West Midlands - The Self-Service Reporting Revolution

The Self-Service Reporting Revolution

Authors: Sebastian Smith – Cox (Workforce Planning & Intelligence Lead) Trust: WHT

Traditionally performance management teams have circulated reports, via email, using static spreadsheets. This provides information at a point in time but often leaves decision-makers with more questions than answers. Typically, the solution to these questions is to circulate yet more spreadsheets, and thus a cycle of decision-maker disempowerment perpetuates.

May 2022

We formed a Workforce Intelligence service with the core objective of providing “first-class intelligence to support first-class decision making”. To deliver that ethos, we set out to develop, refine, and then revolutionalise workforce intelligence infrastructure; centring new ways of working around the support of timely and focussed decisionmaking processes.

Autumn 2021 represented the first major milestone in Walsall Healthcare’s strategy to put control of workforce intelligence back into the hands of colleagues. The Business Intelligence platform, within the Electronic Staff Records (ESR) system, was leveraged to roll out selfservice workforce performance dashboards across the organisation.

The dashboards allow users to access live workforce performance intelligence, at division, care group and departmental levels. No longer are managers beholding to a centralised reporting calendar, instead, they now have the means to access dynamic intelligence 24/7.

Some of the greatest benefactors of this innovation were clinical & safeguarding leaders, who during times of high pressure when patient-focussed time should be the priority, need quick access to bespoke dashboards, but also the flexibility to deep dive into areas of concern when capacity allows.

May 2022

To ensure a positive user experience, Workforce Intelligence colleagues held a consultation and pilot period before the Trust-wide rollout. This ensured that the concerns and challenges of all colleagues could be taken on board. The result was a diverse suite of dashboards and user support packages built around decision-makers.

There have been 4 major benefits to the rollout of self-service reporting. Firstly, by providing colleagues with the means to own intelligence, they feel empowered to move beyond the question of “what is performance like” and begin partnering with analysts to bottom out “why is performance the way it is, and what can be done to change it”.

Secondly, 24/7 access to live intelligence has helped to improve monitoring. This is best evidenced by the 5% increase in training compliance has increased since roll-out and the 6% hike in annual appraisal compliance during the same period.

May 2022

Thirdly, as the first organisation nationally to achieve Trust-wide selfservice reporting via ESR, the reputation of the team has been enhanced; providing credibility to the advice and recommendations offered by analysts.

And fourth, by moving away from a traditional ‘reporting factory’ model, the Workforce Intelligence team has become a decision support unit, rather than a centralised resource.

The team continue working with colleagues to ensure the dashboards remain fit for purpose and encourage leaders to put workforce intelligence at the centre of key decision making. The next phase of our service development will involve providing decision-makers with predictive modelling, so they can even more agile and proactive. It’s a challenge we look forward to and a journey we will take alongside our partners.