Agenda item

To receive the annual review of the Establishment from the Corporate Manager for People, Governance and Waste

The Committee had before it and NOTED a report on the Establishment.

The Corporate Manager for People, Governance and Waste replied to the question from Mr Quinn that, the Establishment report made clear on the front cover that a full establishment structure chart would be circulated once the current consultation on the Corporate Management Team had been completed.

The Operations Manager for Human Resources introduced the Establishment Update. The three key metrics were, sickness, agency spend and staff turnover.

·         Sickness was at its highest for four years and new ways of working were being found such as inoculations being offered to members of staff.

·         Agency spend this year was down by 37% year on year.

·         Staff turnover was down by 3.7% year on year with the current projections for 23/24 down by 16.5%. Initiatives and new ways of working continued including the rollout of Mental Health Champions across the Council, reviewing employee benefits and supporting staff with access to seasonal vaccinations.

·         Work was underway on the staff survey action plan.

·         The negotiations for the 2024/25 pay award had begun.

Discussion took place regarding:

·         The fact that the Council’s use of agency staff had decreased.

·         Greater scrutiny and discussion about the establishment.

·         Vacancies were reviewed on a weekly basis to decide whether they should go forward for recruitment or delay the appointment.  There had been a shift in the market with the workforce preferring secure employment rather than agency work.

·         Whether there was a correlation between delays in filling staff vacancies and staff sickness – the Operations Manager for Human Resources said that he would investigate that further. However, Mid Devon District Council’s sickness levels ran very similar to other Councils across the country. Trends and patterns were being looked at. Further recruitment training was being offered to managers to make sure that they recruited the right person with the correct experience.

·         The calibre of applicants and how they were recruited.

·         The Appraisal process varied from organisation to organisation, roll out of the new process would be this year so that employees could understand how they were contributing to the Council. The Appraisal Policy should be collaborative.

·         Managers will involve employees with the setting of objectives although managers may set the focus or direction. On the whole it is a collaborative process, but employees are encouraged to give their views so that it should be a beneficial process both to manager and member of staff.

·         Mental Health – there were a cohort of staff across the Council who were ‘Mental Health Champions’ and the Champions themselves received support from an Employee Assistance Programme staffed by people who were trained counsellors. However, on a one to one structure the first point of call for any staff member should be their line manager, it was important that staff felt that they were able to raise issues.

·         Staff Survey – how did staff who did not have their own e-mail address get a chance to respond?  Staff were employed over a variety of services meaning that some staff did not use a lap-top or iPad on a day to day basis, for that reason they would not have an e-mail address. The strategy for dealing with those staff was that they had regular team meetings (or toolbox talks). Updates were provided through the “LINK” which was printed for their staff rooms.

·         What proportion of the staff worked from home and from that could one extrapolate sickness between those who worked from home and those who worked at Phoenix House? It was confirmed that hybrid working was 50% across the organisation. For those that could work in this way 90% had signed up for it but of those, a lot at different times prefer to be in the office. Presenteeism – staff may be unwell but continued to work from home despite specifically not being required to do so. With regard to sickness absence and the split between staff that work in a hybrid way and those that work on site - that data would be available with the next Establishment report.

·         “I love my job” ethos – melding of the organisation’s needs with employee’s aspiration, generating a sense of belonging.

·         Apprenticeships – both traditional apprenticeships and upskilling apprenticeships were available for all staff to enable them to do more.