We can provide you with rapid headline data, as well as detailed commentary and statistical analysis about how your organisation is progressing with the implementation of the KSF. Results of the pulse survey can be used to inform future project planning and resource requirements.

Implementing the KSF

Pulse Surveys

We are able to provide you with rapid, cost effective “pulse surveys” for you to assess the roll-out of the KSF and e-KSF in your organisation.

You can use our diagnostic surveys:

• If you’re at an early stage of KSF or e-KSF roll-out, to check that you have the organisational structures, capabilities and culture in place to support the Knowledge and Skills Framework.
• If you’re having trouble implementing the KSF or e-KSF, we can help you to uncover barriers and help you to form a recovery plan.
• If you’ve full implemented KSF and e-KSF, a pulse survey can be used as a quick “health check” to check that the KSF is continuing to make a positive difference to your organisation, and ensure there are no surprises at national staff survey time!
• As a part of a review of HR or Learning & Development services, to identify specific areas of improvement based on internal customer feedback.
• If you’re working at an SHA, you can use these surveys with organisations in your area to understand more about KSF rollout and how the SHA can best support the process.

Optionally, we can also include open-ended questions (which can be interpreted by us using discourse analysis techniques) to identify the “nuggets” of good practice, and put the standard questions and responses into context. Open ended questions tell you the “why “as well as the “what” – why do our staff feel that they’re not getting enough time to develop, for example? What suggestions do they have for improving the situation?

We can also combine pulse survey data with data from e-KSF (both about KSF progress, and current knowledge and skills) to give you a holistic picture of staff development in your organisation.

Additional Benefits of the Think Associates pulse survey approach

Get “under the skin” of the annual NHS staff survey – your opportunity to ask more detailed questions, and involve every employee (not just a sample).

A trusted supplier – Think Associates already run web based surveys for NHS Employers to gather KSF data, and check the progress of the KSF programme nationwide. As providers of the e-KSF system, we also have a strong track record in recording and maintaining data.

No IT headaches – we handle all of the survey software and databases –all you need is internet access.

Easy to deploy - Our surveys are web-based, so you can deploy them by circulating a web link or posting the address on your intranet. The surveys are easy to complete, and quick to analyse (we can provide paper or email questionnaires if required, too, for staff who don’t have access to a computer).

Rapid results – We can usually deploy our standard survey within a few days of your request, gather data over a 2-4 week period, and give you a high level report 2 weeks after that. This means that the issues the survey identifies are “current” and your action plan can be highly responsive.

Standardised question lists allow us to build up a benchmark data set, and allows you to compare yourself with other organisations. We can add additional questions to focus on your specific issues, too.

Confidentiality – individual responses are confidential, and these surveys are run by an independent company (Think Associates Ltd). Individual organisational results are not passed back to Department of Health or NHS Employers

A cost-effective approach – because we have a standardised, streamlined process we are able to run pulse surveys for as little as £3 per employee in your organisation.

Our follow-up activities

We’ve found that providing a rapid survey report is only a part of the battle for organisations wanting to improve. We can work with you to interpret the results, create an action plan, communicate with staff and review future progress.

For more information about our pulse surveys, please contact us.