New Self-Service Standards and Levels of Attainment launched

The procurement for the future NHS Workforce Solution is now well underway, and as you will hopefully know from previous updates, the procurement is part of the ESR Transformation programme that aims to deliver and enable wider workforce transformation as part of the national People Digital Collaborative across NHS England, and NHS Wales.

The use of Self-Service functionality within the ESR solution supports a wide range of process and efficiency improvements in relation to workforce management, workforce data and employee experience.

Self-Service capability remains integral to the requirements of the future NHS Workforce Solution. With this in mind, the NHSBSA ESR Team has developed, in collaboration with NHS England and NHS Wales, a set of new Self-Service Standards and Levels of Attainment. The Standards themselves act as a guide to local process and cultural change for both managers and employees, and the Levels of Attainment provide the building blocks to full Self-Service optimisation - helping Chief People Officers and their teams achieve greater digital capability and competence and improved workforce data quality.

The Standards and Levels of Attainment have been embedded into a new Self-Service Assessment.  The Assessment examines what digital systems, processes and cultures exist within organisations today, and will help Chief People Officers and ESR Leads to develop local plans that will deliver a rich digital experience for managers and employees, now and in the future.

Practically, the Assessment will help Chief People Officers and ESR Leads to understand how ESR is being used today, how many workforce systems employees are interacting with and highlight how organisations can improve their digital experience to realise the many benefits that ESR can deliver for the NHS today, whilst preparing organisations for the transition to the future NHS Workforce solution.

The Assessment is carried out by the NHSBSA ESR Functional Account Manager along with key stakeholders from NHS organisations. After completion, a comprehensive report summarises the current position against each Standard and its supporting Levels of Attainment. The objective is two-fold – firstly, to help organisations understand opportunities for optimising their use of ESR now, and secondly, begin to prepare for the future NHS Workforce Solution, including development of an ESR optimisation plan.

Our regional teams of ESR Functional Account Managers and ESR Implementation Advisors are working with organisations, providing expert guidance and support that will help Chief People Officers and their teams to better understand ESR as the national workforce solution and help them achieve the level of ESR usage, and wider digitisation, that best works for their people and their organisation.

The Regional Teams are already busy with many Assessments booked across all regions in England, and colleagues in NHS Wales have also committed to undertake their Assessment during this summer.

Lynne Shelton (MCIPD), Assistant Director of Pay & Systems, University Hospitals of Derby & Burton NHS Foundation Trust & Interim Project Lead for Project Derbyshire said:

Being a pilot site for the new ESR standards and level of attainment assessment has been very beneficial.  It is supporting the current digital people work across Trusts in Derby & Derbyshire ICS to align and optimise the full functionality of ESR.  The new assessments, which are clear, concise and relevant, have helped in identifying inconsistencies in ESR use and approach, and the key areas we need to focus on for improvement and development.  This will help us to achieve alignment across the ICS and be prepared for the new workforce solution.  

Donna Watson, Head of Workforce Engagement & Information Systems at Newcastle Hospitals NHS Trust said:

The pilot was great to be involved in, very useful to understand the new ESR standards with the ESR Team supporting us throughout the journey. The assessment has helped  how we prioritise our optimisation of ESR to inform our state of readiness for the future NHS Workforce Solution.

If your organisation has not yet booked the Self-Service Standards Assessment don’t be concerned - our ESR Functional Account Manager teams will be contacting NHS organisations to discuss the process and get the Assessment booked.