Anchors Workforce Strategic Group
This page provides an overview of the Anchors Workforce Strategic Group and its role within the wider approach to workforce attraction and development across NHS Scotland.
It brings together key information and resources to support understanding and awareness of this area of work, alongside the broader strategic direction for creating accessible and inclusive employment opportunities.
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Overview of the Anchors Workforce Strategic Group
The Anchors Workforce Strategic Group
The Anchors Workforce Strategic Group (AWSG) is the national governance group responsible for driving forward the Anchors Workforce Workplan. Its role is to coordinate system‑wide activity that helps NHS Scotland act as an Anchor Institution—using its recruitment, employment, and development practices to reduce inequalities and widen access to good work.
This group was established to empower NHS Boards to act as "anchor institutions". The focus is on leveraging the NHS's status as a major employer to reduce health inequalities and support local economic prosperity, set out in Scotland's Population Health Framework, and NHS Supporting Sector Summary.
What are the AWSG Outputs?
AWSG brings together senior leaders, policy officials, and delivery partners from across NHS Scotland to oversee progress, approve key outputs, and ensure alignment with national workforce strategies. It also commissions Task & Finish Groups (TFGs) to design practical solutions to barriers within recruitment, entry requirements, attraction, and applicant experience.
This work typically results in:
- Evidence‑based reports and recommendations, such as the Anchors Applicant Experience Report, which analyses the NHS Scotland recruitment journey and proposes system‑level improvements.
- Guidance, templates, and tools to support hiring managers and recruiters — for example, job description and person specification guidance, templates, and revised entry‑requirements materials produced by the Entry Requirements Task & Finish Group.
- Implementation plans and next steps, outlining how approved recommendations will be taken forward, who owns delivery, and the sequencing of actions across the system (e.g., Jobtrain Governance Group, National Recruitment Steering Group).
- Strategic oversight of Stage 1 and Stage 2 activities within the Anchors Workforce programme, ensuring outputs are aligned with national priority areas and resourced appropriately.
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