Establishing the Stakeholder Leadership Group

The Stakeholder Leadership Group (SLG) is a formal group of representatives from all stakeholders that produce and use human resources for health (HRH) information. Establishing this group is an essential first step when implementing an HRIS. This group will initiate, lead and monitor all activities in HRIS strengthening.

The SLG empowers stakeholders to envision and develop an HRIS that meets their needs. The SLG ensures ownership of the system by those who will use it and builds the necessary capacity to support and improve the HRIS. Furthermore, bringing together the key stakeholders opens communication channels between groups that typically may not interact, facilitating collaboration and sharing of data.

Who Are the Stakeholders?

A participatory and inclusive approach is the key to the SLG's success. An effort should be made to identify and invite representatives from all government and nongovernment groups that produce and use HRH data to join the SLG.

Think broadly when considering whom to invite as stakeholders. Ask:

  • Who provides HRH information?
  • Who uses HRH information?
  • Who are the HRH decision-makers?

Ministry departments (especially personnel, information technology and payroll units), licensing and registration/certification bodies, private-sector organizations, hospitals and health facilities, scholarship boards and training institutions may all be stakeholders. Ideally, the SLG should include experts in health workforce planning and information systems. Depending on the scope of HRIS development, health staff may be invited to ensure that individual-level data remain accurate and that they have access to necessary information. Community leaders and volunteers may also be stakeholders in certain contexts.

Take care, however, not to create a group that is too large in size, as large groups tend to be less effective. It is best to invite one or, at most, two representatives from each stakeholder to join the SLG.

The Role of the SLG

The SLG's role is to lead, coordinate and provide oversight for all HRIS strengthening activities. In this role, the SLG manages the following activities:

  • Establish consensus on the mission and purpose of the SLG
  • Agree on operating principles and terms of reference for organizing the SLG
  • Develop policy and management questions to inform data needs and HRIS functions
  • Define indicators to monitor the status of the health workforce via the HRIS
  • Identify existing systems, including infrastructure, databases, forms and collection mechanisms at all levels
  • Prioritize requirements for the HRIS
  • Select an appropriate HRIS software package to meet immediate needs
  • Determine timelines and meetings for HRIS strengthening activities
  • Address issues pertaining to data confidentiality, privacy and ownership and policies for data-sharing
  • Establish data-sharing agreements with partners, collaborators and one another
  • Share findings and tools with other ministries, sectors, countries and regions.

Getting Started

The initial meeting should include representatives from as many identified stakeholders as possible, explain the need for and benefits of a strengthened HRIS and provide a general overview of the HRIS strengthening process, as outlined in the introduction to this Toolkit.

The outcome of the first meeting should be a formally charted SLG, including terms of reference for the group and principles of operation for the meetings. Terms of reference address issues of group leadership, membership, accountability, mission, functions, decision-making processes and duties. Principles of operation might include such principles as equality of all members, the need to hear from all participants and the need to reach consensus for decisions to occur. (Sample terms of reference and operating principles are included in this Toolkit.) The initial meeting is also a good time to decide on a meeting schedule and location.

Now the group is ready to begin defining the key HRH policy and management questions that need to be answered by an HRIS. (A tool for developing these policy and management questions is included in this Toolkit.) It is critical that the stakeholders identify and own these questions to ensure the success and usability of their HRIS.

Once the SLG agrees on these questions, the group should continue to meet regularly to provide direction for HRIS strengthening activities: infrastructure strengthening, data collection and inputting, HRIS selection and customization, report development, use of data for decision-making, data-sharing and confidentiality policies and continued maintenance and development of the system. (Each section in this Toolkit provides resources and tools to assist the SLG with conducting these activities.)

The initial assessment stages of HRIS strengthening will help the SLG to identify gaps and begin forming an overall strategic plan for strengthening the HRIS. This strategic plan can then be refined into iterative active plans, such as three-month, six-month or year-long workplans, that proceed step-by-step toward closing the gaps. The SLG's primary responsibility throughout is to guide and manage the HRIS implementation process. As the process moves forward, the group should regularly evaluate the progress of HRIS strengthening against agreed-upon targets and adjust either the targets or the implementation steps as needed. At every juncture, the most important outcome is that ownership for the HRIS is being built and capacity is being developed among all stakeholders.