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Well-led · KLOE 2

Workforce equity and culture

Is there an inclusive and compassionate culture that values diversity, supports staff wellbeing and speaking up, and tackles workforce inequalities?

In brief

Workforce equity and culture is key line of enquiry 2 under the Well-led key question in the Care Quality Commission (CQC) draft adult social care assessment framework (v9, 19 March 2026), currently published for consultation. It covers workforce equality, diversity and inclusion (including volunteers), workplace discrimination and equitable treatment of staff, speaking up culture, whistleblowing, support and wellbeing of workforce. CQC describes performance against it at four rating levels: Outstanding, Good, Requires improvement and Inadequate. Each statement and rating characteristic quoted here is reproduced verbatim from CQC's draft; plain-English summaries are HLTH's own.

Key question
Well-led
Line of enquiry
KLOE 2 of 6 under Well-led
Rating levels
Outstanding, Good, Requires improvement, Inadequate
Source
Adult social care assessment framework, v9 (19 March 2026)
Status
Draft, published by CQC for consultation
Reference
pp. 53–56 of the CQC draft

Scope and topic areas

What this line of enquiry covers

Scope of this key line of enquiry and topic areas include:

  • Workforce equality, diversity and inclusion (including volunteers)
  • Workplace discrimination and equitable treatment of staff
  • Speaking up culture
  • Whistleblowing
  • Support and wellbeing of workforce

Rating characteristics

How CQC describes each rating

The four characteristic sets for this KLOE, best to worst. Every point is CQC's wording, reproduced exactly.

Outstanding

In plain terms: Care is exceptional and consistently better than the Good standard.

  • The service has an exceptional and inclusive approach to promoting the safety of its staff and is seen as a good place to work by its staff and external partners.
  • Staff wellbeing is a strategic priority, with programmes in place to promote and support it. There are measurement indicators to gauge the effectiveness of staff wellbeing programmes.
  • Staff are supported holistically through a service culture that values mental and emotional wellbeing, social and professional development and work-life balance.
  • There is a strong commitment, supported by effective action, to promote and achieve equality, diversity and inclusion across the workforce.
  • Leaders can demonstrate the positive outcomes and impacts of the actions they have taken to reduce identified workforce inequalities. Learning from successful actions and interventions is shared.
  • Leaders are visible; they model values of equality, diversity and inclusion and inspire the workforce to behave in accordance with those values.
  • There are high levels of job satisfaction across the workforce, including among those who may be at greater risk of discrimination due to their protected equality characteristics. Staff are proud of the service as a place to work and speak highly of its culture of inclusion and belonging.
  • People’s experience of the service is driven by a culture that prioritises positive wellbeing through proven methods. This empowers staff to promote and protect their own wellbeing, and to deliver excellent care that leads to positive experiences and good outcomes for people.
  • Psychological safety is a key feature of the service’s culture and is intentionally nurtured across teams.
  • Speaking up is not only supported but encouraged. Policies and processes around speaking up are well-embedded, well understood, promoted and accessible. They are monitored and evaluated for their impact and effectiveness, including for staff with protected equality characteristics that may put them at increased risk of discrimination.
  • Freedom to Speak Up Guardians work proactively with leaders to remove barriers to speaking up and to improve the speaking up culture.
  • Leaders have made a proactive effort to understand and appreciate people’s diverse identities, complex views and different perspectives, so people know that their voice matters.

Good

In plain terms: The service meets the expected standard.

  • The service is committed to workforce equality, understands equity and proactively works to promote equality, diversity and inclusion. Wellbeing, inclusion, trust and open communication are embedded in the culture of the service.
  • Leaders of the service set and review their performance against equality, diversity and inclusion objectives.
  • Experiences of staff are listened to with compassion and effective action is taken to ensure continuous improvement and maximise staff equity, inclusion and wellbeing.
  • Staff have access to personalised support that recognises the diversity of the workforce. Active efforts are made to avoid discrimination and unconscious bias. All staff have equitable opportunities, including fair access to development, progression and leadership opportunities.
  • The service supports staff who face discrimination, whether from managers, colleagues, people using the service or those close to them. Action is taken against people who discriminate against staff, supported by policies and processes.
  • Leaders make reasonable adjustments to support disabled staff to carry out their roles.
  • The service identifies workforce inequalities against relevant equality, diversity and inclusion objectives. Interventions to address these are monitored to evaluate their impact.
  • Leaders ensure there are effective and proactive ways to engage with and involve staff, with a focus on listening to the voices of staff who may experience discrimination based on their protected equality characteristics and those who may be excluded, marginalised or least heard from within their service.
  • Staff and volunteers are actively encouraged to give feedback, raise concerns, and contribute to improvements through formal speaking up processes. They are confident that they will be treated with compassion and understanding, and will not be blamed, or treated negatively if they do so - including in relation to issues of racism and discrimination. Where necessary, leaders provide a timely and considered response.
  • Staff wellbeing is promoted by providing personalised support, such as making reasonable adjustments, enabling flexible working, ensuring adequate rest, and providing a positive work environment. There is support if people are struggling at work. This has a positive impact on the care they deliver to people

Requires improvement

In plain terms: The service is not yet Good and has areas that must improve.

  • Staff wellbeing, equality and inclusion are not routinely considered or supported and are not consistently demonstrated in the service’s culture. Communication with staff is unclear or lacks openness.
  • Leaders do not consistently review their performance against equality, diversity and inclusion objectives.
  • Staff are not equally valued, listened to or respected. The service does not consistently identify and reduce discrimination and unconscious bias. The service does not consistently promote equality, and diversity and inclusion.
  • Not all staff have equitable access to personalised support that meets their diverse workplace needs.
  • There is a lack of equitable access to opportunities, including fair access to personal and professional development, promotion, pay progression and leadership opportunities.
  • Workforce inequalities are not consistently identified or addressed. Leaders do not monitor, evaluate and improve the culture of the service in the context of equality, diversity and inclusion.
  • Leaders lack a proactive approach to effectively engaging and involving staff. In particular, they do not ensure they listen to the voices of staff who may experience discrimination based on their protected equality characteristics and those who are excluded or marginalised, or who may be least heard within their service.
  • Arrangements for staff to raise concerns or contribute ideas are not effective. This includes weaknesses in how the process is communicated and how accessible it is to staff.
  • Staff have concerns about being treated negatively and with a lack of compassion and understanding if they raise concerns.
  • Investigations into issues are not conducted thoroughly in all cases, and those involved are not informed of the outcomes in a timely way.
  • Action to prevent and address bullying and harassment across all levels is not consistently taken. Protecting people in relation to their protected equality characteristics and people from groups whose voices are seldom heard from bullying, harassment and victimisation often falls short.

Inadequate

In plain terms: Performance is well below the expected standard; enforcement may follow.

  • Staff wellbeing, equality and inclusion are not considered. Leaders of the service do not understand the importance of transparent communication with staff and do not adopt an equality, diversity and human rights approach.
  • Leaders do not set objectives or review their performance in relation to equality, diversity and inclusion.
  • The needs of staff are frequently overlooked because diversity is not understood and acknowledged, or different needs are disregarded.
  • There have been cases of workforce bullying, harassment, discrimination or violence, and the service does not take appropriate action to address these issues and/or prevent reoccurrence.
  • Processes for staff to share feedback, raise concerns or contribute ideas are unclear or inaccessible.
  • People and staff who raise concerns, including whistleblowers, are not supported and may be victimised. The issues they raise are not taken seriously or investigated.
  • Psychological safety of staff is not prioritised. Leaders create an environment where staff feel they cannot make decisions or speak up for fear of victimisation, and do not feel supported to learn from mistakes. Staff face negative consequences as a result of raising concerns.
  • Staff satisfaction levels are low, and staff report high levels of stress and work overload.
  • Staff are not equally valued, listened to and respected. The service does not consistently identify and avoid discrimination and unconscious bias. It does not consistently promote equality, diversity and inclusion.
  • Not all staff have equitable access to personalised support that meets their workplace needs, including equitable access to personal and professional development, promotion, pay progression and leadership opportunities.
  • The service does not always consider reasonable adjustments for disabled staff to support them in their roles, or any adjustments are not adequate
  • There is a poor service culture which results in staff and volunteers being treated without compassion or understanding. Discrimination or inequity are present.

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