Councillors and committees

Agenda item

PEOPLE & CHANGE WORKFORCE UPDATE

Purpose of the report: To provide the up to date position on the key workforce challenges facing the organisation and how the People & Change Service is working to help address and mitigate these challenges.  In addition, the report gives a progress update on previous queries raised by the Select Committee and aims to give clarity on current actions and programmes of work being undertaken to address specific areas of concern.

 

 

 

Minutes:

Witnesses:

Ayesha Azad, Cabinet Member for Finance and Resources

Leigh Whitehouse, Deputy Chief Executive and Executive Director of Resources

Bella Smith, Head of Insight, Programmes and Governance

Tom Holmwood, Head of Recruitment

 

Key points raised during the discussion:

 

  1. The Chairman asked what the three current key challenges in relation to workforce were compared to the last year, and likely to be in the next two years.

 

  1. The Head of Insight, Programmes and Governance said that for the past two years challenges had centred around COVID including the management of staff sickness levels, staff wellbeing and ensuring staff had the correct personal protection equipment (PPE). Due to the pandemic, the market had changed with people wanting to work differently and as a result the Council has increased its plans for focus on recruitment and retention over the next two years. Current challenges around the cost of living were being addressed to ensure staff financial wellbeing with the roll out of initiatives to support this planned over the next six months. The Head of Resourcing added that the cost of living was resulting in an increase of turnover and this was expected to continue for some time. Work around maintaining the Council’s employer brand in the market would continue. Analysis of data to support the development of a corporate exit survey was underway to provide insight around a proportion of staff leaving the Council for other public sector organisations.

 

  1. The Chairman queried the reasons for staff moving to other public sector organisations. The Head of Recruitment noted that recent exit interviews indicated factors such as pay and reward in addition to work, life balance and committed to share an analysis of exit interview data with the Resources and Performance Select Committee at the next People and Change update. Action: Head of Recruitment

 

  1. The Chairman was concerned at the emphasis on ‘line managers’ to conduct ‘why stay’ conversations with staff. The Head of Insights Programmes and Governance explained a broader approach in relation to the ‘why stay’ interviews was being piloted in Children’s Services with human resources business partners and other colleagues within the service involved in conducting some of those conversations, supporting the development of peer-to-peer discussions.

 

  1. The Chairman asked when tangible results could be expected in relation to recruitment and retention improvements. The Head of Insight, Programmes and Governance explained that whilst the voluntary turnover rate had risen from February 2022 to July 2022, a slight plateau was evident, and the current economic situation was resulting in more people choosing the stability of remaining in their roles at the Council.

 

  1. A Member asked if there were sufficient opportunities for extra annual leave and sabbaticals as requested by 29 per cent of staff surveyed for the Children’s, Families and Lifelong Learning ‘in job’ questionnaire. The Head of Insight, Programmes and Governance explained that in addition to a re-evaluation of pay grades, the total reward package for staff was being revisited and would include, flexible working, annual leave and the promotion of sabbaticals where appropriate.

 

  1. A Member asked if consideration was being given to offering more flexible conditions to encourage staff to remain with the Council and reduce the need to recruit. The Head of Insight, Programmes and Governance confirmed this was a focus but noted that work, life balance was not the key reason given for staff leaving the County.

 

  1. A Member queried what was being done to ensure a higher level of satisfaction regarding the Councils training offer. The Head of Insight, Programmes and Governance agreed that communication of training could be improved, adding that a new learning and development system to facilitate access to training opportunities was being considered for next year and would address the fact that some staff were not aware of available training opportunities.

 

  1. A Member asked if line managers were trained to deal with expanding the knowledge and experience of their team to facilitate retainment. The Head of Insight, Programmes and Governance explained a comprehensive leadership and line management training offer was available, providing specific information on coaching their teams. The Member asked if and how line managers were encouraged to take the opportunity to develop the knowledge and experience of their teams. The Head of Insights, Programme and Governance confirmed that line managers were encouraged to develop their teams experience although there were challenges around managers who would prefer a member of their team to remain in post. Any lack of developmental opportunities would be identified by exit interviews and ‘in job’ conversations going forward.

 

  1. The Head of Resourcing noted that of 3000 appointments processed this year, approximately 35 per cent were internal moves suggesting the Council had good movement of staff around the organisation and committed to provide further data analysis around this subject to the Resources and Performance Select Committee. Action: Head of Recruitment

 

  1. A Member asked what targets and aspirations could be linked to planned developments and improvements in different areas in the report and how would they be defined, tracked and reported. The Head of Insight, Programmes and Governance explained that in addition to Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) monitoring, a portfolio plan including all projects of work across People and Change was reported on monthly to the leadership team of People and Change and the transformation unit.

 

  1. A Member inquired if the 30 per cent turnover of social workers in children’s services was usual for this type of local authority. The Head of Insight, Programmes and Governance said that the national turnover of social workers had increased however the Council had a unique challenge because of its close proximity to London.

 

  1. A Member queried if the 30 per cent of social workers leaving the Council are finding employment as social workers with other authorities or leaving the role completely. The Head of Resourcing said that information would be available shortly and committed to a comprehensive overview at the next update to incorporate exit data currently being gathered. Action: Head of Recruitment

 

  1. A Member queried how the organisation tracked morale following the implementation of changes. The Head of Insight, Programmes and Governance confirmed that morale could be tracked through workforce dashboards combined with results from staff surveys. The Head of Resourcing added that the exit survey split feedback between the organisation, individuals’ teams and roles enabling further measurement of morale.

 

  1. A Member asked what level of certification was being offered to help create reward and to encourage career progression. The Head of Insight, Programmes and Governance explained that each function within the Council had its own levels of certification due to the diverse roles within the organisation. The Member requested further information on the levels of qualifications available for roles such as social workers. The Head of Insight, Programmes and Governance committed to provide this information to the Resources and Performance Select Committee separately. Action: Head of Insight, Programmes and Governance

 

  1. A Member asked how progression opportunities within the organisation could be made more easily available to all employees. The Head of Recruitment agreed that more could be done in the recruitment space to bring and publicise internal opportunities to the forefront and suggested that he and the Head of Insight, Programmes and Governance take this away for consideration. Action: Head of Insight, Programmes and Governance

 

  1. A Member queried if any existing arrangements were in place with educational facilities to provide courses specifically for social care roles. The Head of Resourcing confirmed that the Children’s Social Worker Academy worked closely with the University of Surrey to grow local talent with a sizeable portion of candidates applying for places in the Children’s Social Worker Academy because of this partnership.

 

  1. The Deputy Chief Executive and Executive Director of Resources gave an example of work in the Finance department to provide more rounded development opportunities. The secondment of staff to support the finance function at Tandridge District Council had Tandridge but also provided good development opportunities for our team.

 

  1. The Chairman in referring to a recommendation made at the 14 April 2022 Resources and Performance Select Committee in relation to the 45p mileage allowance for staff, noted a delay in sending the recommended letter to HMRC and asked what the next steps were following the lack of reply from HMRC. The Cabinet Member for Finance and Resources confirmed that HMRC had not responded to date and committed to chasing a response with any letters to be circulated to the Resources and Performance Select Committee. Action: Cabinet Member for Finance and Resources

 

RESOLVED:

 

In noting the report identifying key workforce challenges facing the organisation, the Resources and Performance Select Committee:

 

  1. Welcomes the report for its aspiration and acknowledges the identified steps being taken to address the challenges faced by the organisation.
  2. Requests that efforts gather pace to deliver positive aspirations listed in the report, particularly in areas such as staff turnover, why stay/in-job interviews; internal career progression opportunities for staff; consistent organisation-wide data about exit interviews.
  3. Suggests that any internal progression/job opportunities be publicised more widely to staff throughout the organisation.
  4. Asks for an update report by no later than December 2023 covering the following areas:

 

  1. Recruitment time to hire
  2. Collaboration with schools and colleges
  3. Data on exit interviews/surveys and in-job interviews with a view to retain staff/gauge job satisfaction
  4. Career development offer and internal job promotion opportunities for staff
  5. Management and leadership prospects for those who are underrepresented
  6. Hybrid working (including more annual leave, flexible approach to working and sabbatical opportunities)

                                    g.        Summary of key performance indicators

Supporting documents: