What we can do to support your wellbeing
Our Wellbeing Wednesday topic today is all about the information we need from you to support your wellbeing and how what we know about you, and your own personal circumstances, can help us to do this more effectively.
As an organisation, we strive to make sure that we provide the right support, and develop resources and environments that broadly reflect our workforce. How we best do this is linked to what we know about you and how you’re doing.
One of the practical ways that we can do this is by ensuring that all of the info we hold on you in ESR is up-to-date. In relation to the ongoing pandemic, there’s a range of info to be captured in addition to the usual fields relating to sickness, including whether you’re self-isolating, shielding, caring for dependants etc. and also whether you’re able to work from home or not.
Recording changes in your circumstances
In order to capture the various working arrangements in place, the initial recording of shielding, caring for dependants, etc., requires the system to first record individuals as ‘absent’, although it’s understood that those staff are not actually absent from work as such. Following this, the system can be used to record the detail of your different circumstances. To be clear, this recording does not affect your absence record and will still show that you’re working and making a valued contribution to the organisation.
Guidance on how to record any COVID-19 related absence can be found here.
What we do with this information
The information recorded on ESR enables us to demonstrate the contribution staff are making to the COVID-19 response, even when faced with the many challenges that the pandemic has created for all of us. This information also helps us when considering how best to mobilise colleagues in a rapidly changing environment to meet the new challenges of responding to the pandemic – the more we know, the better informed our decisions will be, from making the right decisions with individuals and how we can deliver the services/work needed.
The People and OD Team are provided with a Directorate breakdown of COVID-19 related absences so that they are able to offer any support that managers or staff may require.
The number of COVID-19 related absences are also reported to the Board on a regular basis via the COVID-19: Staff Absence Dashboard, so that Board members are aware of any trends and to highlight the impact that COVID-19 has had and continues to have on our staff.
We’re really grateful for your help in keeping this information accurate so we can target support where it’s is needed most, and also to provide a full picture of different staff circumstances related to the pandemic. If you have any queries related to recording staff circumstances and absences in ESR, please contact the People and OD team: PeopleSupport.PHW@wales.nhs.uk
Diversity and Welsh Language
Holding information on the diversity mix and language skills of our workforce is an important means of demonstrating, implementing and promoting equality of opportunity, and, in turn, enhancing wellbeing. It can help us to identify barriers that prevent access to career development for certain groups of people, and also help us develop solutions such as positive action plans and shape our policies and practices.
We encourage everyone to complete the welsh language skills and diversity information in their ESR homepage.
If you would like to know more about why Equality Monitoring is important, you may find it useful to read through this leaflet produced by Stonewall Cymru:
All information is treated confidentially and access is restricted to a small number of P&OD staff