The accreditation process
Once your application has been submitted you will have up to 12 months per level to work towards accreditation and gather the evidence you need. We will support and guide you to meet the requirements of the award, and will provide a list of the suggested documentation that you need to submit as evidence for the award level you are working towards. We will invite your wellbeing lead and champions to give a presentation to an independent accreditation panel, showcasing how you have met each element of the award; how you have worked to change corporate culture and the positive impact in outcomes for your organisation. The presentation will be followed by a discussion with the panel.
Your presentation can be creative and may include a variety of supporting evidence such as documents, staff survey results, posters and photographs.
The accreditation panel will be made up of public health team members and where possible either an industry specialist working in the same field as your organisation, or a representative from a business support organisation.
We will work with you to help you achieve your award, in a way that works best for you and is most appropriate for your organisation.
When you’re ready, and you’ve submitted your evidence we will endeavour to respond to you within two weeks of receipt. We will assess it to confirm that it meets the requirements of the level you are working towards, and will arrange the date for you to give your presentation.
We will help with any outstanding questions, and any follow up action which may be needed. Once that’s all done, confirmation of the award will be sent and you will be presented with your award.
Our accreditation approach:
Will be flexible
We want to ensure all good health and well-being practices can be recognised as part of the award. We know that small steps can make a big difference, and our approach will reflect this.
Will be adaptable to the size and type of your organisation
We understand that the evidence provided for meeting the requirements for the award may vary depending on the size of your organisation. We will ensure that no organisation is precluded from being able to achieve any stage of the award, regardless of its size or nature. We appreciate that what works for a large organisation probably won’t work for a smaller one, so we will listen to you at all stages of the assessment process about what is realistic and practical, whilst still working with you to ensure the evidence you provide meets the requirements of the award.
Will seek to establish if the difference is felt by your staff.
Whilst we consider and assess your evidence as you work towards your award, we know that even with the very best health and wellbeing practices and procedures in place, positive effects will only be achieved if your staff are aware of the measures you take, have confidence in them, and feel they have made a difference. We would therefore expect to see evidence of staff feedback during the accreditation process.
The accreditation process will be carried out in a fair, consistent and systematic manner.
We will do this by always considering the same questions for each piece of evidence, for every element of the award, and for every participating organisation. We believe this will ensure our approach is methodical, whilst always incorporating the flexibility needed to accommodate every type and size of organisation.
Your evidence
Some things to consider before submitting your evidence:
- Credible – is your evidence reliable and genuine? Is it something you actually use in your organisation and can you demonstrate this?
- Relevant – is your evidence relevant to the requirements of the element? Is it applicable and pertinent to what we are asking you to do?
- Current – is your evidence up to date? Does it demonstrate current practices, or recent events and activities?
- Sufficient – is your evidence enough? Can you back it up? If we speak to your workforce, will they know about it?
What your evidence might look like:
Documentary – examples of documented evidence include photos, posters, newsletters, notes from meetings, policy documents, quality manuals, hand written notes, business diary entries, action plans and so on. The range of evidence you provide will depend on the size and nature of your organisation. For example, a larger organisation may be able to show us how they promoted an event via their intranet; for a smaller organisation this could be a poster on a notice board, or an email circulated to all staff.
Workforce feedback – this could take the form of staff surveys, consultation groups, or simply notes from staff meetings or informal discussions.
Assessor observation – as well as talking to your workforce, we will make observations as part of an informal site ‘walk round’. This will entail looking for physical evidence in the work environment, which may include things like notice boards, signage to indicate location of drinking water, clean meal preparation areas (if applicable), identification of any health and wellbeing information campaigns/activities, and so on. We appreciate that your evidence may fall into more than one category – this is fine, we expect an amount of overlap and will take this into account.
What the accreditation doesn’t cover
Any legal obligations in respect of employment law and employee health and safety are not included in this award scheme.
The accreditation process therefore does not consider whether the organisation is legally compliant, and the assessor cannot be held responsible should there be any gaps in compliance.
Compliments, complaints and suggestions
All feedback we receive is welcome and useful as it helps us to improve our services.
Details of how to submit a compliment, complaint or suggestion are available on North Yorkshire County Council’s website www.northyorks.gov.uk