Staff Transfers
Report for the Staff Transfers alpha assessment on 07 June 2022
Service Standard assessment report
Interoperability OneData - Staff Transfers
| From: | Central Digital & Data Office (CDDO) |
| Assessment date: | 07/06/2022 |
| Stage: | Alpha |
| Result: | Met |
| Service provider: | Cabinet Office |
Service description
All civil servants recruited through fair and open competition are eligible to apply for a staff transfer on a level move, on promotion or at a lower grade. The current transfer process is driven by an excel spreadsheet and is largely manual. As a result, it is slow, prone to error, does not secure data appropriately and consumes time and energy.
During the transfer process, employees, line managers, and HR teams share information to effectively move HR information including payroll, pension details and security clearance, from one department to another.
This replacement service will provide a central, user focussed solution to transfer employees from one government department to another. It will securely capture data from users once and will use accessible, user-friendly digital forms, to share information with departments.
The future service will streamline the process to transfer staff at pace and without friction so departments can get skilled people in posts quickly and efficiently, supporting departmental priorities and future national crises more effectively.
Service users
Transferee - a current Civil Servant transferring from one department to another. They are responsible for providing information to support their transfer
Exporting/Current Line Managers - the transferee’s exporting line manager supporting the transfer,responsible for supporting the transferee through the leaving aspects of the ‘move/transfer’
Exporting HR teams - a transferee’s exporting HR team may be involved in or coordinate the process for the member of staff. A department may use a Shared Services team instead. They are responsible for supporting the transferee through the leaving aspect of the ‘move/transfer’
Importing HR teams - the transferee’s new HR team. Each department has their own HR team but a department may use a Shared Services team instead. They are responsible for supporting the transferee through the joining aspect of the ‘move/transfer’ by processing accurate and timely information to create a new HR/payroll record
Importing Line Manager/Vacancy Holder - the transferee’s new line manager supporting the transfer. Responsible for supporting the transferee through the joining aspects of the ‘move/transfer’. The vacancy holder does not directly interact with the service. They receive data from the service
1. Understand users and their needs
Decision
The service met point 1 of the Standard.
What the team has done well
The panel was impressed that:
- the team proactively identified accessibility as an important focus when defining the problem
- the team then attempted to maintain a focus on this during research by reaching out to multiple relevant networks and groups
- the research was detailed enough to reveal important similarities (common pain points) as well as differences across departments
What the team needs to explore
Before their next assessment, the team needs to:
- continue the good work to build links with groups across government that can help with recruitment of diverse research participants. In particular, to reach people who have a range of cognitive or physical access needs
- consider how needs might vary based on digital skills/confidence/access, and how alternative channels beyond the digital form might continue to meet needs
- continue to develop knowledge of the different behaviours and needs across different departments that might impact on design
2. Solve a whole problem for users
Decision
The service met point 2 of the Standard.
What the team has done well
The panel was impressed that the team:
- looked at pain points in the existing process to understand the whole problem for users
- thought deeply about the name of the service, running naming workshops and validating results through research
- made it possible to track progress, reduced unclear questions, reviewing the guidance and incorporating into the journey
- have developed a streamlined form that meets users needs and reduces errors
3. Provide a joined-up experience across all channels
Decision
The service met point 3 of the Standard.
What the team has done well
The panel was impressed that the team:
- is engaged in the Joiners Movers Leavers community of interest
- worked with subject matter experts to map and understand data flows
- is signposting to relevant people if they aren’t sure about something
- is iterating the existing service early on by improving guidance based on research insights. This also helped reduce document sizes considerably
What the team needs to explore
Before their next assessment, the team needs to:
- confirm that GOV.UK will allow them to change their existing pages into a start page for the service
4. Make the service simple to use
Decision
The service met point 4 of the Standard.
What the team has done well
The panel was impressed that the team has:
- reduced the amount of questions being asked meaning that users typically see around 65 questions rather than all 125 (originally 161) thanks to the introduction of branching questions
- built in a save and return functionality
- done research to identify any duplication of work with internal department processes
- prototyped using the Design System
- is looking into future improvements like bulk transfers
What the team needs to explore
Before their next assessment, the team needs to:
- continue to explore ways to avoid users needing to create another account
- continue to consider integrations that can reduce the questions asked
5. Make sure everyone can use the service
Decision
The service met point 5 of the Standard.
What the team has done well
The panel was impressed that:
- the team reduced the reading age using Hemingway from grade 12 to 6
- accessibility has not been an afterthought and throughout alpha the team has developed a long term strategy and relationships to ensure future iterations are accessible as possible and to test with a broader range of users
- the team has attended accessibility training
- the team replaced inconsistent PDFs with HTML guidance
- the team introduced prompts where users might need clarity / contacts
- the team is planning to arrange a DAC audit during beta
What the team needs to explore
Before their next assessment, the team needs to:
- consider that users who need support are directed to their HR or managers, the team should explain in beta if technical support might be necessary to use the service and how the team will manage that
- consider what support they will offer to users who have problems with the digital part of the service
6. Have a multidisciplinary team
Decision
The service met point 6 of the Standard.
What the team has done well
The panel was impressed that:
- the service has had a multidisciplinary team for Alpha, including the roles and skills set out in the Service Manual. The team had a strong foundation and had been working collaboratively. This allowed a good quality of research and service design
- the makeup of the team includes a blend of civil servants and contractors. Most of the service team, including the Product and Delivery part of the team, are civil servants
What the team needs to explore
Before their next assessment, the team needs to:
- recruit a Performance Analyst and strengthen the performance analysis capabilities on the team. Being able to collect and use relevant data is going to be fundamental for the proper development of the service in private beta
7. Use agile ways of working
Decision
The service met point 7 of the Standard.
What the team has done well
The panel was impressed that:
- the team has adopted agile practices with an iterative and user-centred approach. They work on 2 weeks sprints, do sprint planning and retros. The service team has regular daily stand-ups
- the service team keeps their stakeholders engaged and involved by doing fortnightly show & tells to showcase what the product team achieved in sprint; ad hoc tailored meetings to meet stakeholder needs; attends working groups and communities of interest and programme boards
- they have a clear governance structure and are empowered to make decisions. The team are working effectively with their wider organisation to build support for their service
What the team needs to explore
Before their next assessment, the team needs to:
- review their knowledge transfer practices and systems to make sure no information can get lost
8. Iterate and improve frequently
Decision
The service met point 8 of the Standard.
What the team has done well
The panel was impressed that:
- the team iterated prototypes rapidly during the alpha phase based on user research. This allowed them to discount ideas and correct assumptions about user needs based on feedback
- it would have been good to see a broader range of ideas tested during this alpha stage, however the team did consider alternative options, for example, using integrations to pass information between departments. The team prioritised creating a form as it will allow them to deliver earlier and gives a structure to iterate on
- the team is improving internal practises by using retrospective meetings to constructively review their processes and improve
- is testing in weekly cycles
- has iterated the service name and hint text
- has very good documentations for their prototypes
-
has mostly shown examples of individual page iteration, for example:
- they iterated the department picker which used to show the top 4 departments because users felt that signified the importance of the department
- uploading payslips which used to be done in emails
9. Create a secure service which protects users’ privacy
Decision
The service met point 9 of the Standard.
What the team has done well
The panel was impressed that:
- the GBS Staff Transfers service unit has demonstrated an outlook of well defined roles and responsibilities and has classified their data in accordance with security and privacy policies within their MVP Logical Capability view
- their segregation of collected personal information data into ‘Secure Data’ & ‘Secure Content’ for further onward processing is encapsulated within a secure and privacy controlled architecture with appropriate measures in-place for identity/verification assurances and through authentication
- the Staff transfer services have conducted consultations with varied teams (Information Assurance team, Commercial Assurance Team, Data Protection team and GBS’s Security Architecture Team)
What the team needs to explore
Before their next assessment, the team needs to:
- consider that as the GBS Staff Transfer (ST) service progresses into its Private Beta, it is recommended by the tech assessor for the ST service to evaluate and test its authorization and accessibility requirements especially from vulnerability perspective
- also work and review this service with other cross government HR services to identify information risk teams/owners, risk compliance personnel and information assets owners for governance purposes and other regulatory compliances. It is endeavoured that the ST services maintain a Classification & Categorisation schedule for data Privacy & Security compliance purposes by identifying and maintaining an apt metadata definitions repository of inter & intra departmental staff transferred personnels
10. Define what success looks like and publish performance data
Decision
The service did not meet point 10 of the Standard.
What the team has done well
The panel was impressed that:
- the service team has taken a structured approach to identify measurable KPIs and benefits
- the service team has identified other specific KPIs, apart from the four mandatory ones. For example: reduce the effort to process the transfer form and reduce the volume of payment errors
What the team needs to explore
Before their next assessment, the team needs to:
- the service team hasn’t considered how they will report KPIs on GOV.UK due to a lack of resources; the service team needs to recruit a Performance Analyst before continuing the work in private beta and strengthen the performance analytics skills on the team
- consider that data sources used to decide on KPIs are a challenge as, according to the service team, nobody is tracking anything and everything is done manually. Although the service team has come up with a few ideas on how to collect better data, it is not clear how reliable this will be. This is a real problem for the development of the service in private beta and a clear plan and mitigating measures should be identified and put in place
- it would be helpful to the service team to reach out across departmental boundaries and see how other services confronted with similar challenges have done to ensure they collected accurate data in real time
11. Choose the right tools and technology
Decision
The service met point 11 of the Standard.
What the team has done well
The panel was impressed that:
- the GBS team has conducted a thorough evaluation (through their PoC) of their ‘Build vs Buy’ decision in selecting their preferred choice of tools and technology applicable for their service
- the team have thoroughly evaluated (through their discovery and user research) their user’s pain-points, their past and current reliance on spreadsheets and other legacy technological solutions for this particular part of the service
- the GBS team have considered other ‘Associated Services’ for their future iterations
What the team needs to explore
Before their next assessment, the team needs to:
- it is recommended by the the tech assessor that the GBS ST service further evaluate and assess the TCO (Total Cost of Ownership) and/or ROI (Return of Investment) for their selected/preferred SaaS enterprise platform and procurement channels/suppliers to reduce potential for vendor lock ins and appropriate usage of open standards technological solutions
- consider that although the GBS ST Service’s current focus is not on integrating their ST service with other systems and across various other departments, it is recommended that the ST service evaluate during their Private Beta for avenues of integrating with other systems and technologies and refrain from becoming another siloed service system within the department
12. Make new source code open
Decision
The service met point 12 of the Standard.
What the team has done well
The panel was impressed that:
- the GBS Staff Transfer service team has built their service within a publicly accessible repository and open data principles. They have developed their alpha prototype in GitHub repository
- their public GITHUB repository location has been shared at this place
13. Use and contribute to open standards, common components and patterns
Decision
The service did not meet point 13 of the Standard.
What the team has done well
The panel was impressed that:
- the GBS ST service team has outlined an architectural vision to make good use of open standards, open data model patterns and a conscious choice in usage of enterprise level data model components in their solution architecture
- the team has adopted the GOV.UK design pattern in building their ST service and have also hosted this service on GOV.UK platform services platform
What the team needs to explore
Before their next assessment, the team needs to:
- consider that although interoperability (within their identified ‘Associated Services’ ) is currently out of scope for the GBS ST Service, it is recommended that GBS ST Service team reevaluate their adherence to Open Government Licence to make some part of their collected/accrued data (not applicable to PII or sensitive data) accessible in the open and machine readable formats for analytical and reporting purposes
14. Operate a reliable service
Decision
The service partially met point 14 of the Standard.
What the team has done well
The panel was impressed that:
- the GBS Staff Transfer service team has conducted a thorough alpha discovery phase to assess the business requirements for this service and have taken necessary steps to address most of their user needs and pain-points and in overcoming their technical debt of legacy systems
- the service team has a good undertaking both architecturally as well as solutions in place for technological implementation through the ‘buy n’ config’ route of procurement channels
What the team needs to explore
Before their next assessment, the team needs to:
- endeavour to document the sustainability of this service for high availability, reliability of not only the service delivery criteria but also data quality, its security and privacy considerations as the service progresses into its private beta
- it was outlined during assessment that the GBS service would fallback onto its paper-based forms and processes under circumstances whilst the service is not available or during service’s downtime. It is recommended by the service team for GBS team to design SLA’s and contractual assurances in-place for high availability of the service systems, data redundancy and operational continuity of the service during periods of downtime or system changes