A Case Study by Wirral Community NHS Foundation Trust

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1 Implementing Manager Self Service A Case Study by Wirral Community NHS Foundation Trust Wirral Community NHS Foundation Trust provides a diverse range of community healthcare services to the population of Wirral and parts of Cheshire and Liverpool. The trust employs over 1,500 staff, 80% of who are in patient facing roles. Embarking upon the Manager Self Service Journey In August 2015, we identified that we needed to utilise the Manager and Employee Self Service functionality that is available in ESR. A paper was produced outlining the case for implementing Manager Self Service (MSS) and the benefits that would be realised by implementing it. This was submitted to the Education & Workforce Committee and approval was given to the project. Commenting on the main drivers behind the decision to implement MSS, Jo Harvey, Director of HR & OD said: We are constantly reviewing our HR practice to improve and streamline the service provided to our employees. Access to information and smooth electronic processes are key elements of a modern working environment and we were keen to make workforce information accessible to everyone at the appropriate level through their desktop. MSS saves time and increases productivity, improves data quality, supports employee engagement, enhances the talent management process and supports our managers to deliver through real time access to key information. Steering Group We established a Steering Group to take the project forward, and a key part of the planning phase for us was to learn from other organisations that had implemented MSS. Theresa McDonald from Liverpool Community Health was invited to come and talk to the Steering Group about their experiences. This was very useful and we learnt that good communication is essential throughout the implementation. As part of the project plan we needed to identify how MSS would work best for us, of what functions would be undertaken locally by managers and what would be retained centrally. We agreed that our managers would use all the functionality available including Hire of New NHS Electronic Staff Record

2 Starters, Assignment Changes, Payroll Approvals and End Employment. As part of the deployment for Employee Self Service (ESS) it was agreed that full functionality would be utilised including Annual Leave. A Programme Group was responsible for delivering the project, and initially to ensure that we had a successful implementation we ran a small pilot over a specified period of time.. Programme Group The Programme Group s membership included the original Steering Group plus managers from the departments that had been identified for the pilot. A variety of different groups of staff were chosen to be part of the pilot as it was thought this would be a good test for the system. The teams selected included Sexual Health which incorporated staff working within the Trust but employed by other organisations, the 0-19 teams based in the Cheshire East sites some 40 miles from the Trust headquarters, Phlebotomy, Specialist Nursing teams and the Corporate Teams which include HR, I.T, and Finance. We worked closely with our Communications and Engagement Team and developed a presentation that outlined the benefits of using Self Service that was delivered to each Head of Service. It was then cascaded across their teams and every Team Leader was asked to confirm that it had been shared with their teams. This proved to be extremely helpful when holding the initial discussions with the Team Leaders as they were already aware of what the project would entail and the benefits of the new system. The pilot ran for three months and at monthly meetings managers were encouraged to provide feedback - both good and bad about the pilot and how they had found using MSS. We also ran an on-line survey to capture feedback. The results from the on-line survey were used as part of the analysis to determine if full roll out should be undertaken across the rest of the organisation. The views and experiences of our managers were crucial. Helen Lundy, Deputy Divisional Manager said: Being able to get new starters onto the system before they start work, and without having to fill in ESR forms, is a great advantage! All the information goes through to payroll so we know they will be paid for their first shifts even if this is at the end of the month Following completion of the pilot the Education and Workforce Committee were presented with a report concluding the pilot was successful and recommending a full roll out across the organisation. Roll-out commenced one division at a time and full roll-out was completed at the end of August. This was one month later than had originally been anticipated at the start of the project in April NHS Electronic Staff Record

3 Implementation Approach Ashley Zepeda, Workforce Information and Systems Analyst who led the delivery of the project, told us; It was really important that we undertook a thorough evaluation of the pilot and ensured that we captured all the lessons learnt. We could then utilise this to have a systematic approach to our implementation. Every Department received the same approach to implementation starting with the presentation to Divisional Managers explaining the changes, the benefits and why we were rolling out MSS and ESS. Meeting with our managers was particularly important as this meant the correct hierarchy could be set up and ensured the right people were in the right team. Once managers and supervisors had been identified the training could then begin. Ashley delivered the training which was located in the managers work base and used Employee Self Service, highlighting all the information that was being held for the employee and what could be changed via Self Service. Once the managers had gone live they could begin undertaking transactions. To help them gain confidence they had additional support from Ashley who in the early days and weeks talked them through making the change/s they needed to make. This process was repeated as many times as the manager felt it was necessary. Guidance was developed and was also sent to managers or was available for them to download from the intranet; however the key message to them was that telephone support was available and that they should make use of this until they felt confident to work autonomously. We felt this approach would work for best for us because a lot of pay affecting changes are not completed that often and so making the changes themselves would help build knowledge, confidence and good practice. Although there was a concern that this hand-held approach could be too time consuming and unsustainable, it proved to be extremely effective and has led to managers becoming self-sufficient in a relatively short time. Reaction MSS has now been successfully deployed to the entire organisation with 240 managers and supervisors now having access, having received face-to-face training and telephone support. Appraisals have been recorded in ESR for the first time this year which has enabled the Leadership Group to analyse the data for succession planning and we are now looking at our plans to maximise our usage of ESR via the Portal and all the new functionality that has been made available The reaction from managers and employees to the implementation has been very positive. Managers like the fact that they have all the information for their employees in once place and it is easy to access. They also like the fact that when they make pay affecting changes they go directly into ESR and have eliminated paperwork. NHS Electronic Staff Record

4 Anne Cartwright, Adult & Community Service Manager said: There are so many advantages to using the system. I can check where staff are up to with their mandatory training, I can see who is on leave and what the sickness levels are in each team. I also have the contact details of all the staff in my hierarchy without having to go through the team leader. We have a number of staff on internal rotation and it is very easy to move them from one team and supervisor to another. Changes to hours for flexible working arrangements can also be done easily through the system. We have also carried out a big piece of work to remove staff from the bank who have not worked for us for some time. Doing this through MSS has been much quicker and easier than completing the ESR forms. The notifications are very useful. It really does help to know weeks in advance when fixed term contracts are coming to an end or when a professional registration is due to lapse. Employees have also welcomed the fact that they have access to their own information such as compliance, annual leave, Total Reward Statements and payslips all in one place and available via the internet as well. One employee told us: I think it is useful to be able to see payslips online before payday and I also find it to be an easier way to request annual leave. The adoption of Self Service has had positive impact on the HR process in our organisation, as the wider HR team have changed from inputting data from ESR forms to approving changes made by the managers. Michelle Derbyshire, HR Officer said: Processing transactions through MSS is much quicker than using ESR forms. There is less chance of managers forgetting to include information and if they are encouraged to use the comments box with every transaction all the necessary information is captured. NHS Electronic Staff Record

5 The Trust has been audited by Mersey Internal Audit who confirmed that they were happy with the changes in utilising Manager and Employee Self Service. Lessons Learnt HRD support vital for successful project. Prepare and plan for roll out. Ensure all stakeholders are involved as part of project. Good communications and clear message of what you want to achieve. Crucial for IT colleagues to be engaged and supportive. Meet with managers and provide on-site training and continued support. Don t underestimate the amount of time to get annual leave correct. For More Information For further information please contact Ashley Zepeda ashley.zepeda1@nhs.net NHS Electronic Staff Record

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