ESR Self Service Standards and Levels of Attainment for 24/25
Following the launch of the ESR Self-Service Standards and Levels of Attainment Assessment last year, the Standards have been updated this year and NHS organisations are being invited once again to meet with their ESR Functional Account Manager to complete their Assessment for 24/25.
This assessment is intrinsically linked to the Enabling Readiness workstream of the Future NHS Workforce Solution programme that aims to deliver and enable wider workforce transformation as part of the national people digital collaborative across NHS England and NHS Wales.
Consistent with last year, the Assessment examines the digital systems, processes and culture that exists within NHS organisations today and is designed specifically to help Chief People Officers (CPO) and ESR Leads understand where they can introduce transformational change in relation to systems and processes; this is particularly important to the wider readiness activity that will inform plans for the transition to the future NHS workforce solution.
At the beginning of December 106 organisations had completed their Self-Service Standards and Levels of Attainment ESR Assessment, and a further 108 organisations have a date planned in the diary post December into the New Year. This means that 214 organisations out of 308 across England and Wales have completed or have an ESR Assessment booked.
The map below shows the percentage of completed assessments in each region in England and Wales.
Reflecting on feedback, some new standards were introduced this year, along with updates to some of the previous standards. The 10 Standards for NHS England are shown below (new referenced by *). There are separate Standards for user organisations in NHS Wales.
The 10 Standards were agreed following a review of the 23/24 process, including feedback from NHS organisations. This resulted in an opportunity to refine the standards so that the output from the assessment is driving optimisation in the areas of ESR functionality that will bring efficiency, improved user experience for NHS employees and help organisations to build the foundations in readiness for the transition to the future NHS workforce solution.
The ESR Assessment has been extremely well received by Chief People Officers and their Deputies from across the NHS.
Rachel Cust, Assistant Director of Workforce & Organisational Development at Mid Yorkshire Teaching NHS Trust said:
With excellent support from our ESR Regional Team and our internal ESR Steering Group and Champions Network, we have been continuing to optimise our use of ESR so that the transition will be as seamless as possible for our colleagues. Manager self-service is well embedded and our WoVEn scores have (and continue) to improve. Completing our ESR Standards Assessment guided us towards our remaining key focus area (establishment control) and opened doors to sharing learning with other Trusts.
Lisa Cain, Associate Director of Workforce Systems at University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust said:
Since the assessment last year 23/24 and the revised standards this year has helped UHD drive ESR Optimisation forward, although we use it incredibly well we always strive to do better and use as much functionality as possible with considerations of Appraisals and Employee Relations functionality. During the assessment it was highlighted there were elements of Standard 8 (Data Completeness) that were not being achieved. We made the necessary changes immediately to raise us to Level 2. Following our Optimisation meeting, we have reviewed other ESR functionality which will help us to move forward and put us in an optimal position for the transition to the Future NHS Workforce Solution.
Keeley Cooper, Associate Director of People Services at Hertfordshire and West Essex ICB said:
We found the Standards Assessment process really useful, as it’s made us think about how we currently use ESR and how we want to use it in the future. It’s helped us prioritise the developments that we think we should be focusing on over the next year and with Steve’s help, we have already identified some quick wins and some longer-term goals to maximise ESR for our organisation. We are looking forward to how we can develop our optimisation of ESR further. This will help progress us forward and put us in a optimal position for the transition to the new future workforce solution.
If you haven’t yet been invited to undertake your ESR Self-Service Assessment, your NHSBSA ESR Functional Account Manager will be in touch in the very near future. However, if you do wish to request an ESR Assessment then you can contact your NHSBSA ESR Functional Account Manager, and they will book you a date for this to be completed.