We asked for feedback on the quality and value of the current process for conducting KSF Personal Development Planning Reviews (PDPRs) and the recording of Personal Development Plans (PDPs) on eKSF.
You told us that we needed to ‘do something different’ and work has been taking place to do just that. A small working group is busy developing a ‘simpler’ and ‘more meaningful’ process and we will be piloting this soon. We have called this Development Matters.
What is ‘Development Matters’?
Your development in NHS Forth Valley does matter – to you, your colleagues, your team and your service users, so we want all staff to participate in regular Personal Development conversations and record their development needs on eKSF.
How does this relate to me?
Development Matters links to the Everyone Matters: 2020 Workforce Vision and Implementation Plan. The Staff Governance Standard was created to ensure that all NHS Boards across Scotland can demonstrate that staff are being “appropriately trained and developed” and to ensure that all members of staff:
- keep themselves up to date with developments relevant to their job
- commit to continuous personal and professional development
- adhere to the standards set by their regulatory bodies
- actively participate in discussions on issues that affect them either directly or via their trade union/professional organisation
The best way of doing this is through having regular meaningful meetings set up between individual staff members (Reviewee) and their Line Manager/Team Leader (Reviewer) to have a Development Matters Conversation which will be followed up with a recorded eKSF Personal Development Plan.
Will this replace KSF and eKSF?
We will still be using the KSF Core Dimensions as the basis of a Development Matters conversation, but we know from your feedback this needs to be different. We will soon to be piloting a new simpler, quality based approach which aims to improve on what’s happening, make the process meaningful for both parties and lead to improvements for the Reviewee, their team and the service they deliver.
Next Steps
We will be identifying a number of pilot teams/areas where we can assess whether or not the ‘new look and feel’ of Development Matters is easy to understand, and, following an evaluation of this work, we will begin the roll out across the organisation.
Action Plan Summary
Short term outcomes Spring 2015 include:
- Process simplified by focusing on Core Dimensions
- Focus will be on having a short ‘quality’ conversation – past/present/future successes and aspirations
- Evidence requirements to be minimal but meaningful
- Templates to record outcomes and top 3 actions for coming year
- eKSF recording to be simplified and completed as a separate task
- Pilots to be carried out in agreed teams
- Training to be targeted at all Reviewers ( to cover ‘soft-skills’ and IT recording process)
- Intranet pages and other communication channels used to provide up to date information
Longer term outcomes from Spring 2015 include:
- Mainstreaming ongoing training for Reviewers
- Including a module in mandatory Induction online training
- Creating simple online ‘How to …’ Checklists for Reviewers/Reviewees
- Creating generic basic Personal Development Plans for staff groups which will be further populated locally as agreed during PDPR conversations
- Creating realistic guidance in relation to ratio of Reviewees per Reviewer
For more information in the first instance please contact:
- Morag McLaren: morag.mclaren@nhs.net, 01786 457280
- Anne Benton: anne.benton@nhs.net, 01324 567384
Watch out for details on the new Development Matters section of the Staff Intranet which will be live very soon.
Case Study
You asked us “what’s the point of annual development reviews?” and we asked a member of staff to tell us what they thought.
Meet Laura Hotchkies, Laura started work in NHS Forth Valley as a Domestic Assistant while completing a HND in Administration and Information Management at Falkirk College and went on to study a BA in Management at Heriot Watt University.
Laura became part of the Agenda for Change Team in March 2006 as a Project Administrator and, due to having the opportunity to shadow and learn from other members of the team, she was given the opportunity to become more involved in promoting KSF and in particular helping to deliver Forth Valley wide training on e-KSF, which to date has trained approx 2500 staff.
Laura is a keen advocate of ongoing personal development and recently successfully completed an Accredited Programme called Planning and Delivering Learning Sessions to Groups at SVQ level 6.
Laura will put all of this new learning into practice by playing a lead role in developing and delivering a training programme for Development Matters Reviewers – watch out for her coming to a place near you soon!
