PACE 365

PACE 365 is Mersey Care’s appraisal system. It’s content has been designed to provide you and your reviewer with an engaging and meaningful appraisal. Once you have completed your preparation, you can reflect and discuss your performance and plan your objectives for the year ahead with your reviewer.   You can also feedback to your reviewer about how things are going in your team and share your ideas.

1. To start your PACE, go to the PACE homepage and create and save your PACE profile.
2. You will need to complete the preparation stage questions and if relevant to your role (B7 and above) the Leadership assessment. 
3. Following this your reviewer can read your preparation and prepare for the appraisal conversation.
4. When you have a date for your appraisal discussion, this can take place face to face or virtually.  

The appraisal window for 2024 is from 2 April to 31 December 2024 and the target for your team is 90% of all colleagues to have completed an appraisal by 31 December 2024.

New starters would usually complete their appraisal when they have completed their induction within the first three months.

In this years PACE, a number of changes made to the system to save you time when completing your appraisal. We have combined the preparation questions and values section and reduced the number of questions.

Leaders will still have the chance to assess themselves against the Leadership Charter, but if you completed it, last year, your data will have copied across so you can just update it.  Leaders will also be able to start to use the new operational excellence framework to guide their objective setting for their teams.

We have added the Scope for Growth talent tool, within the PACE system, so you don’t need a separate conversation. You will be able to use the national model to identify your current position and future career position and development plans. This information can then be used to review talent and succession planning in your team. We will be working with the performance team to automate this. All colleagues will be able to take action to support our   anti-racism strategy by completing their anti-racism objective in their PACE.

In line with the CQC regulatory framework, NHS People Plan, People Promise and our own Trust People and Culture Plan. We want to recognise all the hard work that you do, whilst supporting you to fulfil your career ambitions and potential. PACE enables this but most importantly you can influence the service your team delivers through team and individual objective setting. HR45 PACE appraisal policy outlines this too. 

During 2024, we will be working with the performance team to build team level employee experience metrics from our PACE data. So, in the future we will have a better understanding of your experiences, diverse needs, and expectations so we can tailor our services and processes to make it a better place to work.

If you are using PACE 365 for the first time and are not sure what appraisal is. You can choose what type of support you need to help you. We offer Reviewer and Reviewee virtual training which is bookable through section 3 of the Learning and Development Prospectus  and Scope for Growth training can also be found there too.

• Reviewer training is for managers and leaders and will help them prepare for a meaningful appraisal with their team, this includes a quick tour of the system and is part of the Arrive programme.  
• Reviewee training is for all team members and helps your prepare for your PACE and also provides a more in-depth look at the system.
• PACE awareness session if you cant attend formal training and would like us to deliver a session to your team meeting, e-mail the inbox and we can arrange it.
• Introduction to Scope for Growth Career Conversations if you want to know more about Scope for Growth and how it can help you to plan your career.
• PACE 365 Guides and Resources, on the PACE homepage there are different materials to support the PACE and Scope for Growth processes.
• HR45 PACE Appraisal policy is also available for you to refer to in the Policies and procedures

The annual PACE window for appraisal completions opens on 2 April 2024 and will close on 31 December.  In line with NHS constitution, CQC, NHS People Promise, Our People and Culture Plan the requirement is all colleagues should have an annual appraisal. Our Key Performance Indicator (KPI) is 90% of colleagues should have an annual appraisal.

In May 2024, the Operational Plan for 2024, will be signed off by the Board and is linked into PACE system, sharing it in PACE and updating your team canvas is how through objective setting, our Trust plans can be cascaded down to teams and individual level. The Operational Excellence framework can also be used to guide your objective setting.

During the 2024 PACE window, senior leaders including, VSM, B9, 8D and 8C will be implementing a divisional talent and succession planning process to support our organisational workforce planning.

How your team completes PACE may be dependent upon the size of your team. Your manager may choose the cascade approach which means they will complete their PACE first and then complete them with the rest of their team members. So, during 2024 from April to August Band 6 and above colleagues will complete their PACE. From September onwards Band 6 and below will complete theirs. For other larger teams they may use a combination of the cascade and trajectory so 10% of their teams appraisals are completed each month which means they can plan their  PACE completion processes across the year to make it more manageable to achieve the KPI.