How can we help you?

Each element of Project Lift (Values Based Recruitment, Talent Management, Leadership Development, Performance Appraisal) is evaluated over an ongoing period in ways aligned with our impact plan.

Project Lift is not an acronym. It is the overarching name that has been given to our fresh approach to identifying, supporting, enhancing and growing leadership talent at all levels in Health and Social Care in Scotland. It is an integrated, system wide approach to talent management, leadership development, appraisal and recruitment aimed at transforming Health and Social Care services in Scotland and improving the experience of patients, those who use services and employees. Find out more on our About page.

We believe in leadership at all levels, in all roles as leadership happens at all levels in an organisation. Project Lift wants to identify and grow the leadership talent we need to transform Health and Social Care in Scotland. We want to hear from all staff with an interest in developing their leadership capability and they can access the Project Lift app, complete the SAQ and receive their own feedback report. They will also be signposted to existing leadership development networks and resources across our system and everyone is welcome to be part of our Project Lift communities.

There are many excellent leadership development offerings already in existence across our system. Project Lift engages with the HR and OD teams across the NHS and with contacts with Social Care to connect, understand and collaborate – we will work alongside and complement these offerings and we are working with Boards and the wider Social Care system to make these connections.

Regardless of your role and where you are in the Health and Social Care system, Project Lift can help you bring your best contribution. From the tailored feedback in your SAQ report, through signposting to a range of national, local and services-wide development resources, to connecting you to communities of leaders across Health and Social Care, Project Lift will help you make the most of where you are now in both your leadership development and career journeys. The Project Lift communities will provide invaluable peer networking spaces where learning, ideas, leadership challenges and vulnerabilities can be safely shared and explored.

Project Lift is open to everyone engaged in the Health and Social Care system in Scotland . You can create a TURAS account in a few steps by following the My Project Lift tab on the top right hand menu of every page. You are given two options: Log into TURAS and Create TURAS account. It is free to create an account.

The main changes are:

• New terms and conditions – watch the video to find out more  (1 min)
• New ‘Data Preferences’ user options – watch the video to find out more (3 min)
• New user experience for dashboard – watch the video to find out more  (6 min)
• New Career Tools: 360 Feedback aligned to the SAQ and the Leadership Profile and a Career Conversation Lite – See the New User Experience video for more information.
• New admin roles in the app to enable local use for Career Conversation Lite and 360 tools
  • These crucial roles will allow organisations the ability to offer and administer the Project Lift 360 and Career Conversation Lite either as individual development activity or as part of a wider programme.  In order for your organisation to be able to offer you any related opportunities in the future, you need to opt in to option 2 in ‘Your Data Preferences’. Both the New User Experience video and Data Preferences video mention this.

The changes to the app will be go live after 6pm on Thursday 4th March 2021.

The changes will affect all users of the Project Lift App.

The Project Lift App is designed to help you live your leadership potential whatever your role, level, location or organisation and it’s important that the app works for those you use it.  We are always working to understand how we can improve your experience and the support we can provide you – and how best to balance that with good governance and data management.

Our latest changes go live on Thursday evening, 4th March 2021 and will impact every user from that time. But don’t worry – you are now more in control of how much you can and want to get from the app and related opportunities.

As has always been the case, the T&Cs are essential to being able to use the app and it’s key that the next time you login, you review and accept them.

We have a suite of career tools on the app that serve different purposes and are therefore are relevant to different career stages and aspirations.  Here is a quick guide:

• SAQ – relevant for everyone and accessible to everyone who accepts the T&Cs and opts in to Option 1 in the Data preferences.  The SAQ completion is self managed and requires no additional facilitation to complete and access the report.  We recommend you share this with a line manager, coach, peer or mentor to make the most of the develop planning section at the back o the report.
• Career Conversation – relevant for those looking to move into a Director level post (or non NHS equivalent). This is accessed through an invitation on completion of your profile and SAQ. This consists of a half-day conversation with a Principal Lead and requires completion of the 4 part development pack as preparation.
• Career Conversation Lite – relevant for those looking to step forward or up in their career and designed for national and local programme use. Will be administered and facilitated by employing organisations working with Project Lift and available for those who have opted in to Option 2 in the Data Preferences.  2 hour conversation with a trained facilitator and  required completion of a 2 part development pack as preparation.
• 360 Feedback tool – relevant for those looking to gain insight from others that they work with, this 360 tool is based on the Leadership Profile and SAQ currently used by Project Lift.  Managed within the app, respondents (Raters) do not need to be registered to complete this for you.  This is one part of the development packs required for both Career Conversations and Career Conversation Lite and can also be used as a stand alone development tool.  This can be available for those through their employing organisations and who have opted in to Option 2 in the Data Preferences

Yes. The Project Lift app is held on the TURAS platform and you need a TURAS login to access it. If you have a TURAS account for any application ie Learn, Performance Appraisal, 360 then you can access Project Lift. Click the ‘My Project Lift’ at the top right of every page and this will take you to a TURAS logon page. Once you have used your TURAS sign on details, it will automatically open the Project Lift app for you.

To give the best experience we’ve developed the Project Lift app using the latest technology. We’re working to fully support older browsers, like Internet Explorer 11, but for the best experience we recommend you use a more up to date browser such as Microsoft Edge, Safari or Google Chrome.

You can access and complete the SAQ through the Project Lift website. Click on ‘My Project Lift’ (available in the top right menu of every page) and you will be asked to log in. Using your TURAS login and password, you will then be asked to complete a personal profile before being directed the SAQ. If you don’t have a TURAS login you can follow the instructions  in ‘Create an account’ to set one up which is free. Once completed you will receive a tailored feedback report, to help you consider your next steps in your development journey.

Yes. Your information is saved on the app as soon as you input it, so you won’t lose anything if you log out and return to the app later. Please note there is no “Exit” button but your data is saved up to the point you exit the app.

Values Based Recruitment enables NHS Scotland to reinforce its organisational values and culture with new appointees, embeds the principle of NHS Scotland as a values based employer and allows us to recruit the best and most able leaders to NHS Scotland boardrooms. In addition to professional, technical, leadership and management skills, our new executives will be best placed to fulfil their responsibilities as members of boards of governance, making the fullest possible commitment to people across the Health and Care system to share leadership experiences, ideas, difficulties, support and opportunities.

Directors Letter and VBR guidance have now been issued to Boards. This can also be found on the SHOW website. From 1st June 2018 Boards must use the approach outlined in this Directors Letter for all executive team posts including Chief Executive, Executive Director, Director or other next level immediate direct line reports to the Chief Executive. Any additional queries should be directed to Gwen Nicholson directly Gwen.Nicholson@gov.scot

SAQ is our Self Assessment Questionnaire and it’s the first step in the Talent Management Process. Designed to help you identify and explore your leadership potential, it highlights strengths and areas for development against the Leadership Profile. It takes about 30 minutes to complete. Once completed you can download a personal feedback report which invites you to reflect on your strengths and areas for development for each of the 8 areas on the leadership profile.

No. The SAQ has been specifically designed to explore generic leadership capabilities and potential, regardless of professional background or grade.

No. The aim of the talent management process is to support you to continually develop your knowledge, skills, values and insights as a leader. Continually investing in your leadership learning will aid your growth and development, enable you to give of your best in your leadership role and help you maximise your potential. This may inform the career choices and opportunities you decide to take, but selection processes remain separate. We see leadership evident at all levels across Health and Social Care and Project Lift is open to everyone.

Details of this can be found in our Privacy Policy  which you are asked to review before you input any of your data after you have logged in. For Project Lift this will include: Employee data, contact details, career history and career aspirations data, Equality and Diversity Data and Self Assessment Questionnaire results. Please review our Privacy Policy for full details.

To give you the opportunity to work on identified areas for development and further enhance and hone areas of strength, it’s recommended that in most circumstances, you leave a gap of around 12 months before completing the SAQ again.

Developing leaders capable of enabling transformational system change throughout our Health and Care System is a core aim of project lift. Our leadership development approach focuses on developing a fresh ethos, focused on collaboration, compassion, humility, curiosity and public service. Finding the most appropriate development opportunities for the individual is key. This is informed by the talent management process and the completion of the Self Assessment Questionnaire with identification of areas of strength and areas for development. Where appropriate to the individuals’ needs, we are offering places on development programmes to participants from the system, based on need, rather than offering a fixed ‘quota’ of places to organisations or specific groups. The establishment of Project Lift communities will also serve as a new approach to connect people across the Health and Social Care system to share leadership experiences, ideas, difficulties, support and opportunities.

Project Lift is open to employees across our Health and Social Care system. If you have TURAS ID and password you can access the app, which is the route in to accessing the development offerings. Every individual completing an SAQ will receive insights on their personal leadership development profile from the SAQ, as well as access to a range of valuable online leadership development resources and connection to existing networks and resources across the Health and Social Care system. They will also become part of Project Lift communities, where our ambition is that people are connected across the Health and Social Care system to share leadership experiences, ideas difficulties, support and opportunities.

Finding the most appropriate development opportunities for the individual, wherever they are based, is key. This is informed by the talent management process and the completion of the Self Assessment Questionnaire with identification of areas of strength and areas for development. Project Lift continues to develop and offer a range of different leadership development opportunities that are based on both need and agency, i.e. the individual’s development needs and motivation to develop themselves as a leader. There are a number of information points about these offers such as our resources and brought to you by pages and through our mailing list which you can sign up to on our contact page.

At different times we will be focusing on prioritising different career stages which may lead to some being invited for a form of career conversation, an offer we are developing and expanding as time progresses. We also have a range of leadership development opportunities available at different times through offers such as Digital Coaching, Community events, places on partner programmes and shared career opportunities.  The best way to ensure you have early news to all that could be relevant to you is to keep your Profile in the  Project Lift App up to date and look out for hello@projectlift.scot in your inbox.

Central to the ambitions of Project Lift are the opportunities to enable vibrant and liberating spaces for leaders to connect, from across the system to inspire, exchange and learn together either face to face or via digital events.  Over the past 2 years, project lift continues to build, embrace and create opportunities for everyone and anyone to;

• feel welcomed regardless of grade or profession to be part of a community or movement of leaders ambitious in making a leadership contribution in the health and social care settings of Scotland
• connect with others to share perspectives and stories
• voice experiences and interest in leadership, culture and wellbeing
• build individual and collective agency
• make a collective contribution to the leadership of health and social care across Scotland
• as well as the point above, Kaleidoscope is helping Project Lift to a) increase the reach of the community and b) enable collaboration between disciplines, professions and sectors.

To be successful and meaningful for members, we are taking a co-production approach to development, providing community members the opportunity to model real collaborative learning in action.  All those individuals accessing the talent management process are invited to join in and will be kept informed of opportunities as they arise.  Do take a look at our community page for more information about past and future events.

A Director’s letter with refreshed guidance on Executive Appraisal was issued in March 2019 and there is also The Executive and Senior Managers Appraisal Good Practice Guide available.  In addition to this, Remuneration Committees had a series of development sessions in July 2019 to understand and refine the process to ensure fairness and consistency.

Project lift links together the key workstreams of Values Based Recruitment, Executive Performance Appraisal, Talent Management and Leadership Development. The SAQ is available to staff of any level and by completing it, participants will have a picture of their strengths and development areas in relation to the Leadership Profile. They can use this to inform e.g. their annual performance objectives and development activities, PDP and broader career development conversations. The aspiration is that in the future, the two processes of Performance Appraisal and Talent Management will reinforce and enhance one another.