All HJPs face changes as they grow and develop, or as staff members move to new roles. Change, such as staff turnover, is relatively foreseeable, which means you have an opportunity to flag it as a risk when building a new HJP or reviewing your current HJP.
We strongly encourage you to approach change or the possibility of change like any other partnership challenge – by using the strength of partnership to help come up with solutions. This means working together, as a partnership, to identify your own mitigation strategies for this inevitable change.
In practice, this looks like picking up the phone and asking your partner:
- How are things at your service going? What do you think is important for me to know for our work together?
- I heard there may be some staff changes coming up – what do you need? What do you think our partnership should be thinking about?
- I’m thinking about our upcoming partnership meeting, what do you think about putting ‘staff turnover’ on the agenda for discussion, so we can make a plan?
Strong communication can go a long way to supporting each other and the partnership through transitions. There is a section in Health Justice Australia’s Building Blocks resource dedicated to exploring drivers, interests and motivations to partner, which gives some valuable tips and insight (from p11: agreeing on how you’ll work together). We also created this short guide to managing change in HJP.
If you need more support, please email partnerships@healthjustice.org.au.
