Agenda item

Purpose of report: Policy Development and Review

The purpose of this report is to understand how we can find out how staff are feeling and what everyone can do to improve staff morale. The activities listed in this summary report are being developed as part of our People Strategy 2013 – 2018. The recently refreshed strategy emphasises the ways we are nurturing, supporting and equipping our people to meet the council’s vision to deliver great value for Surrey residents.

Declarations of interest: None.

Witnesses: Carmel Miller, Head of HR & OD

Key points raised during the discussion:

1.    The Vice-Chairman explained that there were three strands of work for the Committee to consider over the year relating to Human Resources (HR) which were; the role of HR in the morale and wellbeing of staff, how HR makes a difference to residents, and pay and rewards, including benchmarking with other local authorities. Furthermore, work was being done to make sure reports from HR were briefer to ensure Members received the information that was necessary.

2.    The Head of HR & OD informed the Committee that Surrey County Council was a good employer, and improvement had been seen particularly in the last four years. This was due to a number reasons including; competitive rates of pay, training, flexible working and employee support. Despite these improvements she was keen to stress that it was important the organisation did not become complacent, and were in the process of building upon the Surrey’s People Strategy to ensure the Council was able to be one of the best local authorities to work for.

3.    There were 183 work places within Surrey County Council and it was important to ensure every area was of a high quality and staff felt motivated and connected to the rest of the organisation.

4.    The Employee Survey 2012 showed Surrey County Council had some way to go as regards “I feel I can influence change”.  It was important staff feel empowered to have a voice about how their service can improve and change..

5.    Members raised concerns over the working practices of the Highways department as it was often difficult to get in contact with officers. The Head of HR stated that she was working with Jason Russell, Assistant Director of Highways, to implement a culture change within the department. A deep dive diagnostic had been completed and the issues had been identified. Management skills were being developed to improve staff morale and the delivery of services.

6.    Members felt it was important to not just concentrate on high level development as staff often required assistance with the development of basic skills and knowledge.

7.    The Committee queried how many people had felt they had been bullied and what was being done to minimise this figure. Members were informed that 15% of employees felt they had experienced bullying, which was relatively low in comparison to the BBC which had a level of 40%. The Head of HR confirmed this was a priority for the next four years and all managers would be undergoing training to enable them to challenge inappropriate behaviour. Furthermore, the council is exploring a new “Restorative” approach to dealing with conflict at work which could be much more effective than the current “adversarial” approach  which neither staff nor management found helpful in resolving problems and performance issues at work.

Recommendations:

a)    The Committee receive a report on Surrey’s People Strategy at a future meeting.

Action by: Head of HR & OD

Actions / further information to be provided:

The Committee to be provided with a copy of Surrey’s People Strategy.

Committee next steps: None.