more people at Director
level
● strong functional support in areas like equalities analysis, community
engagement, Human Resources
● communications support
● appropriately managed service delivery.
Possible structures
E&D work is conventionally managed via a pyramid structure, with an E&D
lead at Band 8 leading practitioners beneath and reporting to an appropriate
senior manager.
It is possible to envisage a different structure, where the E&D competencies
relating to organisational development (OD), change management, and
strategic commissioning are part of the remit of a ‘super executive’, whilst
the more specific E&D competencies (operating from a human rights
context, having a robust equalities analysis) are catered for by shared services
practitioners or are outsourced. In this way E&D leadership remains at the
heart of the organisation, supported and led by the Board.
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Page 56
Dean Royles, Chief Executive, NHS Employers
The framework is an important step in inclusion and
equalities work – both because this area should be
seen as a valuable part of the professional journey
for NHS management; and also because it will allow
consistency in how equalities competencies are built
into organisational and personal development.
Staff in the NHS may have hesitated about moving
into an E&D role because there is no obvious career
path – this framework demonstrates that in fact this
role provides many transferable skills and requires
understanding of the whole NHS system in order to
influence it.
Mike Farrar, Chief Executive, NHS Confederation
I welcome the publication of this E&D Leadership
Competency Framework, led by Shahnaz Ali
and NHS North West, which will support NHS
organisations in developing both personal and
organisational competency on equality, diversity
and inclusion for patients, service users and staff.
A tool such as this is long overdue in the NHS.
For the first time organisations can assess their
capability and capacity for such an essential role.
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Published by
NHS North West
September 2011
www.northwest.nhs.uk
Download a copy of this publication at
www.help.northwest.nhs.uk/framework