Using ESR to support our Talent Management Strategy
A Case Study by South Staffordshire and Shropshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
Background
Our Trust provides mental health, learning disability and specialist children’s services across South Staffordshire, Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin. We also provide services on a wider regional or national basis, including perinatal, eating disorder and forensic services. The Trust’s Inclusions service provides psychological, drug and alcohol services and has contracts across the country. We also provide genitourinary medicine services in South Staffordshire, Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin.
Back in 2014 the Trust engaged with staff, service users and partners to develop a Behaviour Framework which focussed on how we live our Trust values. During recent years we have been working to integrate this Behaviour Framework into all aspects of our Trust activities, including recruitment and induction. A key element of this work focused on revisiting our appraisal process so that value is also acknowledged in how we display these behaviours as well as our performance in roles. To this effect we now use a Performance Development Conversation where each individual employee is rated on a Performance and Behaviour matrix. The matrix is colour coded, and employees who are displayed as Purple are recognised as being individuals who excel in both behaviour and performance and who are ready for their next role/challenge or step in their career. This approach is akin to that adopted by Health Education England’s Talent Conversation Toolkit and their Maximising potential Matrix.
The Challenge
The Trust had been using the new appraisal approach for over 2 years and whilst the feedback from staff was excellent - regarding the shift in focus to having really great conversations, we identified that there was a strategic gap; in that we were not able to easily identify -either at team, directorate or organisational level, where our high potential staff were located. The Workforce and Development Team were asked to explore how we could use these ratings to better inform our approach to Talent Management within the organisation, and our proposed solution would need to achieve the following:
- Be cost effective – there were no additional funds to develop or buy a system;
- Involve minimal data entry – the organisation did not want to place onerous data entry requirements onto managers;
- Be secure – there was a need to maintain confidentiality on individual employee ratings;
- Facilitate centralised reporting – in order to look strategically at talent we needed to be able to look at key themes and ratings summaries across the organisation.
The Solution
Around the same time that this work was being implemented we undertook our ESR Assessment. The NHS ESR Central Team met with us, and using the Assessment tool examined how we utilised the ESR system. Whilst the Trust is a progressive user of ESR functionality the Assessment was a really valuable process for us. We already used the ESR appraisal functionality to record the date that appraisals took place but the Assessment highlighted that there were ways of recording the detail of the appraisal that we hadn’t considered.
By undertaking the ESR Assessment we were presented with a report that outlined against our organisation’s objectives the quick wins, medium and longer term objectives or projects making better use of ESR that would further support our strategic aspirations. We established an ESR working group to review the way appraisals were recorded to identify how we could incorporate our local ratings. Initially we looked at creating a questionnaire using HTML which those inputting would have to link to as they worked through the appraisal screens. Whilst investigating this option and creating local templates we realised there was an option to link to a rating scale. This seemed perfect for us as the rating scale does not require you to link out to a separate questionnaire – it appears on the inputting screens as a user goes through normal appraisal entry. Our solution was therefore to create a local template which contained a locally created rating scale which replicated the colour coding on our rating matrix. Once we had created this we tested it internally within our team in Workforce and Development.
We then created an easy guide which took users through the steps to enter both the appraisal date and rating using our new template. This was cascaded around the organisation with supporting communications to help ensure that users were aware of the change. A big advantage to this approach was that we were not asking our users to do anything different from their normal appraisal entry process other than choose a new template name. There was also an additional benefit in that by using a local template it actually made the appraisal entry process simpler, as staff did not have to skip through multiple screens on the standard templates that they did not need to use.
Once we had the solution in place to record the rating in ESR we were then faced with the additional challenge of how to get the information out of ESR in a format which would assist our Talent Management approach.
We liaised with (and used the expertise of) our regional NHS ESR Account Manager and the NHS ESR Business Intelligence team to work together to have the overall rating incorporated into the Appraisals report on the Appraisals and PMP dashboard. It’s fair to say that within the Workforce and Development team we were excited to be able to run a report which enabled us to see the spread of ratings across the organisation! Our appraisal template went live at the end of April and as at the 31st July we were reporting over 1,000 staff appraisals recorded using this method.
The Benefits
This has been an integral part of our developing approach to Talent Management.
We are now able to present a strategic view of emerging key themes to our Trust Board and we are also able to use the reports in our talent discussions with heads of service. This has been beneficial not only within Talent Management discussions but also to ‘sense check’ the outcomes across the organisation to ensure that the ratings are being interpreted consistently in our Performance Development Conversations.
Theresa Shaw, Head of Learning and Leadership Development said: “This is a really useful tool and an important step forward for us in being able to have meaningful talent and succession planning conversations with operational service managers, and to enable us to identify individuals at all levels that have high potential to succeed. Our aim is to be able to develop a talent pool that will help us to plan more strategically to develop individuals for our future business critical and leadership roles.”
Further Information
If you have any questions about this case study please contact Sharon Dennison, Learning and Development Manager Sharon.dennison@sssft.nhs.uk
Completing Performance Appraisal Reviews through ESR Self Service
A case study by NHS England
Background
NHS England is the body that sets priorities and directions for the National Health Service in England. Its work includes commissioning health care services and the contracts for GPs, pharmacists, dentists and local health services. We employ approximately 5500 staff, in over 100 locations across the country.
NHS England was formed in April 2013 and began utilising the HR and Payroll modules of the ESR from the outset. We implemented Employee Self Service during October to December 2013 followed by Manager Self Service during March and September 2014. Our employees and managers utilise a broad range of functionality through Self Service including changing personal details, recording absence, assignment changes and BI reporting. We were provisioned for the new ESR Portal in May 2017 and have successfully rolled this out across the organisation.
The Project
We have a yearly appraisal cycle whereby objectives are set at the beginning of the financial year and recorded onto a third-party system. Objectives are referred to throughout the year at regular 1-2-1 meetings and at interim review which is a formal review of progress, 6 months into the year. Given the extensive Self Service functionality already being used across NHS England and the familiarity staff already had with ESR, it was logical for us to look at capturing yearly objectives using ESR rather than a third-party appraisal system. This removed the need for employees to have a separate log in, realised cost savings associated with the procurement of a third party appraisal system and improved data quality and efficiency by not having to manually maintain a separate database with employee details.
Our regional NHS ESR team delivered a presentation and demonstration of the appraisal functionality available through ESR Self Service and we liked the fact that there were a number of different ways to use the system including objective setting, creation of appraisal questionnaires and Personal Management Plans. In exploring ESR for the capture and storage of objectives we were keen to retain similar functionality to our existing appraisal system with the added benefit of staff being able to access it via ESR alongside the other functionality that they were already using.
Accordingly, after undertaking some local testing on the ESR training database (TPLY), we decided that we would initially implement the objective setting functionality with a view to adding an appraisal questionnaire at a later stage, once staff were familiar with the new system.
We used a variety of communication methods to support the initial launch of the functionality and as an ongoing reminder of the actions that need to be taken to ensure the outcomes of appraisals are recorded in ESR. We have achieved this through face to face training sessions, WebEx sessions (live and a recording has been published on the intranet) and used the Announcements Portlet and Local Links section on the ESR Portal to direct employees to the relevant ESR screens and supporting guidance.
Key Benefits
Utilisation of the Appraisal functionality through ESR Self Service has provided:
- Flexibility for staff as they can enter their objectives directly into ESR or attach a word document detailing the agreed objectives
- Retained an emphasis on a quality appraisal conversation rather than a complex system to record objectives
- Staff were already familiar with ESR Self Service so there was minimal training involved
- Feedback from employees is positive because the functionality is easy to use
- Ability to use the ESR Portal Announcements portlet to remind staff of the need to record their objectives in ESR and to direct them to appropriate guidance
- We haven’t had to create any BI local dashboards to report on appraisals: all the required data is included in the national BI Dashboard
Challenges
Our staff have been using the appraisal functionality since April 2017 so we are still in the process of fully embedding its usage across the organisation. As we are a national organisation with a large number of locations, ensuring that communication and training is reaching all staff is understandably more challenging than if we were in a single location. However, we believe that the variety of communication and training methods we used during implementation enabled us to successfully reach a lot of people. Ongoing support is continuing to ensure the usage of the PDR functionality continues to be a priority.
Next Steps
We currently use a third party Learning Management System to manage our learning activities and we are in the process of transitioning across to ESR OLM for face to face training recording and delivery of e-Learning to staff. This will also include assigning competency requirements to all employees for Statutory and Mandatory training. Additionally, as part of our talent management strategy we are looking to apply further local competencies to measure placement on the 9 box grid. The PDR template will then be updated to include competency requirements and enable integration of learning and talent management into the PDR process, further enhancing the functionality already afforded to staff via ESS and MSS.
Further Information
For further information please contact Louise Bodsworth, Workforce Systems Manager on louise.bodsworth@nhs.net
Implementation of online payslips
A Case Study by Provide
Background
Provide is a Community Interest Company that delivers NHS and Local Authority community services across East Anglia. We currently employ approximately 1000 staff across a number of sites in a wide range of roles, from frontline patient-care roles (such as nurses, therapists, doctors and other healthcare workers) to supporting roles (such as corporate, facilities and estates staff).
In October 2016, we initially implemented the ESR Employee Self Service Limited Access (ESS LA) functionality, before implementing the Employee Self Service Full Access in January 2017. During this transition period we communicated to staff the variety of functionalities available within Self Service, also highlighting that they could now opt out of receiving paper payslips and P60s as they could now access them online via ESR. Our plan was to achieve full roll out of online payslips and P60s by April 2017 at the start of the financial year. Initially only a small percentage of staff opted out straight away so we decided the most effective approach would be to switch from paper payslips and P60s to online at organisation level with effect from April 2017, as this would reflect our organisational aim towards sustainability and reducing our carbon footprint.
Our Approach
Supported by our Board, the payroll team was informed that we would be moving to online payslips and P60s at the beginning of April 2017. The consecutive changes and process to switching from printed payslips and P60s to online had been discussed between the HR and payroll teams. We sought the guidance from our NHS ESR Account Manager and Functional Advisor and we established a process for providing support and information to our staff.
We began by our communications approach through a staff bulletin and electronic noticeboard three months before the roll out (February 2017) and again in April 2017 after we switched to online payslips. We also ran open days and training sessions in different locations to demonstrate to staff how to access ESR and payslips and also provided learning enhancements and further guidance documents. The launch of online payslips in our organisation has been successful and positively received. The ease of access both at work and through the internet remotely has been largely appreciated.
“The move to online only payslips and P60s fits with our organisational Sustainability Strategy. It has also promoted the further development of our staff IT/digital skills and awareness, through encouraging our staff to access employee self-service on a regular basis. Whilst the approach has led to financial savings and efficiency savings, it has also driven better data accuracy and security. This has given us a great foundation for driving further changes through manager and supervisor self-service over the coming months.”
Richard Atienza-Hawkes, Executive HR and OD Director.
Benefits
- The payslips appear online two days prior to payday for staff to view them.
- Our staff can access their payslips at any time whether at work, home, or on the move via their smartphone.
- The reduction in the use of paper and our carbon footprint is a key benefit for us as an organisation.
- Staff can go back and look at previous payslips if they need to for mortgage applications etc., as ESR stores a secure accessible database of historical payslips and P60s.
- We have reduced costs by no longer needing to distribute paper payslips and P60s.
- We have removed the risks of and breaches of confidentiality associated with manually distributing printed payslips and P60s around locations and departments.
“Being able to view everything in ESR is fantastic. From a manager’s point of view, all direct report details can be viewed from current compliance to absence. From an employee’s point of view, payslips are all accessible along with being able to book annual leave and keep updated with compliance and training. Moving forward I think ESR will be a great employee and manager tool.”
Amy Parker, PA to Assistant Director, Primary and Prevention Pathways Executive Clinical and Operations Director.
The Next Steps
We are now in the process of scoping and assessing the further use of Supervisor Self Service and will begin looking at and testing the functionality of Manager Self Service to understand its benefits. It is hoped that the increase in usage of the Self Service functions will give greater autonomy to our managers, lead to more timely decision making and a reduction in administrative time and overheads.
For More Information
If you are thinking about moving to online payslips and want to talk to Provide about their experiences please contact Kaiser Chowdhury, Workforce Planning & Information Analyst on 01206587228 / 07815546831 or email kaiser.chowdhury@nhs.net
We have published some helpful Best Practice Guidance for moving to on-line Payslips - go the Programme News section of this edition of ESR News to learn more.