Foundations | Staff Accounts
Once your organisation has completed configuring your SupportAbility installation, you are now ready to commence the next stage of implementation - Foundations | Staff Accounts.
This article discusses key strategic considerations to help your organisation plan for this stage of implementation.
Information on 'how to' complete the required steps is outlined in the related learning material linked at the end of this article for your reference.
Privileges:
- Staff require the 'Edit User Accounts' Security privilege to create Staff Accounts and grant the relevant access and privileges.
- Staff must have a Security Privilege themselves to grant a privilege to another Staff Member.
Audience: Authorised Representatives and anyone tasked with completing this phase of implementation.
Summary
The following list summarises the content of this article. Click on the links below to take you to the relevant sections:
- Strategic Considerations
Strategic Considerations
When planning for the Foundations | Staff Accounts phase of your implementation, we recommend reviewing several strategic considerations before commencing this phase:
- Which Staff Accounts require creating and when?
- What level of access do Staff Members require relative to their roles and responsibilities?
- What HR information, if any, will be recorded and managed in SupportAbility?
- When will Staff be provided with access to SupportAbility
- How will Staff be trained in the use of SupportAbility?
Detailed information regarding each of these considerations is outlined below.
Which Staff Accounts require creating, and when
Staff Accounts are created for your appointed Authorised Representatives with full system access when your installation is provisioned.
This stage of your implementation involves creating user accounts for other Staff Members who will be using SupportAbility. This includes setting up their user account and granting Staff Members the relevant systems access as appropriate for their role and responsibilities.
A couple of approaches can be taken when creating user accounts for Staff Members, as outlined below.
The first and recommended approach is initially creating Staff Accounts only for those Staff Members who require immediate access to SupportAbility in the preliminary stages of implementation, for example, those who will be entering Client information.
Additional Staff Accounts may be created later as required when other Staff Members are ready to commence using SupportAbility.
The second approach is to create Staff Accounts for all staff across your organisation, with access provided either upfront to all staff or incrementally to the relevant staff as SupportAbility is rolled out across the different Services or areas of the business.
Detailed information on creating a Staff Account, configuring Security Privileges, itemising access by Site and Service, and setting up an individual's login details is outlined in the Creating a Staff Account article linked below for reference.
What level of access do Staff Members require?
One of the key considerations when creating Staff Accounts is the level of access Staff will need relative to their role and responsibilities, to access specific records and functionality, and perform certain actions.
Access is granted via two different areas on the 'User Details' tab of a Staff Account as follows:
- Security Privileges
This is where high-level global access to specific records or functionality is granted. - Sites and services where this staff member works
Adding the Site/Service where the Staff Member works grants the Staff Member access to the records associated with that Site/Service, e.g. Client records for clients participating in the same Site/Service.
Additional Site or Service-specific higher privileges can also be allocated here for any Staff with management responsibilities, e.g., Team Leader, Human Resources, or Document Manager.
Staff can only grant another Staff Member the privileges they have been granted in their Staff Account.
It is important to note that the highest level of access has been granted to your organisation's Authorised Representatives due to the requirements of this role, and they will therefore be able to grant other Staff the required privileges.
Detailed information about these two different areas where access is granted is outlined in the following articles linked at the end of this article:
- the 'Setting up the Staff Members access privileges' section of the Creating a Staff Account article
- the Staff Account Privileges article. This article also outlines the different record access and functionality each privilege grants.
What HR information, if any, will be recorded and managed in SupportAbility?
While login details and access are granted via the 'User Details' tab, the remaining tabs in the Staff Account are what are referred to as the 'Human Resources' functionality in SupportAbility:
Completing the HR tabs is not required for the implementation process. Your organisation is best placed to determine whether this information will be stored and managed in SupportAbility, and if so, when it will be entered and by whom.
A brief description of the information stored on each of the Human Resources tabs has been provided below to assist with deciding the relevance and benefit of this for your organisation.
Human Resources
This tab is where personnel information relating to the Staff Member is entered such as 'Job Title', 'Working Hours', 'Qualification/Award Level', 'Employment/Volunteer Type', 'Start', 'End', 'Contract Renewal', 'Appraisal Renewal Dates', and 'Hourly Rate' per Service. The Staff Member's personal contact details, Date of Birth and Gender are also recorded here. Payroll details and Clinical Provider Number may be entered where applicable.
More information is available in the Staff Account - Human Resources article, linked below for reference.
Contacts
This tab records information relating to a Staff Member's personal Contacts, including their Emergency Contact details.
When a Staff Account is first created, a Warning bar will display at the top of the Staff Account if no Contact has been added and selected as the 'Emergency Contact' or if minimum data details are missing. Your organisation may therefore decide that it is mandatory to enter this information for all Staff Accounts.
More information is available in the Staff Account - Contacts article, linked below for reference.
Availability
This tab is where information relating to a Staff Member's 'Standard Availability' is recorded such as:
- Their 'Standard Availability Cycle' i.e. 7 or 14 days
- The days of the week they are available, and 'From' and 'To Times' for each day
The default settings are a 7-day cycle and availability every day of the week from 12:00 AM to 11:59 PM. This can be customised by your organisation as required.
This information is useful when your organisation is managing staff rosters in SupportAbility, as the information displays in the Roster.
'Availability Exceptions' may also be entered on this tab, such as:
- a period when the Staff Member is not able to work their Standard Availability hours, or
- a period when they have additional availability beyond their Standard Availability hours.
This information is also displayed in and used to inform the roster.
Detailed information about this functionality is available in the following articles, linked below for reference:
- What is Staff Standard Availability?
- What is a Staff Availability Exception?
- How to configure Staff Standard Availability
- How to approve Staff Availability Exceptions
Training
This tab is where basic information relating to Training undertaken by and Qualifications completed by the Staff Member may be recorded.
More information about this functionality is available in the Staff Account - Training article linked below for reference.
Documents
This tab is where relevant and/or compulsory Staff Documents may be uploaded and stored, which can then be linked to from other areas of a Staff Account e.g. An immunisation certificate can be linked to on the Medical tab.
Functionality is also available to set a 'Due/Review Date' and a person to 'Notify' so Notifications will display on the Dashboard of this individual as a reminder that the Document is due for review.
The Document Search Report is a useful tool for reviewing Staff Documents.
More information is available in the Staff Account - Documents and the Document Search articles, linked below for reference.
Medical
This tab is where information relating to the Staff Member's Immunisations may be recorded, including linking to any related immunisation certificate that has been uploaded to the Staff Member's Documents tab. Notes may also be entered as required.
More information is available in the How to add Immunisation records for Staff article, linked below for reference.
Reviews
This tab is where basic information relating to Performance Reviews may be recorded, including the 'Review Date', 'Reviewed By', 'Review Score', 'Renewal Date', and 'Renewal Notify Staff Member'.
Performance Review documents uploaded to the Staff Member's Documents tab may be linked here. Notes may also be entered as required.
More information is available in the Staff Account - Reviews article, linked below for reference.
Goals
This tab is where information relating to a Staff Member's work goals may be entered, including 'Start', 'Due' and 'End Dates', details of the 'Goal', 'Company Strategy' and 'Staff Responsibilities'. Additional 'Notes' may also be entered as required.
More information is available in the Staff Account - Goals article, linked below for reference.
Journal
This tab is where notes relating to the individual Staff Member may be recorded.
If the content of the Journal is of a sensitive nature, access to the Journal may be restricted as required, e.g. to 'Managers Only' or 'Team Leaders Only'.
Supporting documents uploaded to the Staff Member's Documents tab may be linked here.
Follow-up Actions may be created, and the Journal linked to a Standard where applicable.
More information is available in the Staff Account - Journal article, linked below for reference.
Learning Centre Log
This tab contains information about the videos the Staff Member has viewed in the Learning Centre, displaying the number of views, dates viewed, and a Viewing Heat Map indicating each video's most frequently viewed areas.
More information is available in the 'Learning Centre Log' section of the Introduction to the Learning Centre article, linked below for reference.
Providing Staff Access to SupportAbility
When your organisation is ready to commence managing various processes in SupportAbility, the relevant staff who will manage them will require access to SupportAbility accordingly.
Once an individual Staff Account has been created and their login details entered, i.e. username and email address, access is granted by triggering the 'Set Password' email in their Staff Account.
The timing when these emails are triggered needs to be pre-planned, as the password reset link in this email is only valid for 3 days.
Your organisation may elect to provide early access only to some Staff initially so they can be trained, familiarise themselves with the relevant functionality, and complete preliminary tasks in readiness for go-live.
The remaining staff can then be provided access when they are ready to use SupportAbility. Their staff accounts can be set up in advance, but the 'Set Password' email is triggered only when access is required.
Detailed information regarding this functionality can be found in the 'Send Password Link' section of the Creating a Staff Account article, linked below for reference.
How will Staff be trained to use SupportAbility?
Ultimately, each organisation is responsible for training their Staff Members in using SupportAbility to ensure that data entry and use of the system is managed in a way that aligns with organisational policies and procedures and meets the requirements for each of the different Services your organisation delivers.
Providing adequate training will also critically underpin staff uptake of SupportAbility and ensure the accuracy and comprehensiveness of information entered.
When planning for this, due consideration will need to be given to the following aspects of the training:
- Timing of delivery
- Training Content
- Training Format
- Learning Material
We have provided suggestions below for managing each of these training elements for your consideration; we hope they will be helpful.
Timing
The timing of training is critical to ensure staff are sufficiently prepared to complete their required tasks when they commence using SupportAbility.
Training may also need to be staged for some organisations as SupportAbility is incrementally rolled out to the different Services across your organisation, or to coincide with when different areas of functionality are implemented.
It will also be important to decide and communicate the final cut-off date for recording Client information and managing tasks outside of SupportAbility.
Training Content
It is recommended that targeted training be provided to Staff Members based on their role in the organisation and the tasks they will be completing in SupportAbility, thereby training them only in the specific functionality they will use.
Many organisations choose to run introductory training sessions for all Staff focusing on the basics of logging in and accessing records in SupportAbility, then following this up with more targeted training content catering accordingly to the different cohorts of Staff e.g. Support Workers, the Finance team, Admin Staff, and Staff working across different Services.
Training will not only need to cover the available functionality but also guide staff on which functions to perform and how data is to be entered, in alignment with organisational policies, procedures, and workflow requirements of the Service/s they work in.
For example, Support Workers working directly with Clients may initially need to be trained in the following areas:
- How to create a Client record (if required)
- How to access the relevant Client records to add, review or update Client information
- How to upload Documents to Client records
- How to record Client Goals and Goal Strategies
- How to add Client Journals, i.e. Case Notes for Clients they are working with.
- Journal Templates can be used to prompt Staff to capture the required information per Journal Type.
- Journals may also be linked to Client Goals and Goal Strategies if this information is entered, thereby linking evidence directly to Goals
- How to record Client Incidents
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How to complete Client Assessments (if your organisation is using this functionality)
N.B. Client Incidents and Client Assessments can be added in the related tabs in a Client Records or from a Journal record.
Down the track, when your organisation is managing service delivery in SupportAbility and utilising Activities, these Staff will require further training as follows:
- Adding Journals directly from the relevant Activity record
- thereby linking evidence of support directly to service delivery
- Viewing their Roster
- Completing Shift Sign Off, and/or Checking In/Out of their shifts (if these are requirements of your organisation)
- Capturing Client Support Logs, if your organisation is using this functionality
- Viewing, adding and editing information in the SupportAbility Mobile App
Other Staff who have responsibility for managing the following tasks in SupportAbility will require training specifically tailored to the related functionality:
- Creating Activities and Managing Rosters
- Creating and managing Client Funding records
- Allocating the relevant NDIS Supports in an Activity
- Processing the billing/claiming of NDIS Support Allocations
- Processing Payroll data
Training Format
In addition to formal training run by your organisation, there are several effective methods for training staff in the use of SupportAbility, which may be utilised as follows.
Providing opportunities for Staff to test and explore the functionality
Providing staff with the opportunity to explore, test and familiarise themselves with the functionality, i.e. learning by doing, is a successful method for training staff in a new system and is for some people their preferred learning style.
There are a few ways in which this could be facilitated, as follows:
- Create Client records with only the minimum data set completed, and then have staff enter the remaining information for the Clients they are responsible for.
- Create a sample Client record with all of the required information entered (not all fields may be relevant for your organisation). This record can then serve as a guide to the information required to be entered by staff during the implementation phase and by new staff as they commence using SupportAbility.
- Create a 'fake' Client record for Staff to explore and test the functionality without worrying about making mistakes or losing important information.
Training Buddies
Training buddies, i.e. staff familiar with the functionality and workflows in SupportAbility, can be assigned to new system users to train and support them until they build their knowledge and experience. Working with an experienced buddy may work particularly well for Staff who are less confident and familiar with systems.
Journal Templates
Finally, once Staff are entering Journals (case notes) in SupportAbility, your organisation may find Journal Templates, which are configured in System Preferences, a helpful resource for training and prompting staff to enter the required data.
SupportAbility Learning Material
We recommend encouraging Staff to utilise the extensive learning material provided by SupportAbility. This provides a useful resource to complement the formal training provided by your organisation.
It can also facilitate self-paced learning as staff familiarise themselves with the functionality and transition to managing tasks in SupportAbility.
It will also build positive habits of ongoing self-sufficiency as staff troubleshoot queries or learn new functionality.
Learning Material
Some providers choose to create their own training material, highlighting how SupportAbility should be utilised to align with organisational policies, procedures and workflows.
To assist organisations in training their staff, SupportAbility provides detailed learning materials in the form of articles available via our Knowledge Base and videos accessible via the Learning Centre of your installation.
This material provides a comprehensive understanding of the system and covers the concepts, strategy, workflows and the 'how to' of SupportAbility. Directing staff to the relevant learning material for their roles and responsibilities provides a useful resource as they familiarise themselves with the functionality they will use.
The learning material will also be a useful resource as your organisation commences using different areas of SupportAbility.
N.B. Learning Centre videos may differ in layout and functionality from your installation, as we are constantly updating the functionality.
Information for Authorised Representatives and Management
Our Release Notes provide updates on functionality enhancements and new features, as they become available.
Our SupportAbility Roadmap provides information on key features and enhancements that are currently being developed (Now), product initiatives that have been prioritised for development in the near future (Next), and those that are being considered for the distant horizon (Later).