Since we previously talked about Totara as a solution for performance appraisal in the NHS, we’ve presented the solution to more NHS organisations and have received a positive and enthusiastic response to the functionality and flexibility that it can offer, through the ability to rapidly customise and configure this Open Source alternative to the e-KSF and ESR.

We are pleased to announce that we are already working with a number of NHS organisations on the implementation of Totara across their organisation, as not only a viable enterprise wide solution for performance appraisal but also to enhance their existing learning management processes and to help staff gather evidence for CPD Portfolios. 

In the next few months we will be looking to share their implementation experiences and what results they have achieved, however in the interim we wanted to outline the rationale behind organisations deciding to implement this Open Source solution and to highlight the key features that will be of interest to all NHS organisations.

“We are looking forward to implementing Totara as our performance appraisal, learning management and evidence gathering tool and reaping the benefits across our organisation.” Learning Technologies Manager, East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust

Primarily, organisations that have chosen to implement Totara are looking for a flexible and ‘light- touch’ solution for performance appraisal. However in addition organisations have also been looking to:

• Increase staff involvement in the appraisal process and enable self-service appraisal across the organisation.
• Reduce the time spent on systems completing and managing the performance appraisal process.
• Allow for the use of multiple national and local competency frameworks.
• Implement a web based solution that is accessible from anywhere, including mobile devices.
• Implement an integrated system for appraisal, learning management and e-learning on a single platform.
• Meet reporting needs for NHSLA, CQC, and CQUINS audits.
• Respond to financial budgetary constraints by looking for alternative means of delivering training and development by increasing the flexibility around e-learning to include mobile e-learning and widening access to both staff and patients. 

“After completing a systems options appraisal, we decided that Totara offered a more user-friendly system that will enable staff to complete appraisals online, reducing the time spent and the cost to the organisation, of reviewers and reviewees completing the appraisal process. We believe the system will also be invaluable for staff completing NVQs and other projects that require managers to view evidence of completing elements of work.” Learning Technologies Manager, East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust

If you would like to know more about the main features that make Totara attractive for competency based performance appraisal in the NHS please contact us.

Totara helps to overcome barriers to implementing an organisation wide Learning Management System

Today, more than ever, the achievement of your organisational objectives is dependent upon the knowledge, skills and experience of your workforce. In addition to its capability as a performance appraisal solution, Totara provides an effective, functionally rich, custom distribution of Moodle, the world’s most popular learning platform, designed specifically to meet the requirements of workplace learning which can be implemented quickly and at a fraction of the cost of proprietary solutions. It enables you to deliver learning effectively though individual learning plans which reflect your employees’ roles, training needs and objectives.

Cost, customisation and IT support are the top three barriers to successful implementation of learning management systems, as judged by e-Learning Guild members in a recent study. So how does Totara break through these barriers?

1. Lower Cost Through Open Source – Totara achieves a significantly lower cost of ownership because there are no per user proprietary license fees.
2. Customised, Your way – Totara has a great range of features ‘out of the box’, however the ability to customise the system to meet your local requirements is central to the Open Source model and Totara has been designed to be highly flexible.
3. Global Support: Peace of Mind – Totara is available for a small annual subscription fee which ensures you have the latest security releases, patch updates, fully tested new feature releases and error correction when required. You can procure the best value, fully featured Open Source LMS, secure in the knowledge that it is fully maintained and supported. Furthermore the global network of Totara partners provides a choice of vendors and vendor neutrality. Thus you can switch vendor without switching platform.

Using our understanding of the NHS learning processes and competency appraisal frameworks we have created a customised instance of Totara for the NHS that includes:

• A standard configuration for rapid implementation, which you can then flex to your specific requirements
• Automated scripts to import NHS staff data and hierarchies from a range of sources.
• Key reports for NHS data requirements.
• Additional flexibility to manage target audience complexity in the NHS.

Click here to read our fact sheet summarising the key features and benefits that Totara can offer NHS organisations looking to more effectively manage their learning and development processes.

For more information on Totara and a no-obligation demonstration, please speak to your Regional Account Manager or email info@think-associates.co.uk.

But the “Open movement” is actually about much more than just open licences to software. The UK Government is currently consulting on an “Open Standards” approach to  public sector provision and infrastructure. The idea here is that rather than pre-determining  particular proprietary supplier approaches, public sector organisations work out standard ways of doing things, and standard ways of working together, then find technology partners who can work to these standards.

It’s a much more agile and cost-effective way of doing things. There is a good primer to this topic, written by our friends at Methods Consulting, here.

In the NHS context, think about how great it would be if learner records could truly be transferred between organisations even if they are using different technology systems, or if medics’ e-portfolio records held by Royal Colleges could be transferred, in part, to revalidation systems for Responsible Officer review?

The good news is that many of these standards exist already! We’re already working with systems that use LEAP2A (for general e-portfolio) and investigating MIPS (for medical portfolio standards).

Please talk to us if you’d like to know more about how we can help you stitch together HR, talent and learning systems within your organisation, or across organisations.

….the internet comes along and it’s mysterious and suddenly we need an email strategy and a social media strategy and a web strategy and a mobile strategy.

No, we don’t. It’s still people. We still have one and only one thing that matters, and it’s people.

This reminds me of debates that we have as learning professionals – everyone seems to want an “e-learning strategy” or a “social learning strategy” and I think that risks missing the point. The rush to use more packaged e-learning products in complicated learning management systems, for example, risks forgetting that the aim is to actually embed knowledge, skills and behaviour, not to tick as many “completed e-learning package” boxes as possible.

We need a learning and development strategy, or perhaps a talent management strategy, and then we need to work out how technology supports, enables and extends this strategy. And that’s technology in the widest sense including, yes, social learning, rapid an mobile learning, knowledge management, e-assessment and even, where appropriate, those packages off the shelf e-learning products!

You can read more about our thoughts on the use of technology in learning, here.

We’d like to take this opportunity to thank you for your engagement and involvement with the e-KSF and the Knowledge and Skills Framework over the last few years. It’s great to have got to know so many expert and passionate people who really care about making the NHS a better place to work.

Our e-KSF work may have ended, and we know that less is said around the NHS about the KSF these days, but it seems to us that many of the challenges remain the same:

• How to sensibly set targets for the knowledge and skills that staff need to do their jobs.
• How to help people define their learning needs, and collate these to create organisational plans.
• How to provide a structure for productive appraisal/development discussions, and how to record these.
• How to make the best use of technology to support learning, at a time when training budgets are under pressure.
• Ultimately, how to be sure that NHS staff are safe and competent to deliver great patient care.

Since 2004, we’ve learned a huge amount about how technology can play an appropriate part in the management and development of staff, and I’d like to reassure you that we are still here, and we are still absolutely focused on talent management technologies in the NHS. Our expert team hasn’t changed, and you can still contact us and maintain your existing relationships with us – all that’s really changed is that we now have a wider range of technology that can help! In particular, ask us about:

• How were helping a major London Trust to optimise their use of ESR and OLM, to track training in line with staff group and competency needs.
• Our work using Microsoft SharePoint (which is licence-free to the NHS) to streamline appraisal processes, including the straightforward distribution of Trust’s specific appraisal forms to managers desktops without asking them to learn new systems.
• How we are implementing Totara, a major new Open Source learning and performance system, along with an e-portfolio system called Mahara, to transform CPD and learning processes at a growing number of NHS organisations.

“The price of doing the same old thing is far higher than the price of change.” (B. Clinton).

We like to think that we know more than most about how technology can help the NHS, and we’re still passionate about helping you to continue making a difference. If you’re committed, like us, to maintaining the NHS as a great organisation please do get in touch for an informal discussion, or take a look at around our new website at http://www.think-associates.co.uk.

We regularly update our website with things that are relevant to HR and L&D professionals so to make sure you don’t miss any of our published articles, why not sign up for our RSS feed by adding http://www.think-associates.co.uk/feed/ to Outlook or your RSS reader, or follow what we’re talking about on Twitter at http://twitter.com/Think_Associate.

Best wishes,

Tim Newham
Managing Director, Think Associates

Our Regional Account Management Team

East Midlands, London, Scotland & Northern Ireland
Shaun Wilde
shaun@think-associates.co.uk
+44 (0)7966 164 558

North East, North West, West Midlands, Yorkshire and the Humber & Wales
Richard Bradbury
richard@think-associates.co.uk
+44 (0)7803 125 075

East of England, South East Coast, South Central & South West
Matt Mundey
matt@think-associates.co.uk
+44 (0)7717 445 129

Rob Winson
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All Other Enquiries
info@think-associates.co.uk
+44 (0)117 644 5007

There are just 31 working days until the national contract for the e-KSF comes to an end on the 31^stMarch 2012. For organisations not entering into local contracts with Radcliffe Solutions for the ongoing use of the e-KSF, we need to stop storing and processing organisation’s data before that date in order for us to fulfil our supplier responsibilities under the Data Protection Act.

Over the last couple of months we have been writing about a number of different options that we think NHS organisations should consider for recording performance appraisal in light of the national contract coming to an end. We have also been having detailed discussions with over 200 NHS organisations on what their plans are moving forwards. We would like to take this opportunity to summarise these discussions and provide you with links to all of the articles in our series in case you have missed any.

If you would like us to explain in more detail how these options may fit your organisation, or help you with the design and implementation of new systems, please do contact us for an informal, no-obligation discussion.

The Minimalist Approach

We’re still seeing a “minimalist” approach to recording performance appraisal and development review outcomes at the moment, with organisations looking to simplify their whole appraisal process and make it easier for managers and staff to have constructive discussions regarding performance and capture only core information centrally for critical reporting needs.

For organisations looking at adopting a minimalist approach to performance appraisal we would encourage you to look at what information managers and staff need prior to an appraisal and what they need to produce as a result of an appraisal. Of the information they need to produce as a result of their appraisal, how much needs to be formally written down and how much needs to be recorded in a centralised system?

We would also encourage organisations to consider how their performance appraisal processes fit within their wider workforce development strategies. Since one of the outputs of a good appraisal discussion is a Personal Development Plan – how does your appraisal process link with your learning and development provision?

We believe the key aspect of adopting a minimalist approach is that the process organisations adopt is effective to start with, before looking at which system to deploy.

Introducing a simple KSF Post Outline database

For organisations who may not want the full functionality that the e-KSF can offer but want to be able to reference their KSF Post Outlines (and continue to evolve these over time) one of our partners has developed a robust database using Microsoft Access^TM to enable you to easily manage ALL elements of your existing KSF Post Outlines centrally within your organisation, in the absence of the e-KSF. You will be able to import all Post Outline data that has been exported via the e-KSF, so none of your data will be lost if you decide not to use the e-KSF in the future.

If you would like more information on this solution please click here to access the product fact sheet. Or alternatively our Regional Account Management team are familiar with this cost effective solution and can provide you with an online demonstration or show you the full extent of the functionality at a meeting.

A Focus on ESR and Oracle

The benefits of ESR as a performance appraisal system are well known, it is strongly supported by the Department of Health, part of an integrated suite of HR tools, and is licence free to organisations. However, we think that the main considerations around ESR are less technical/functionality focused, and more to do with local and national strategy.

Since the publication of our first article on ESR, the pilot of the Performance Management Plan (PMP) functionality being developed for ESR has now been completed and findings are being reviewed by the Department of Health.

Our overall impression of the PMP functionality is that it is feature-rich, but complex; the potential flexibility and configurability offered by the functionality needs to be balanced against the administrative effort required to create and manage the Plans and Templates. Our other findings are:

• The system is capable of simultaneously managing multiple appraisal processes and approaches (using a combination of Objective and Appraisal Templates within separate Performance Management Plans, targeted at different staff populations), but our view is that the system’s current usability/navigation issues make these tasks quite complicated.
• Some advanced Talent Management practice is possible (e.g. suitability matching by role/competency); but this requires significant amounts of PMP data to be present in the system before it becomes practically useful.
• The functionality seems to have been designed with a highly structured, performance-related pay, corporate context in mind, and therefore does not readily fit with the traditional public sector model of developmental review and CPD recording; however, a growing emphasis on performance management and workforce efficiency/productivity could make elements of this approach increasingly relevant to NHS staff groups.
• The User Guides are fairly comprehensive, but the range of possible approaches and applications of the functionality make careful project/outcome planning and robust rollout methodology a necessity.

If organisations require any detailed advice on the future of ESR we recommend you discuss this with the national ESR team themselves.

A Focus on the Totara Open Source Solution

Totara is a custom distribution of Moodle, which adds ‘corporate functionality’ including department structures, positions/work structures, competency management, objective setting and powerful reporting. This makes it a viable enterprise wide solution for NHS organisations. Totara is generally used to enhance learning processes, but also works well as a performance management system.

Since writing our article on the use of the Totara Open Source solution for recording performance appraisal we have become Silver Partners of Totara. This means that we are now even better able to run effective end-to-end deployments within organisations of this leading learning platform. In addition our Partnership status gives us more influence (on behalf of our clients) on the Totara development roadmap.

We like Totara because it provides all the benefits of an enterprise-wide, integrated learning and performance system but at a low cost compared with commercial tools. It’s also highly customisable and flexible, which means that it can be implemented to support your existing best-practice processes and forms. We think that Totara will have an increasing importance in this market – the Managing Director of Totara, Richard Wyles, has deep experience of learning systems in healthcare (in New Zealand) and is very focused on continuing to provide systems that improve healthcare effectiveness

A Focus on Microsoft SharePoint and InfoPath

The NHS still has free licences to use a couple of very powerful Microsoft tools – SharePoint (which can be used to automate workflows and store  and share wide ranges of information) and InfoPath (which automates data collection through customised electronic forms, which can be delivered to employee desktops).

We are supporting a number of NHS organisations to use SharePoint to support appraisal processes. Everyone we’ve spoken to has been very impressed by its capability and flexibility. These Microsoft tools can be used to quickly and cost effectively gather and report on appraisal and development information, through the creation of forms that can be used by specific departments or across an entire organisation. More sophisticated forms can also utlise workflow sequences.

If you are looking to automate data collection, we could help you to design forms in Microsoft InfoPath and workflows in SharePoint and deploy this locally. This could involve the following:

• A single form with configured data fields, accessible on your intranet through SharePoint and/or directly from Microsoft Outlook, with branding and instructions that match your appraisal process.
• Multiple forms, with different instructions and information for different staff groups, with workflow to allow manager sign-offs.
• Staff can complete the appraisal form and also record training needs, without having to enter another username/password.
• Data is accessible for both managers and staff to comment and sign off.
• Once appraisals are completed they are submitted and stored for future reference.
• Central HR teams can fulfill reporting needs by running key reports.

A Focus on Mahara for Recording Performance Appraisal

We identified a need within NHS organisations for a portfolio-based approach to learning and development. Historically, portfolios may have brought to mind the “evidence mountain” of copied paperwork and written notes. Mahara is a versatile, slick and online system which gives you the ability to design your own appraisal processes and workflows within an extremely configurable, secure, Open Source framework.

We can help you to design pages based on a set of user-friendly, online templates (journals, a document library, plans, and tags), which individuals use to record, upload and classify evidence. They can then provide appropriate access to Managers, Appraisers, Peers, Mentors, Responsible Officers for validation etc. Employees control the specific information they enter into Mahara and how this is shared, and organisations control who can access the system and what types of information employees store. For example, an employee could create an e-portfolio, then share part of it with their manager as an input to ongoing appraisal; request feedback from their mentor; give access to their professional body for their CPD record for registration / revalidation, and / or share a blog with professionals in the same community of interest.

We think that Mahara can provide a good organisation-wide solution for the light touch recording of performance appraisal, along with meeting a range of emerging Medical and non-Medical CPD and revalidation purposes, to record, organise and securely share CPD and competency evidence information. In addition, due to the low cost nature of this system, we also think that it could provide an ideal solution for organisations looking for a solution for particular staff groups who are more engaged with appraisal and recording evidence for their CPD portfolios and need to have something available for use within short timescales.

________________

As explained in our letters to HR Directors earlier in the year, we’d like to take this opportunity to clarify what will happen if we do not hear from your organisation by the 29^th February 2012 regarding your ongoing use of the e-KSF. We will have to assume that you no longer wish to use the system and on the 16^th March we will lock your e-KSF accounts and write all of your organisation’s data to a CD-Rom which we will post to you using recorded delivery, before permanently deleting all your organisation’s data from our system. Our preference would be for you to contact us and arrange a structured, supported download of your data. This option gives your managers and staff time to download any personal information and the data transfer can take place over a secure web link.

Finally, if you have not yet met with your Regional Account Manager please do get in touch to arrange a no obligation meeting to discuss what solution for recording performance appraisal best fit your local needs. If you are not sure who to contact please email info@think-associates.co.uk  and we will put you in contact.

January Final Notification Letters template

Totara is a new, powerful, open source learning and e-learning management system. We have been tracking the development of the system since it was first released, and I’ve been increasingly impressed by the growing functionality of the tool itself, but even more with the quality, flexibility and vision of the people behind it.

Our partnership means that we can bring our clients the latest Totara developments, and also gives us, on your behalf, an influence on the future development roadmap. The Totara community is large, active and expert, and this allows us to bring together best of breed suppliers to provide brilliant systems implementation and support.

Our research and work with large UK organisations suggests that open source technology has a very bright future to support individual, social and organisational learning. We’ve already started recommending and implementing Totara to revitalise learning processes, and I’m looking forward to a long and successful partnership on behalf of our clients!

Mahara (meaning ‘think’ or ‘thought’ in Te Reo Māori), uses Open Source technology and is an ideal tool to support the evidence-based appraisal requirements of the NHS and wider healthcare organisations. Click here to read more about the UK governments’ encouragement of the procurement of Open Source systems.

We identified a need for a portfolio-based approach to learning and development in the NHS. Historically, portfolios may have brought to mind the “evidence mountain” of copied paperwork and written notes. Coincidentally, there is a similar perception of some NHS appraisal systems. Mahara is a versatile, online system which gives you the ability to design your own appraisal processes and workflows within an extremely configurable, secure framework.

We can help you to design pages based on a set of user-friendly, online templates (journals, a document library, plans, and tags), which individuals use to record, upload and classify evidence. They can then provide appropriate access to Managers, Appraisers, Peers, Mentors, Responsible Officers for validation etc.

Employees control the specific information they enter into Mahara and how this is shared, and organisations control who can access the system and what types of information employees store. For example, an employee could create an e-portfolio, then share part of it with their manager as an input to ongoing appraisal; request feedback from their mentor; give access to their professional body for their CPD record for registration / revalidation, and / or share a blog with professionals in the same community of interest.

Mahara is a learner-driven, organisationally-configured e-portfolio tool, where individuals can:

• Record evidence of their continuing professional development in a very flexible way; this can include documents, images, blogs, written reflections and hyperlinks).
• Create “tags” to group, sort, identify and label evidence (e.g. competencies, behaviours, activities). These can then be used show that one piece of evidence is contributing to demonstrate the achievement of multiple competencies.
• Create blogs and share these with other colleagues using the same system, creating a social learning environment.
• Combine items of evidence into pages, each page can then be shared with different audiences.
• Ask for 360 degree feedback and comments, to receive a rounded view of their evidence.
• Record CPD evidence/reflection/events in a personalised ‘journal’ format.
• Upload and export documents in a wide range of formats.

• You define who has access to items within your system:
• Give access to specific individuals inside (and outside) your organisation.
• Sharing can include the rights to view-only, or view-and-comment, on evidence.
• Specify start and end dates for access.
• Completely customisable design and on-screen text to reflect your local policies and requirements.
• System flexibility enables you to incorporate ‘Job Planning’ and the ‘GMC Good Practice Medical Competencies’ in a range of meaningful ways.
• The system can store GMC numbers and keep Doctors updated with RSS feeds from professional websites and journals.
• The software is Open-Source, so there are no licence fees to pay, ever (you only pay for hosting, support and implementation).

Mahara is based on the following infrastructure:

• A secure, hosted solution, or the option to install on your intranet.
• Confidentiality – password protected access and industry-leading technical security ensure that only authorised people see sensitive appraisal and development information.
• Mahara is Leap2A compliant, which is the emerging standard for e-portfolio systems. This means that evidence data can then be imported into other standards-compliant portfolios, minimising the need to re-type data for regulatory and professional body requirements.
• It is very configurable – in general, if you can describe a function, that function can be built in a quick, cost effective way. So, as more becomes known about revalidation requirements, and how these link to your local organisational requirements Mahara will extend with your processes.
• It interfaces with Moodle/Totara, giving your organisation a complete Open-Source solution to learning and evidence gathering if you so wish.

We can help you to:

• Create a business case for portfolio-driven learning and evidence.
• Understand how the Qualifications and Credit Framework and Quality Assured Lifelong Learning provide significant opportunities for moving from “measuring training” to “measuring achievement”.
• Configure and implement Mahara to reflect the exact needs of your organisation.
• Create a design theme so that Mahara matches your organisational branding.
• Host and maintain Mahara for you, or advise you on what resources and skills you’d need to maintain it yourself.

We think that Mahara can provide a good organisation-wide solution for the light touch recording performance appraisal, along with meeting a range of Medical and non-Medical CPD and revalidation purposes, to record, organise and securely share CPD and competency evidence information. In addition, due to the low cost nature of this system, we also think that it could provide an ideal solution for organisations looking for a solution for particular staff groups who are more engaged with appraisal and recording evidence for their CPD portfolios and need to have something available for use within short timescales.

If you would like more information or a demonstration of Mahara please contact us.

We would like to share good quality materials that we come across with our clients in order to reduce the cost associated with searching for materials and also hopefully stop duplicate materials being commissioned at greater cost to the NHS.

Pukka Films have created a great video-learning resource that we’ve come across which helps managers to understand how to act in cases of Industrial Action. The e-learning is presented as a series of dramatic scenes following a manager as he attempts to cope before, during and after an industrial dispute. The film is divided into 5 modules each with its own learning points for discussion and advice.

It highlights issues relating to behaviour, communication, support, consultation and disciplinary action. The accompanying course materials include discussion points and practical advice on how managers can deal with the stresses, conflict situations, dilemmas and confused loyalties that can arise in strike situations.

We know the NHS has a great record of partnership negotiations and constructive solutions to employee challenges. However, we were also struck by some research from YouGov (Nov 2010) which found that 1 in 5 senior HR professionals believe that trade union action is likely to affect their organisation in the coming months, but that 54% of HR professionals in the UK are working in teams where nobody has any experience of dealing with trade union action.

Our view is that the right time to undertake this sort of learning is when you might not need it, rather than when you find that you could have done with it last week! You can see a preview of the e-learning content on the Pukka films website. You can then ask for further information and I understand that preferential rates are available for NHS organisations.

When we come across additional materials we will add details to our website as a point of reference. So make sure you add our RSS feed to Outlook so that you don’t miss any articles we post or alternatively follow us on Twitter.

My main observation is that the education sector for children is massively competitive, creative, and technology-led, and that some of the underlying ideas would work very well for adult education. Important for a number of reasons, not least because today’s schoolkids are tomorrow’s employees, and from what I can see these employees are going to have very high expectations of how learning should be delivered!

For example, I talked to:

• A company that delivers “artificial intelligence” characters, who can be programmed to respond to learners with facial expressions, moods and spoken word. This would be great for softer-skills training – for example training people in child protection, using scenarios with child-like cartoon characters who respond with realistic moods – giving a level of feedback that can’t otherwise be done because it’s very hard to use “real children” in training!
• A company that provides e-learning and e-assessment “App” development tools, allowing you to design rapid e-learning and quizzes and deliver these to employees’ mobile and tablet computing devices.
• Two companies that deliver high-resolution, 3d models of the human body that could be delivered through, or used to enhance, e-learning technologies.
• A technical developer who has code to integrate Moodle (e-learning) and Sharepoint technologies, providing an integrated learning and knowledge management system and giving e-leaning systems the ability to deliver any structured organisational knowledge to the learner

…and I also spent far too much time on the “Lego for education” stand but that’s another story….

Part of our role as consultants is to research the best that other sectors have to offer, and then to bring these best practices to our clients. So expect to see and hear us talking more about these sorts of approaches when we next see you!