DoH To Assess Civil Servants’ Digital Skills

The Department of Health (DoH) will now assess its civil servants’ digital skills as part of their performance reviews at the end of this year.

The DoH says it is currently driving the development of its staff’s digital skills and the new assessments are part of a wider programme of skill-boosting within the department.

Initiatives include one-on-one master classes for senior civil servants and new employees must attend digital skills sessions during their induction period.

“We know from this year’s cross-government Annual Skills Review and our own benchmarking that DoH doesn’t suffer from a lack of digital skills – just the confidence to use them,” claimed Jason Caplin, the Department’s digital strategy manager.

“We see it as our role to unlock the confidence that inspires civil servants to experiment, create and even play, all in the pursuit of doing their job better, raising the standards of their output even higher and providing even more value to the public,” he added.

“Digital Champions” Lead The Way

To do this, the department has selected 70 “digital champions” as advocates of digital delivery and strategy. Those nominated are also expected to be the “go-to” person in their team for technology related matters.

The DoH has also developed a Digital Policy Making Toolkit, while a civil servants digital skills guide is in progress.

The champions are expected to help the Government Digital Service (GDS) in creating the skills guide and will also provide feedback on the usability of the toolkit.

Caplin claims these new programmes will help identify areas in which training is still required while building the confidence of the department’s staff.

© 24N.biz