Organisational Development

Embedding Lived Experience (Peer) workforces can be successfully achieved through a whole of organisation approach that target all levels of the organisation, from recruitment through to policy development as well as education and training.

Lived Experience (Peer) workforces undertake their work through a set of well thought out guiding principles. It is important that organisations understand what these principles mean and how they are applied in practice.

• These principles can be centred as part of organisational readiness and development plans.
• Key components of any workplace transformation include a cycle starting from awareness clarity and understanding through to review.
• Using key levers for organisational development such as leadership and culture, policy, planning and development will facilitate the change needed to effectively embed Lived Experience (Peer) workforces.

The below figure is from the Lived Experience (Peer) Workforces framework, it depicts principles and components of Lived Experience (Peer) work and levers for organisational development.

Principles and components of Lived Experience (Peer) work and levers for organisational development

The onus for embedding a Lived Experience (Peer) Workforce cannot, and should not, rest solely with the Lived Experience (Peer) Workforce. It is a whole of organisational action requiring allies and champions from executive leadership through management to operational staff. This approach requires overarching focus on key elements of the organisation including commitment, culture and strategies. The diagram below shows a range of actions which organisations can employ and embed to provide safe working places for Lived Experience (Peer) Workforces and from which other workforce disciplines within the organisation will also benefit.

Lived Experience Diagram