Agenda item

Report of the Acting Chief Executive.

The Committee received a report outlining the progress being made on the implementation of the Council’s Workforce Plan.

The Workforce Plan supports the delivery of the Workforce Strategy which was approved by Council on 16 July 2015.

To develop the plan, work was carried out to identify the Council’s existing skill base and to assess future need. This involved all services completing a questionnaire to provide a council-wide picture of capability and skills. The assessment has shaped the detail and timeframes included in the plan and has helped to clarify both corporate and service priorities.

The aim of the plan is to ensure that the Council possesses a workforce that can deliver on the Council Plan and Vision 2030.

The plan sets out the projected activity, when and how it will be delivered, who it is targeted at and the resources required to deliver it under each of the five themes. It will be continually developed in order to respond to the future direction and shape of Council groups and services.

The report detailed the activity to date and next steps against the themes of: Skills and Behaviours; Recruitment and Retention; Pay, Reward and Recognition; Wellbeing and Engagement; and Performance and Change.

The report also highlighted the challenges associated with delivering the outcomes.

The Committee participated in a demonstration of the newly created Learning and Development section of the Council’s Intranet. These new Intranet pages bring together all of the resources available to employees to help them access Learning and Development opportunities. Also provided are tools to support the induction; and appraisal and development processes.

Some members of the Committee expressed disappointment with the 41% turnout in the 2016 employee survey and queried whether there are any patterns or variances by Directorship or Service area.

It was noted that the employee survey turnout was slightly increased from last year and that the Chief Executive has requested Service Directors to look at ways of increasing turnout. Within Communities and Environment, the provision of hard copy surveys resulted in an increase in responses being received.

It was clarified that employees who receive financial support to undertake certain accredited courses are expected to repay the costs, if they leave the employment of the Council within an agreed timeframe. It was commented by one Councillor that some Local Authorities seek to recover costs if employees leave within a four year period and therefore this Council could look to increase its recovery period.

It was clarified that Councillors can access the employee discounts.

Concerns were raised about the identification of aspiring future leaders solely by line managers. It was commented that the employee/line-manager relationship is vulnerable and therefore employees may feel their opportunities are being limited.

The proportion of staff identified as aspiring future leaders was queried. It was commented that service directors should have this information.

It was clarified that if employees were to feel that they were not being considered for opportunities by their line manager, they could raise their concerns with their Service Director. However, it was noted that employees would not know whether they had been identified as a future aspiring leader and that Service Directors may not hold this information.

Concerns were raised that employees may be demotivated by the restrictions on development opportunities as shown in the Workforce Plan Development Matrix. This point was noted and it was agreed that the matrix be reviewed for accuracy.

The Committee was pleased to note that the iTrent system will enable the accurate monitoring of completion rates in respect of Employee Performance and Development Reviews, therefore addressing the issues identified by the employee survey.

The Committee was pleased to note that the employee surveys also capture qualitative feedback, which is then examined.

The age profile of the workforce was reported and concerns were raised about the issues associated with an aging workforce.

The range of courses available was praised and it was suggested that they be more widely advertised and sold to the public and partners. It was queried whether some of the learning and development opportunities are available to Councillors, such as dealing with difficult situations.

It was requested that future updates identify the proportion of employees identified as aspiring future leaders and of those the numbers who have undertaken learning and development opportunities.  Future updates should also provide the raw data in respect of the employee survey so that the Committee, as part of its monitoring role, can collectively scrutinise the information.

It was previously queried in 2014 whether general improvements could be made to the Health Room. Linking to the theme of wellbeing it was queried whether this can be explored again.