Concerns were raised at a recent HSE internal meeting about the “low” rate of staff who participated in the Executive’s performance achievement process during the first half of this year.
The matter was discussed at the September meeting of the HSE performance committee.
At the meeting, the committee reviewed a paper from Chief People Officer Ms Anne Marie Hoey, which outlined the performance achievement process implemented in the HSE since December 2018.
According to the minutes, committee members noted the “low response rate” in the first two quarters of this year, with only “4.2 per cent of staff members engaged in initial performance achievement meetings”.
They also observed that less than half (47 per cent) of respondents to a recent staff survey reported having regular performance and achievement reviews with their line manager.
The minutes record that the committee later “discussed the importance of embedding a performance management culture in the HSE”.
A HSE spokesperson told the Medical Independent (MI) that the performance achievement process is an agreed framework that allows staff and line managers to meet, reflect on the staff member’s role, and agree a plan for the coming 12 months.
“It is concerned with empowering staff to improve their skills and capabilities within their role, assisting them to make a positive contribution to the achievement of their responsibilities.”
Responding to the “low response rate” of 4.2 per cent, the spokesperson said the performance achievement process is intended to take place over a 12-month cycle.
“However, not all managers conduct their initial meetings in the first half of the year,” the spokesperson told MI.
“This can be due to various reasons, such as onboarding and service needs. The national reporting process, which tracks engagement with the process, only requests information on the initial meeting that took place.
“There may be a number of managers within the system that are yet to conduct an initial meeting and they may report on this in either quarter 3 or quarter 4.”
Regarding the staff survey finding that 47 per cent of respondents reported having regular performance and achievement reviews with their line manager, the spokesperson said managers routinely engage with staff on performance, training, development, career goals, and service priorities.
“Staff may have responded to the survey in relation to their overall engagement with their line manager on those various areas, even though it may not have been through the formal performance achievement process.”
In a circular to HSE management on 23 December 2020, Ms Hoey stated that a key performance indicator (KPI) had been added to the HSE dataset which required demonstration that a minimum of 70 per cent of staff have “completed” performance achievement meetings annually.
Since early 2021, the KPI data has been collected and collated by local human resources (HR) departments and reported to the national HR division on a quarterly basis.
A national implementation steering group was established to oversee implementation throughout the HSE.
National Directors, chief officers, chief executives, and equivalent managers are responsible for ensuring that the performance achievement of staff takes place in their areas of responsibility.
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