Agenda item

The report provides an update on the Council’s People Strategy and invites feedback from Members.

Contact:

Shauna Coyle – Head of People Services

A report was submitted which provided an update on the Council’s People Strategy and invited feedback from Committee Members.

Councillor Hawkins, the Corporate Portfolio Holder, provided an introduction. Rachel Spencer-Henshall, Deputy Chief Executive was also present for the item.

Michelle Moss, HR Manager, presented the report and highlighted the following:

·       The refreshed People Strategy had been soft launched to Kirklees senior staff and managers in January 2021.

·       The strategy was underpinned by the Council’s values and behaviours.

·       The vision was to ‘achieve our shared outcomes through people with the right skills values and behaviours working in partnerships in our places’.

·       Delivery of the strategy was currently within Phase 3 and this had included a review of the format, supported by the Policy and Partnerships Team, to take account of benchmarking of themes across the public and private sectors.

·       It was recommended that the current approach continue into Phase 4. Priorities had, and would, change, as the delivery of the strategy progressed, to take account of both internal and external factors and employment trends.

·       The four desired outcomes, as set out below, would remain the same for    Phase 4:

o  Skilled, Flexible and Engaged People.

o  Effective and Compassionate Leadership.

o  An Inclusive Employer of Choice.

o  Healthy and Well People.

·       Governance of the strategy was undertaken by the People Strategy Programme Board and regular meetings took place with the People Strategy Steering Group which was made up of key stakeholders, such as the employee networks and Trade Unions.

·       The People Strategy and the revised Inclusion & Diversity Strategy worked alongside each other and were complementary in their aspirations.

·       The priorities and a summary of the key activities delivered during Phase 3 were set out in the report and the following were highlighted:

o  Workforce planning was one of the key areas of activity and was taking a longer-term view of recruitment and retention challenges and skills shortages. These were the same as most other local authorities and the Council was actively participating in the Local Government Association (LGA) recruitment campaign and task and finish groups.

o  Using apprenticeships effectively, with particular success in social work and legal. It was anticipated that numbers would increase over the next twelve months.

o  Proposals for mandatory learning were to be submitted to the Executive Leadership Team.

o  The development of improvements to the staff survey including changes to the questions and increasing participation.

o  In terms of performance management and appraisal, ‘My Conversation’ had been launched, alongside a package of support for managers. Positive feedback on this had been received from the recent LGA Peer Review.

o  Project Search and the positive impact on the individuals and the wider organisation.

o  Achieving the Society of Occupational Medicine Outstanding Occupational Health Initiative Award for the work undertaken in developing a pathway for staff and neurodiversity.

o  The benefits of the work carried out in relation to stress and prevention of sickness absence.

Questions and comments were invited from Committee Members, with the following issues being covered:

·       In the last twelve months there had been seventeen new-starters in traditional-style apprenticeships, the remaining ones were developmental, being undertaken as part of the individual’s current job.

·       In response to questions about the percentage of employees that had had an appraisal within the last twelve months and if there were challenges within any particular directorate, it was explained that the ‘My Conversation’ performance management and appraisal scheme was relatively new so a full dataset was not yet available. The scheme was continuing to evolve but had been designed to be adaptable to different working environments recognising the need for different approaches for particular working arrangements. Further information could be provided for members after the meeting. 

·       In terms of capturing the mood and concerns of staff across the range of working roles and feeding that back into decision-making; the staff survey provided the foundation and work was being undertaken to boost participation particularly with frontline staff.  The results would be used to inform consideration of further engagement, such as through focus groups and in terms of particular themes or areas, to achieve deeper understanding. It was acknowledged that during service change there could be an impact on morale. In respect of management it was important to ensure that support was provided to ensure that all managers were able to be good managers. The Portfolio Holder received regular updates and had ongoing dialogue with the Trade Unions. Executive Board gave consideration to workforce data on a regular basis and would also receive the outcomes from the staff survey. Regular communication with the various employee networks was also valuable in the respect. There were also policies in place, such as the one on whistle blowing, that allowed people to raise concerns if needed.

·       The Trade Unions were very helpful in negotiating the approach taken across a range of issues such as the staff handbook, principles in relation to redundancy or service change, and assisting in reaching out to, and engaging with, staff in some areas where this may be more difficult, to aid understanding of their situation.

·       The implementation of the 3-hour mediation model was welcomed. Further specific information in respect of the next stage, if a positive outcome was not achieved, could be provided to Members. It was noted that a range of other mechanisms and support sat alongside this model including counselling, coaching and other approaches through the Employee Healthcare Team. There was also a 24-hour support helpline ‘Care First’. This service was also open to elected members and it was suggested that the Committee visit the Employee Healthcare Team to see what was on offer and the value of this resource.

·       It was explained that a staff active travel survey had recently been completed in order to understand the barriers to doing so, and the inconsistency of facilities had been identified as an issue. Work would be undertaken to respond to this feedback and improve the position. It was noted that issues associated with active travel in the district that had been highlighted a few years ago had not yet been addressed.

·       The most significant challenges in respect of recruitment, aligned with the experience of other local authorities, were in professional roles where there was competition with the private sector, such as legal, social work and social care, planning and highways. In terms of learning from other local authorities the Council was taking part in the Local Government Association (LGA) ‘task and finish’ groups on hard-to-fill areas. Workforce planning was also a key solution to help manage the longer-term recruitment challenges, an example being apprenticeships in social care.

·       To assist with immediate recruitment pressures there had been a focus on social media activities which linked into other campaigns such as the LGA recruitment campaign. The Council’s recruitment freeze was also acknowledged and reassurance was given to the Committee regarding the approach to vacancy management to minimise gaps in certain roles.

·       A flexible approach was taken in implementation; the outcomes of the strategy remained the same, but the priorities were subject to change over time to take into account resources and capacity pressures. Engagement with the steering groups provided support across the Council.

RESOLVED -

(1)  That the Corporate Portfolio Holder, Deputy Chief Executive and HR officers be thanked for the update in respect of the People Strategy and that the comments of the Committee be taken into account in future delivery and the shaping of the next phase.

(2)  That the approach in terms of the use of apprenticeships to address recruitment challenges in areas such as social work, and the positive impact of ‘Project Search’ be welcomed

(3)  That the Committee visit the Employee Health Care Service.

(4)  That further information be provided to members in relation to:

·       Data in respect of the percentage of employees who have had an appraisal in the last twelve months and any areas where delivery was challenging.

·       The next stage for mediation cases that have not achieved a positive outcome.