The challenge
Joined up Care Derbyshire (JUCD), the Integrated Care System (ICS) for Derbyshire, had 11 teams of Business Intelligence (BI) professionals spread across the organisations that formed part of the ICS.
JUCD wished to develop a hybrid BI function to enable public health management approaches to analytics and planning. However, each BI team largely worked in silo; naturally focusing on the organisation it was part of and with little or no capacity to support system working.
NECS was commissioned in January 2022 to draft a workforce development plan, engaging both the workforce and its leadership to start a transformative journey. A high level ‘PID on a page’ (project initiation document) was also requested for each of the workstreams in the plan.
Our response
Our approach followed six key steps:
- Agree objectives: We agreed objectives with JUCD’s senior leadership team which were informed by organisational science from Jay Galbraith’s STAR model
- Agree gaps from objectives: We undertook stakeholder discussions with the senior leadership senior leadership group and Workshop 1 (a stakeholder event where the full workforce was invited to participate)
- Identify aspirations: This was a key step from Workshop 1 where the participants identified aspirations which could be quickly achieved to move towards the objectives. This was then themed and discussed in Workshop 2, a second mass participation event
- Develop plans to achieve these aspirations: In the Workshop 2 breakout sessions, we identified what projects could take place to reach these aspirations
- Develop workstreams: Based around the aspirational themes and the types of projects that were suggested and agreed in the BI leadership group (Leadership Workshop 1)
- Initiate the workstream: A PID on a page of each workstream was developed, with a sponsor, a leader and appropriate governance to ensure the momentum was sustained after the workforce plan (Leadership Workshop 2).
Outcomes
The support provided four main benefits:
- Workforce plan: Based on the mass participation events and key stakeholder engagement activities, a workforce development plan was drafted and agreed by JUCD and its BI leadership team.
- Engagement improvements: Shifting from a base of very little knowledge, engagement events reached over 80 BI professionals across the workforce. Each person had the opportunity to contribute towards the workforce development plan.
- Clarity of direction: The developed workstreams had clearly articulated goals and ambitions in the form of a PID on a page. It included projects to develop, key performance indicators and key outcomes. Each workstream PID had a leader and sponsor and was overseen by the BI leadership group going forwards.
- Alignment of purpose: Over the course of the assignment, the BI leadership group shifted their stance to become increasingly aligned and supportive of the emergent workstreams. They took leadership roles in ensuring the success of the programme, selling its benefits to each of their teams.
“The support NECS provided helped to build real momentum for our workforce development programme. They energised our staff and laid the foundations for our BI leadership to maximise the potential benefits from our workforce programme. I look forward to working with NECS again.”