local government pay and workforce strategy survey 2006 annex C - responses to qualitative questions

Transcription

1 local government pay and workforce strategy survey 2006 annex C - responses to qualitative questions

2 local government pay and workforce strategy survey 2006: annex C - responses to qualitative questions The survey was conducted by Local Government Analysis and Research (LGAR) on behalf of the Improvement and Development Agency (IDeA), Local Government Employers (LGE) and SkillsPlus. This survey was designed to provide information on workforce development to support the implementation of the Pay and Workforce Strategy across local government. If you would like to discuss any aspect of this survey, or require further information please contact Dan Wilks on or dan.wilks@lgar.local.gov.uk. Publications resulting from this survey available from LGAR: main report (England, Scotland, Wales) annex a - time series data by country annex b - recruitment and retention detailed findings annex c - responses to qualitative questions

3 Local Government Pay and Workforce Strategy Survey 2006 Authorities response to qualitative questions 2006 The Local Government Pay and Workforce Strategy Survey provides information on workforce development to support the implementation of the strategy across local government. The survey form is a framework which authorities can use to organise or incorporate into their internal data collection systems. The results can be used to inform and develop the people aspects of strategies and policies. Authorities will also be able to use the data for benchmarking and target setting. The Main Report is also available and presents key findings from the survey at The purpose of this annex is to enable individuals to review the full qualitative answers provided by authorities. Authorities that participated in the survey will have received individual authority listings with appropriate contact details to facilitate benchmarking and partnership working. With the exception of police and fire authorities, all local authorities in the UK were invited to participate in the survey. A total of 222 or 47.4% of all 468 authorities participated. 1

4 Contents 1. What is the greatest benefit you have gained from implementing your people strategy so far? If you are not producing a workforce development plan, are you approaching workforce planning in a different way? What is the greatest benefit that you have gained from developing/implementing your workforce development plan? Successful succession planning initiatives in authorities, which have had a markedly positive impact Good examples of skills development in authorities, which have had a markedly positive impact Initiatives taken by your authority, which have successfully tackled recruitment and retention difficulties

5 1. What is the greatest benefit you have gained from implementing your people strategy so far? Given a clear corporate indicator of Workforce Development Needs required to be included in the Council's Performance Management/Service Planning Frameworks. 1. Provides scope for the Council's corporate Workforce Development group - a joint sub group of the corporate joint Consultative Panel 2. Acknowledged as a major consideration for our recent IiP recognition. 1. Consistent approach to managing performance and development 2. Joined up decision making and joint working 3. Integration of corporate priorities in policy and development 4. Increased awareness of diversity and workforce planning 5. Cohesion across departments. Ongoing process, led to financial savings, particularly in recruitment costs. 2. Linkage of HR strategy to Pay & Workforce Development Strategy. 3. Achievement of IIP for whole organisation. Successful management of large organisational change 2. Robust Management Development across all management levels from First Line Supervisor to Chief Officer 3. Increased focus on internal capacity building. A clear framework for communicating and delivering workforce strategy. A coherent approach to People Management issues. A cohesive framework that reinforces a performance culture, consistent standards for people management and the achievement of IIP accreditation. A consistent and collective approach to managing our people and a more holistic approach to aligning the people and the business. A decrease in Turnover and an increase in employee satisfaction. A focus on workforce development across the organisation and corporate commitment. A framework within which to support the Council's objectives. A gradual shift in managers perception of the importance of people in achieving organisational objectives. A more strategic and joined up approach of all HR Strategies, which enables us to articulate them more easily to elected members, trade unions and staff. Sharper focus, clearer accountability and ability to prioritise. Achievement of 4 star CPA rating. IIP. Achievement of full single status implementation, significant improvements to the management of lost working time, Investors in People Countywide accreditation and a focused and strategic HR Directorate aligned to overall business improvement. Addition of strategic focus and senior management buy-in. Agreement on Key Objections. Aligning our work with the council's priorities enhances the status of new HR initiatives. Alignment of HR activities with strategic plan and corporate objectives. All Members, Managers and staff are now aware of the Council's commitment to be an 'employer of choice'. 3

6 An overarching framework and approach to organisational development and people practices. As the Strategy underpins the Authority's wider objectives, the input of HR is mainstreamed and its strategic role recognised. Being able to demonstrate alignment between the OD strategy and the wider corporate strategy and provide the basis for a project management approach to delivering outcomes. Being able to recognise the people management challenges facing the authority in coming years. Benefits have been gained from disseminating the People Strategy via managers, thus securing organisational involvement and commitment. It has enabled workforce planning and contributed to meeting the aims of the Medium Term Financial Strategy. The People Strategy has also had an impact on the consistent handling of people issues across the organisation and this has been conveyed to the workforce. Broxtowe has gone beyond planning and is developing its People Strategy with wide consultation across the organisation. During this current development phase, the involvement of managers and employees, including Trade Union reps in the consideration and debate about the key priorities and themes to enable "buy in" has probably been the greatest benefit as employees feel more involved. Clarity. Clarity for managers over strategic improvement issues and communication with employees over future work plans. Clarity of direction and work streams. Corporate sign up and support to key initiatives included in the strategy. This has made implementation of such initiatives easier. Improved understanding and awareness by managers and members of the importance of good people management and the action being undertaken to support that. Clarity of the work programme for HR and Chief Executives staff working on organisational development work. SMART targets for work and improved mapping of impact measures. All leading to greater awareness of the impact of investment in the workforce. Ability to draw down funding to deliver against these targets Clarity over the development requirement of the workforce and the opportunity to bring together a wide range of interventions to ensure that they are complementary and clearly rooted on delivery of the Council's key priorities and objectives. Clarity over what we do to support the organisations needs and why we do the things we do. Clear and public vision on HR priorities. Clear and transparent people agenda that can be shared/publicised across the whole organisation. Clear links to corporate strategy and business plans which gives HR focus, direction and the ability to prioritise workload and to channel HR resources to maximum effect. Clear management information presented to managers which enables them to make informed decisions. 4

7 Clearer roles and responsibilities and expectations around people management. Defined Leadership priorities and a Leadership & Management Programme. Clearer understanding of outcomes. Buy in by all managers. Employees understanding corporate goals leading to improved performance. Clearly demonstrated how we will move to a commissioning authority, enabled us to clearly identify the HR drivers to achieve the change. Cohesion of various employee relations policies with linkages between Corporate Objectives, each individuals role and values within Council. Compliments the Corporate and Community Plan to achieve the Council's objective through employee engagement to access improvements. Consideration of people issues as key to organisational success. Impetus for key HR issues. Corporate understanding of the value of 'people management' to the success of the Council with consequence enhanced support politically and managerially for the function. Current workforce plan published in 2006, so too early to measure benefits. Currently the Head of Organisational Development post is vacant. The post holder will be responsible for this strategy. Directing HR activities. Due for approval during September Early identification of people implications of major service change. Embedding The Culture of the Organisation. Employee retention, absence reduction, improved training practices, IiP accreditation. Employees have a far greater understanding as to how their role impacts on the organisations success in achieving its stated objectives. Enabling us to shape our future HR service model to best support the delivery of the PMS. Engagement and understanding from all parts of the organisation as to the key challenges facing the authority. Engaging and getting ownership across the Council on key people management issues, and having a means by which resources and actions can be prioritised to ensure there is close alignment between the Council's business objectives and our people management. Engaging with business planning community to integrate processes. Ensuring equal pay. Ensuring that people management objectives are clearly articulated and linked to the strategic objectives of the organisation as a while. Ensuring that the issues are on the agenda at the highest level and in a properly considered way. Everyone is aware of how the people strategy links to the Corporate Business Plan of the authority and their role in delivering effective services to the community. First People strategy approved in July. Integrated with WDP. Enabled us to stand back from the day to day issues and take stock. Is currently a vehicle for discussing resources and how we deliver the service. Focus on priority areas - strong case for budget bidding. Focus, direction, able to manage and improve performance. 5

8 Focus; explicit link to "golden thread"; ability to show that the HR function has added value. Focused people development activity in line with the vision, values and direction of the Council. Focussed the debate about how we can create an environment where our employees are motivated and managed to deliver success. Demonstrating how people management and development practices support delivery of the corporate objectives. Forward planning and buying in from service areas. From our people strategy we have developed a HR Standards of Service Document (detailing our minimum service provision) that will enable us to be more co-ordinated in our approach and enable greater alignment. Contribution based pay is also to be introduced via a new pay structure which aligns with personal performance review attributes. Gain commitment across the whole organisation and more effective management of our key resources. Gaining corporate recognition of the importance of Human Resources and Organisational Development to the future of the Council. Gives direction and focus to the HR function. Allows wider consideration of the HR issues and strategy. Enforces management ownership of people matters rather than them seeing them in isolation and as HR rather than management concerns. Greater clarity of focus on how people management issues both support and influence achievement of the county council's corporate and strategic objectives. Greater focus on the contribution made by people. Greater awareness of competencies needed to work in local government. Has given the authority clear direction in terms of people management and given direction to the Personnel Team. Having a clear agreed measure of progress. Having a single planning structure which links directly to the Council Plan and also that all major organisational development work e.g. pay and reward is linked to the People Management Strategy and reflects the National Local Government Pay and Workforce Strategy. Having a structure to how we manage and involve our people in the future development of the organisation. Helped us to achieve an "excellent" CPA rating. HR working on development of the Corporate Plan. Human Resources are actively supporting major change projects such as Housing Choice and Idea Stores programmes. Had the first ever Council wide staff survey conducted and an action plan being delivered to implement improvements based on feedback received from staff. The Council was awarded Corporate Investors in People Accreditation in January HR are supporting the implementation of the Accommodation Strategy through developing policies on home working and hot-desking. Identifying and co-ordinating within one strategy a variety of plans and activities. Implementation is in its initial phase but the greatest benefit thus far is that the Strategy has enabled management and elected members to focus on the ODPM and Local Government Employers' Organisation priorities which are: Developing 6

9 Leadership Capacity, Developing the skills and Capacity of the workforce, Developing the organisation, Resourcing Local Government and Pay & Rewards Implementation of New Performance Management System. Improved service delivery. Increased commitment to HR Performance Management. In particular we have seen significant improvements to attendance management and greater acceptance from managers that their contribution can make a difference to our BVPI outturn. Introduction of Management Competencies / Realigned Appraisal Scheme / began National Graduate Programme / Maintained Career Trainee Scheme. It demonstrates in words clearly our expectations of managers & people in the organisation. It supports the story of our culture in Corporate Induction. It has been used by Business Units to support ways people behave in the workplace. It establishes the direction of the HR team, senior politicians & managers & provides a starting point for our workforce Development activities. It has raised the profile of our HR service. It focuses HR initiatives on the Council's priorities. It has allowed us to align our workforce planning activities across the Council, develop a cohesive action plan and allocate OD/HR resources sensibly. It has helped to clarify for everyone what our objectives are. It has made the Council pull all of its HR considerations into one place so that they are reflected against each other, prioritised and monitored. We now look strategically at HR management, the progress towards aims is trackable and capable of evaluation. It has provided the Authority with a focused approach to people management which is more inline with corporate priorities and links to the medium term financial plan to ensure that the HR Strategy is deliverable within the constraints of the budget. It has raised the profile of people issues across the organisation. It is called the Workforce Development Strategy - greatest benefit is beginning to be data gathering and providing a more "joined up approach" to what work is being done within the whole City Council. It outlines employment initiatives useful in driving service improvement. It will provide a focus for future activity, align HR work to corporate goals and make the value of HR work more obvious. It will provide a focus for the Council's movement towards a strategic approach to its staffing needs. It led to the development of a workforce strategy and management training programme. Joint working. Just developed but has led to a talent management strategy and a draft workforce development strategy. Key improvements in terms of improved workforce management information, reductions in sickness absence, tackling recruitment difficulties, aligning training and development with organisational objectives. Members -Shared learning - through IDeA Member Development Charter Staff - visible commitment to their development. 7

10 More support for the HR infrastructure within the organisation, ability to strengthen contribution at a strategic level, and better engagement with managers across a range of HR/Workforce Planning activities. Our current strategy was established some 9 years ago and other than raising the profile of HR has now no identifiable benefit. Due for review Our existing strategy was developed and launched in 2004 ahead of the pay and workforce strategy format - we are committed to reviewing this with a view to bringing it in line with the 5 areas of the Pay and Workforce strategy - we believe our strategy so far has benefited our authority demonstrated by a positive staff attitude to working here (latest staff survey) and low turnover (circa 3%)rate for the authority. Our People Strategy has enabled us to Cleary translate priorities from the Corporate Aims into key organisational development and people implications. To ensure we have plans for our key deliverables on people issues and that these are prioritised against the available resource in the service. Our People Strategy has only just been approved, therefore it is too early to comment at this stage. Our Strategy is in print and is being launched on 7 November to the whole Council. However, all along we have consulted with Partners and TU reps. We also gained Senior Management buy in through focus groups, CMT and Members also agreed it. Planning for the future. The new People Strategy has just been produced, covering and incorporates the requirements of the Local Government Pay and Workforce Strategy. Prioritising activities for the personnel dept and giving clarity about why these are important. Provided focus for development of HR priorities and link into workforce development. Provides a focused understanding of the HR's contribution to the organisation. Provides a key direction for the HR service, with measurable targets to improve performance and supported the development of the HR Strategic Partner role. Provides an umbrella under which our other strategies now sit and has removed the fragmented approach to strategy development and implementation. Has allowed staff to see the bigger picture and where their work fits with this. Provides and overarching framework for developing and getting best out of our most important asset, People. Provides clear strategic direction for the services and it's contribution to achieving organisational success in priority improvement areas. Provides structure in the provision of HR and L&D activities. Providing direct link between people management and meeting objectives of the Council. Providing direction and redefining the role of HR&OD. For example developing the Business Partner role within service areas. Recognition of strategy by all parties, e.g. SMT, Members and staff. Recognition organisational development within our overall transforming services programme (this involves reshaping all our services around current customer need, business reprocessing and rehousing our civic centre) - mainly 8

11 implementation of workforce planning within service and financial planning, strong links to performance management, a new pay and reward strategy and package and new look internal communications systems. The board which oversees this is an elected member board. The Head HR is also a permanent member of the extended corporate management team responsible for strategic service planning, corporate performance, resource risk management. Reduced high staff turnover (e.g. in our Cleaning Division, turnover has reduced by 4.1% over the past year. Reduced dependence on agency staff (costs reduced by 50% over the past 3 years). Significant reductions in employee absence; 1.3% for staff; 1.8% for manual workers over the past year. Currently developing total reward systems and to date review of pay systems has increased cost-efficiency and flexible service delivery through a reform of premium payments. Achieved efficiency savings through process redesign. Shared understanding of priorities. Significant increased awareness of how HR can support the organisation to move forward, evidenced by last staff survey. Simplifying the people strategy and linking diversity to the council plan. Solihull is currently refreshing it's People Strategy to incorporate a number of developments designed to harness human capital:- introduction of 60 Change Champions, use of spiral dynamics to review organisational culture, design of Leadership & Management development programme to include Elected Members, revised induction programme for newly appointed managers based on creating well performing teams, HR Wheel attached) four pivotal drivers and work packages, HR Performance Plan. Some of the benefits that we have achieved to date include: people have a better understanding of how they fit within the organisation, they are developing in line with organisational objectives and there has been a shift in culture towards on emphasis on skills and behaviour (achieved through implementation of organisational development strategy and competency framework). The full impact has not yet been realised. Strategic direction for the organisation as a whole. Greater awareness for workforce planning. Strategic priorities established for the HR Workforce. Supported the delivery of key targets contained in the strategic plan. In particular, cultural/structural change. Supporting the wider move to a whole council alignment around the strategic objectives. The activity of developing the People Strategy has raised the profile of strategic human resource management within the Council. There is a consensus about the people management and development priorities for the Council which are now addressed strategically through a chief officer level boarded chaired by the Chief Executive (the Personnel Board) which was created to oversee the development and implementation of the People Strategy. There is a clear understanding of the contribution of good people management and development to performance improvement and the People Strategy is one of the building blocks of the Council's Improvement Plan. Better links are beginning to be made between strategic activities across the Council which is being promoted through a strategic OD programme which has the support of the chief officers and senior members of the executive. 9

12 The Authority has been examined (December 2005) and re-awarded the Investor in People award on a corporate basis. This being the third review that will take us up to September The IiP report highlighted good employment practices. Our Personnel Services have been highlighted by the Wales Audit Office as an exemplar of practice in respect of:- corporate sickness absence management, people development, unsung heroes awards. The authority is becoming more forward thinking and proactive rather then reactive. The development of an overarching approach to HR. Acted as a driver for a wide range of initiatives on HR matters. Growth of a more strategic HR outlook that has raised the profile of HR across the authority. The greater awareness of people issues across the Council. A structured approach to policy development and the difference the staff make to the overall performance of the Council. The HR Strategy is designed to support the achievement of the Council's objectives within the medium term corporate strategy. The main benefit is our approach to people management is being aligned to ensure continuous improvement in the delivery of services through our employees. The implementation of our three year personnel strategy in 2004 has enabled us to achieve level 4 of the CRE equalities standard. The People Strategy (which has 8 strategic objectives) is designed to support the council's aim key aim of improving the quality and value of services it provides to the people of Somerset and provides a framework for applying effective people management practice. The Corporate Workforce Development Plan and the Staff and Management Charter complement the People Strategy. The People Strategy addresses the 5 priorities of the Pay and Workforce Strategy and ensures the Authority has a committed capable and skilled workforce which is focused on achieving the Council's objectives. The People Strategy is closely linked to the Council Plan. Tying the two together helps Directorates/managers understand the critical link between good people management and improving performance of our people and the Council. The preparation and development of the people strategy has raised the profile of people management within the authority and highlighted the risks to the organisation of getting it wrong. The strategy has helped align our work to the business needs and raise the profile of HR within the organisation. It also given the HR service clear defined objectives. The strategy links to other Corporate Strategies/Plans and hence helps to achieve the Authority's Key Objectives. The strategy supports the Council's Transformation Programme to achieve a more customer centred organisation. This 3rd consecutive strategy. The greatest achievement has been ensuring all our people management activities are focussed on achieving the council aims and a shift to proactively as opposed to reactivity. This is evolving all the time and we will be linking performance to on-line appraisal systems and analysing the gap in skills to develop the workforce going forward. 10

13 To date we have drafted an HR strategy and an OD strategy, we are in the process of amalgamating these into the top level people strategy. This will give the overall direction and vision of HR for the council and workforce development plans will then be aligned to the strategic vision throughout the organisation. To ensure that the HR function is integral to the Council's business, not reactive to it. Using the people strategy for service planning purposes has helped focus on the priority areas that we need to develop/implement. Variety of benefits- some not measurable- e.g. extensive use of worklife balance policy - improving recruitment and retention. Sickness absence levels reduced by 1 day - through targeted application of policy. Variety of performance improvements, but not possible to identify particular source of improvement, result of a number of factor. We are currently working on our second People Management strategy covering 2007/2010. The first identified key people management issues and linked to the Council's vision and values for the period 2004/2007. It provided strategic direction on how the HR function should assist the Council to meet it's objectives. In that regard, the Council's CPA rating was recently upgraded to three star or 'good' We have achieved IiP status; three charter Marks and two quest accreditations. We have one of the highest staff attendance records in local Government in Northern Ireland at 96%. We have been able to progress various initiatives and achieve the aims and objectives of our modernisation programme. Which has resulted in us being the first authority in Surrey to achieve IiP under the new indicators. We have yet to realise the greatest benefit as the strategy is still in early development along with workforce planning. We recognised that the way to deliver improvements is through people and there was a need to build capacity. We acknowledged we could only do this if clear links were denied between our service plans and our people plans. Implementing our people strategy has meant that 'people' issues are high up on the corporate agenda and are given priority when strategic planning take place (both service and financial). People management is now fully integrated into service planning. Wider publication within the authority of our current workforce picture and future HR objectives. Generated discussion on the same at Senior levels. Ability to focus on key issues for the Council. Agreement on key actions and priorities from a wide group of stakeholders. Workforce issues now form part of the Service planning process and a framework for developing the whole workforce is being put in place 11

14 2. If you are not producing a workforce development plan, are you approaching workforce planning in a different way? Approached at a departmental level. Each department has its own employee development group and IiP working group. As part of HR Strategy. Corporately addressing generic skills - occupational skills down to each service to address separately Currently have a training plan which needs to be more focused on priorities against corporate objectives and evaluated accordingly. The People Strategy will drive this initiative Currently included in People Strategy and service plans. Revising format of people strategy / workforce development plan Framework in place from September 2005, interim draft in place from October Consultation taking place October - March Final version in place by April Incorporated into Business Plan for each Division. Much work has been included within service plans although we plan to produce a single document as part of a review of service to take place in Note: references to the workforce development plan capture two documents in Southwark - Workforce Plan & OD Strategy. These documents are being reviewed this financial year and will be pulled into one document in line with the principles of the Local Government Pay & Workforce Strategy. Our Personnel Strategy includes elements of workforce development and specific workforce development plans are being created by our Learning and Development Team. It is envisioned that this will encompass the whole workforce. Our workforce Development Plan forms part of our overall HR/OD Strategy Action Plan. Our workforce development plan is the authority is covered by our transforming services programme, which oversees the implementation of workforce planning, performance and reward management, as outlined above. The priority for workforce development for this year and next year is our leadership programme. We have already completed this for Directors and their direct reports. The latter have opted to continue their development and cross directorate problem solving through action learning. The next level of managers are currently getting 360 degree feedback and planning their development, which we are meeting through tailored interventions. People Strategy and Implementation Plan. Plan completed early 2006, organic document currently being redeveloped to align with new organisation development strategy. Service plan; performance review and development plans; succession planning; IIP; Chartermark. Some elements of the workforce planning is incorporated within the People strategy but we are now incorporating workforce development within service planning and will have a corporate plan by end of

15 Still in the planning stages and getting commitment to PWS as a whole. Do expect to finalise a PWS strategy including workforce development plan once the corporate objectives and resources are agreed expected early The approach to Work Force Planning has been discussed and agreed in principle with the Corporate Management Team and features as one of six Key Deliverables within the HRE Performance Plan, this will progressively be developed throughout 2006/07. The SMBC Framework includes a SIX STEP process:- Data collection, Assessment of current position, Future needs & Scenario Planning, Gap Analysis, Strategy and Action Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation. The Children's Trust- have a PCT led draft workforce strategies for children. Social Services produced its workforce plan in 2003/4 which is on our website. The workforce development plan will be produced via: 1 HR Strategy 2 Children's workforce strategy. This is contained within the Corporate Training Plan. Through Corporate Policy + Financial Plan (3 year plan). We are in the process of reviewing and refining our first version. Children's Workforce Strategy is more clearly defined. We are looking to implement some of the key strands of the strategy, primarily a pay and reward strategy which we are hoping to implement in Similarly we have rolled out a major training and development function in 2005 and a Competency Framework to develop the skills and capacity of the organisation. We do action planning in each directorate and in multi agency groups focused on adults services and children's trust. We will be producing a workforce plan but we are behind target on this initiative Workforce development plan driven by personal development reviews with the participation of all employees within the process and as agreed by the corporate/community plan objectives. Workforce Development planning is currently part of the Business/Service Planning process - so plans exist within each Service although more successfully in some than in others. A whole council (higher level) plan is currently being developed. Workforce Development Strategy / Action Plan produced July Revised document currently on-going which has Corporate Management Team ownership and will be based on their priorities for the whole Authority. Workforce planning activities are inherent in the strategic and operational work our HR unit undertakes. We have a wide range of policies, procedures and documents which support workforce development and are in the process of formulating this into a plan. 13

16 3. What is the greatest benefit that you have gained from developing/implementing your workforce development plan? Evidence of where skills shortages exist 2. Developed processes & methodology to implement successful work force planning across the authority in line with current change programme 3. Corporate approach to workforce planning that is aligning work already done in Social Care. A greater clarity on our workforce priorities. A more systematic approach which ensures greater value for money from the investment we make on recruitment initiatives and training. Ability to draw down funds based around identified priority areas and provide an integrated delivery approach re workforce development. Reduced turnover rate. Improvements in all employee metrics. Ability to focus resources to areas of identified need. Again, too many organisational changes to assess. An awareness of staff that if they want to develop in a certain field succession planning is actively promoted and staff progressed internally. An improvement in attracting and retaining people in areas where there are shortages of skilled/experienced/ qualified workers. Answers above are based on workforce planning undertaken within Social Services Health and Housing only. As outline before we are launching on 7th November, however so far the greatest benefit is how its development links directly to the achievement of the Council's corporate strategic priorities. The Strategy for People clearly states the Council s people management, learning and development objectives and demonstrates the links to the Council s Corporate Priorities. It also takes into consideration Internal and External drivers for Change and the requirements under the Local Government Pay and Workforce Strategy together with the requirements under the Corporate Assessment. Provides structure and consistency. As we are developing our workforce plan, we are identifying training gaps and will be able to act on these Assisting in developing a more strategic approach to HR. Growth in joined-up thinking. Better quality management information to support decision making processes. Consolidation of HR policies relating to change management to provide better toolkits and frameworks for managers and supervisors. Better targeting of training. Better understanding of the true cost of a member of staff. Better understanding of what is needed for the future. Budget allocation and resources; heightened profile of strategic HR issues; broadens debate; provides a process that can be adapted to a more local micro level. Career Grades implemented as part of workforce development plan within Planning Services has greatly improved retention rates. 14

17 Clarification of skill shortages. Corporate support and commitment to the plan through management board and elected members. The plan is monitored and implemented through a cross directorate working group. Clarity and prioritisation. Clarity for the future. Broad overview of skills we need to develop. Clarity of commitment and challenges. Clarity over investment in management development. Clearer understanding of needs and priorities - both short and long term. Greater line management ownership. Clearly set out targets to work to. Commitment from MT to better corporate training. Consideration and recognition of people issues by senior managers. A forward plan for tackling identified medium to longer term people issues e.g. leadership, recruitment and retention, competencies. Corporate priorities for development based on identified need. Current plan published in 2006, so too early to measure benefits. Departments are able to more proactively identify, and then plan for, their priority HR issues. Developing leadership capacity and developing the skills and capacity of the workforce. Developing the organisation in general for example publishing a new Corporate H&S Policy, Corporate Meetings Framework and a revised organisational change procedure. Improved resourcing such as recruitment of local unemployed job seekers and promoting career opportunities at local recruitment fairs. Development in progress and, although full benefits are yet to be realised, it is clear that instigating and carrying out the planning process will help the Council ensure it's workforce is capable of meeting it's objectives. Direct link to Workforce Planning and strategic integration with the Corporate Strategy, the Annual Delivery Plan and Equality and Diversity Agenda and Local Area Agreement targets. Downward trend in vacancy rates in hard to fill areas, downward trend in turnover rates in hard to fill areas (Social Care). Each employee and Councillor has the opportunity to have a personal development plan which links to their individual needs and aspirations and the Council's key priorities. Employee retention, Absence reduction, Improved training practices and IiP accreditation. Employees equipped with the skills they need now and in the future, action plans related to equalities issues. Enables us to identify our capacity and capability pressures. Enabling employees through discussion with managers to identify how they contribute to the community planning process and to wider business and corporate objectives. Engaged more managers in strategic thinking and visioning for the future. Increased score on use of resources assessment. Ensuring that the Council recognises the future skill requirements and to consider where there are gaps within the existing workforce. Focus on priority issues. 15

18 Focussed cost effective development targeted to achieving business goals. Improved overall performance of the organisation. 4 star status CPA. Future planning to support and achieve key objective and maintain an effective workforce. Greater acknowledgement of need to prioritise and link development of workforce to corporate objectives. Plus need to ensure learning and development identified in Service Delivery Plans includes how the impact on performance will be evaluated. Greater awareness of challenges the Council faces i.e. recruitment, retention, need for succession planning etc. Ability to focus resources accordingly. Greater focus and attention on thinking about future workforce needs and service developments but also clarity about profile and make up of the existing workforce. Greater match between competency and workforce needs. Greater understanding and dialogue of the interrelationships of the different aspects. Elected member improvement of engagement. Greater understanding of and involvement with trade union branch. Managers more prepared to consider career development posts and this has been successfully implemented in some areas. Full advantage has been taken of the skills for life programme. Has drawn together the rather disparate approach to workforce and succession planning that previously existed. Enabled a more effective use of training and development resources and removed the differential treatment staff have received in the past. Helped us to focus on priorities for Corporate Workforce Development and helped raise awareness of Workforce Development across the Authority. Highlighted areas of concern where further work is required. Identification and planning financial, and other, resources to meet the learning needs of the organisation. Identification of changing needs, Identification of skill gap, Identification of the differing requirements/application of workforce planning. Identification of how we can address and also plan for the skills we require in the future. Identification of those staff where not qualified to NVQ level 2, developing and remodelling Street Scene. Identified workforce profile and identified gaps in present systems. The action plan outlines what needs to be done to ensure we employ the right people in right place at the right time. Identifying and co-ordinating activities within different Services. Identifying areas of concern through the workforce planning activity and work on the Council's workforce demographics. Identifying Corporate training and development needs. Ensuring development plans are directly linked to achievement of Corporate goals. Identifying realistic timeframes for achievements. Implementation is in its initial phase but the greatest benefit thus far is that the Strategy has enabled management and elected members to focus on the ODPM and Local Government Employers' Organisation priorities which are: Developing 16

19 Leadership Capacity, Developing the skills and Capacity of the workforce, Developing the organisation, Resourcing Local Government and Pay & Rewards. Improved skills availability and service improvement. Increased talent development, individual staff satisfaction, skills development linked to succession planning. It has highlighted areas difficult to recruit to. It helps to bring together in a clear and coherent way the authority's work in terms of the recruitment, retention and development of staff. It will provide an information assessment of workforce requirements locally and gaps, so that longer term strategies can be developed and implemented to meet these needs. Learning needs identified. Lifelong learning partnership with trade unions and the development of job families, aligned to reward and recognition initiatives. Succession planning is equipping internal candidates to perform well in open recruitment process. A large percentage of scheme participants have obtained improved roles in and out of County. Link to Corporate Plan objectives. Linking HR and Business Planning. Raising the awareness of HR issues in ensuring that business objectives are deliverable. Linking workforce development with service plans and strategic plans departments preparing own more detailed plans highlighting development requirements especially ready for more comprehensive workforce data. Links and consistency in business planning. Managers are now aware of workforce planning issues and taking action through a co-ordinated approach to such issues as recruitment difficulties, retention and building capacity through skills development. Managers taking account of staff development needs. North Wiltshire District Council is in the early stages of under taking the design of a Comprehensive Workforce Development Plan and thus as yet cannot be certain what its greatest benefit will be although a strategy for tackling skill shortages and career progression is anticipated as a key benefit. Once our workforce development plans are complete we hope to achieve a more proactive, less reactive approach to workforce development. This will provide a more structures resourceing and development plan. Only small elements of workforce planning have been undertaken so far such as career discussions, career focused PDP' this has increased the moral of employees which is measured through a staff satisfaction survey. We are currently establishing a centralised customer services function and we are expecting some significant benefits to be in place once this has been completed. Opportunity for all service areas to review their workforce needs. Our initial plan (Corporate Overview) was intended to drive more detailed work - doing this has fed into a change project to formalise the drive to service level examination. Over all experiences from what other LA have developed and what WDC need. Please see comments above. Although we do not have a written workforce development plan, workforce development is a significant part of our HR strategy 17

20 and the priorities for workforce development have senior management and Member commitment. Proactive approach to tackling skills shortages and stringer alignment to Councils activities with the Councils aims. Provides a clear and targeted programme of activity and timescales within which to complete them. Providing managers with management information to assist them in forward planning. Pulling together a variety of activities already taking place or planned and generating internal discussion that may otherwise not have happened. Raised awareness across the authority regarding workforce planning. Established Leadership & Management Development Programme. Staff development at all levels is focussed towards the organisations corporate aims and priorities. Raised profile of workforce issues in Directorates and the need to plan for future resourcing. Raised profile of workforce planning within Council. Enabled links to be made between training, recruitment and workforce profiling and corporate priorities. Allowed HR priorities to be more focussed against corporate priorities. Raised the profile and importance of workforce strategy and identified the priorities. Raising the profile of workforce development, gaining contributions from all parts of the organisation and achieving political ownership and direction. Recognising and identifying the impact we have on improving employment opportunities for those who have been long term unemployed in the community (worklessness). Reduced fragmentation/better cohesion/greater efficiency/greater crossfertilisation in unified approach to workforce planning and recruitment issues. Reduced turnover, improved employee and user satisfaction survey responses, improved competency levels of staff. Reinforced our focus for the next five years. Research and development work has highlighted areas where problems are going to occur with skills shortages particularly in terms of senior management posts. This in turn has meant that planning for the future will be able to take place at an appropriate time. Service areas leading and taking responsibility to actively drive the process in areas. It is too early to identify organisational benefits at this stage in the process but clearly within services the emphasis is upon longer term skill needs. Service excellence (CPA 'Excellent'). Shared understanding of priorities. showing a commitment and seriousness to employee development at all levels. similar to comments re. People Strategy. We see the two interlinked. We also have an OD Plan from Skills for Life. Skills gaps addressed. Staffordshire County Council is in the midst of a huge modernisation and change agenda, the pace and size of which is set to continue growing for the foreseeable future. The Workforce Development Plan continues to support and underpin the organisations development review and future investment strategies 18

21 to ensure we have the right people with the right skills in the right place at the right time. Still being developed although would say links being more clear with people resources and business planning. Still in planning phase. Structure and Measurable approach. The ability to pre-plan the handling of workforce issues and movement in terms of increasing or decreasing staffing levels. It has also enabled the organisation to identify and plan for future skills requirements. The achievement of our targets in relation to: Civic Leadership and representation, Improving lifestyle and the environment, creating opportunity for Employment. Developing the infrastructure of the District. The better linking of development/training with service delivery and capacity building. Also a centralised and consistent approach to employee development. The Council's Workforce Plan includes the provisions of the Local Government Pay and Workforce Strategy and work has been progressing on this since The greatest benefits gained so far have been around Training and Development and Absence Management strategies where the Leadership and Core skills programmes have been launched and sickness absence has reduced by 3.6%. Also new Flexible Working (Lifewise) policies have been introduced and health and wellbeing initiatives. The greatest benefit will be that we are best placed and well equipped to deliver outcomes for the community through our people. A consequence for our people will be rewarding and fulfilling careers. The highest level gain as part of our current service approach to WFP is the identification of skill gaps to sustain service delivery, the identification of a wide range of "growing our own" initiatives and OD interventions including blended learning approaches to utilise talent also the heightened awareness of and need for accurate data and scenario planning to predict and plan service delivery based on changing community needs. The involvement & engagement of senior managers in delivering workforce planning actions. The ODPM framework was useful to help us think future and outward rather than get bogged down with our situation. The People Strategy is the City Council s formal resourcing strategy and aims to ensure the Authority has a committed capable and skilled workforce which is focused on achieving the Council s objectives. This is being built upon as our approach to workforce. The plan is still in its infancy and we are not able to comment. The use of Workforce Development Plans in the allocation of training bids each financial year ensuring most effective use of training budgets. The WDP is a reminder of the wider context in which development of individuals exists and takes it rationale. The targets the plan aspires to can be used as a prompt to action and progress. The Workforce Development Plan has provided clarity over how the people management strategy is delivered across the whole workforce. An action plan included provides focus as to how we will develop the skills of people at all levels, how we will plan for our future workforce requirements and how we will seek to 19