Outsourcing KSF / e-KSF implementation can help to support organisations where there isn't internal capacity or skills or can help to effectively kick start a stalled implementation.

Implementing the KSF

KSF / e-KSF Outsourced Administration

A number of organisations have successfully outsourced their KSF / e-KSF administration to us, to take advantage of our expert and flexible resources. The skill set required to support the implementation of the KSF / e-KSF varies throughout the implementation so this outsourcing is either done as part of a short, medium or long term strategy depending on the constraints on the organisation and objectives they are looking to fulfil.

The three key areas of any KSF / e-KSF Outsourced Administration contract are:

1) Survey of current awareness of, use of and competence/confidence in KSF and e-KSF.

2) Administration support and co-ordination of your e-KSF/KSF implementation.

3) Training and facilitation support for e-KSF and KSF.

Step 1: Survey of awareness of, use of and competence/confidence in KSF / e-KSF

An important first step when designing a training, awareness and project management plan for the implementation of KSF and e-KSF is an understanding of where the organisation is at the moment. What is the current level of awareness of the KSF amongst managers and staff? How positive do they feel about the change? What current level of skill do the managers, in particular, have to conduct KSF reviews and use e-KSF? We recommend a web based survey to collect this feedback from employees. Web surveys can be set up and analysed rapidly, to give information to inform KSF and e-KSF planning, and can themselves be used as  an engagement tool by raising awareness of the importance of the KSF. Click here for an example of the sort of survey we run. Of course, we’d expect to design the specific questions and text with you, to provide a bespoke service here.

Step 2: Administration Support and Co-ordination of your KSF/e-KSF Implementation

The aim of this support is to administer the e-KSF to ensure that the system can be used for the production and management of KSF Post Outlines, the assignment of outlines to staff, the recording of KSF reviews and PDPs, and appropriate reporting using the e-KSF reports pages.

Our aim is to work with you over a period of an agreed time to set up and embed e-KSF to a state where a Trust-employed administrator could continue to run the system with a minimum effort. This would normally be a period of four months but is flexible according to an organisations needs. The support offered would be a combination of hands-on administration, support for users via email and on-site meetings and training for any internal administrators.

Click here for a list of the services that we would typically perform as part of an administration and support contract. The actual amount of time required will depend on a number of variables – number of staff accessing e-KSF, the number of post outlines created, the accuracy and completeness of data in ESR to name just three, so we would look to review this on a regular basis with each organisation.

Step 3: Training and Facilitation Support for the KSF / e-KSF

We have a team of expert trainers and facilitators, who can provide a range of training interventions for organisations. We summarise this in our “KSF in a box” methodology, which could comprise any or all of the following:

• Training for managers in how to create KSF post outlines. These half-day sessions would include a short introduction to KSF, an explanation of the content of a KSF post outline, and then training on how to use e-KSF to create an outline. If managers have outlines already completed on paper or in Word documents, then alternatively they could bring these along and the session would be a hands-on use of e-KSF, allowing managers to leave with their outline input into the system.
• Training for managers and reviewers in the process and principles of a KSF review, and how to record that review on e-KSF. These sessions would also last half a day.

We would need to work with you to calculate the exact scope a training programme, and also use the outputs of the web survey.

As an alternative, we could train your internal trainers or champions, so that they could cascade the e-KSF and KSF training themselves. This train-the-trainer model ensures that knowledge is transferred from Think to the organisation.

Additional Implementation Services

If required, we can also provide you with support in the following:

• Provision of an outsourced project management office, which would take on any or all aspects of implementing the KSF and e-KSF including creation of a project plan, engagement of stakeholders and management and reporting of the project against plan.
• Creation and/or implementation of an internal communications programme to raise awareness of the importance and value of KSF and e-KSF.
  
• Support for KSF / e-KSF “drop in” clinics on site, to support people face to face with their queries about KSF or e-KSF. We recommend that a programme of drop-in clinics runs alongside the organised training sessions.
  
• Provision of our “AT-Learning” learning management system, built specifically for NHS organisations and linking into the e-KSF PDP for an end-to-end personal development solution.
• Learning and development process workshops – to align and streamline Learning and Development processes to ensure they support organisational goals and make best use of available technology.

If you are interested in outsourcing any aspect of your KSF / e-KSF implementation project please contact us.