PAGE: 1 REPORT TO: AUDIT AND PERFORMANCE REVIEW COMMITTEE 14 MAY 2014 SUBJECT: BY: EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT UPDATE REPORT CORPORATE DIRECTOR (CORPORATE SERVICES) 1. REASON FOR REPORT 1.1 The Committee is invited to scrutinise and note the progress achieved by the Employee Engagement Programme in carrying out actions aimed at addressing issues arising from the 2013 Employee Survey. 1.2 This report is submitted to Committee in terms of Section J (10) of the Council s Administrative Scheme relating to the scrutiny of Council policies and their effectiveness in meeting the Action Plans of the Council as set out in the Corporate Development Plan. 2. RECOMMENDATION 2.1 The Committee is asked to scrutinise and note the progress achieved in addressing issues arising from the 2013 Employee Survey through the Engagement Programme. 3. BACKGROUND 3.1 Following implementation of the Employee Engagement Programme in January 2011 which was specifically designed to address issues arising from feedback from the workforce through, for example, employee surveys and employee conference events, a report to this Committee on 6 November 2013 considered a review of the programme and a plan of actions to address the issues. The Committee requested that a report be brought back in 6 months detailing progress achieved in carrying out the actions aimed at addressing the response to the survey (paragraph 7 (iv) of the Minute refers). 3.2 The main outcomes from the review of the engagement programme were contained within four main actions: i. Develop a strategic narrative ased on Council 10 year plan and consider core values that would support this
PAGE: 2 ii. iii. iv. Develop Moray management methods to provide consistency of approach but with flexibility to suit local service application Develop options for employee involvement within and across services to enable employees to be heard and have influence Re-focus current senior management meetings as a Leadership Forum where an understanding of the corporate environment and priorities is developed and supported 3.3 A plan was developed that incorporated these actions along with the planned developments already set out for the different elements of the engagement programme. Progress is summarised in Table 1: 3.4 Table 1: Employee Engagement Action Plan - Summary of Progress Element Strong Direction and Culture Overall theme / purpose for Engagement Enhancing Management Activity and Consistency Enhance/Develop Existing Communication Employee Involvement Employee Influence Employee / Management Charter Managers Briefings Teamtalk Progress Initial ideas produced and circulated to group leaders and to CMT/SMT for feedback. 2 responses received. Planned to undertake work as part of leadership forum which has been presented to cmt and is under consideration by them.. Proposal presented to CMT for Leadership Forum and response awaited. First draft of format and specification of issues for inclusion in Moray management methods prepared. Discussion with departments on 2013 Survey results undertaken and management accountability discussed. Framework for reporting employee related performance information in place. Initial research undertaken into use of intranets in other organisations and early discussions with ICT taken place about possible development of interactive elements. Review of current communication styles and methods done. Basic exploration of potential use of focus group format for use as tool to analyse hotspots undertaken. Early consideration of expansion of service visit format within services Proposals to take forward pilot of group work for health and safety. Next stages to develop the focus group tool and clarify with departments the expansion of service visits Listening meetings being developed to adjust to changing environment. Plans in place for expansion to include other staff Employee charter distributed to new starts (except Teachers), available on intranet and Council website. Manager charter superceded by Moray management methods. Annual plan in place. Early work on close links with Leadership Forum underway. Topic diary in place.
PAGE: 3 Service / Learning Visits Employee Conference Chief Executive s Blog / Questions Reaction Management Training & Support Provision and sourcing of supporting information to be developed. Alternatives for services with operational difficulties regarding effective use of Teamtalk to be progressed. Diary of visits for 2014 in place. Proposal to CMT for 2014 conference. Question time facility live Further work required to increase flexibility of C/E Blog with guest slots. Further work required to design and develop quick fix tool. Review of feedback ongoing Development of electronic feedback mechanism to be progressed. Public Sector Leadership Programme continuing in liaison with the University of the Highlands and Islands. 3.5 Reviewing overall progress so far identifies that considerable further work is required to bring forward the developments and improvements contained in the action plan. The timescales on the project plan (see Appendix A) have been set taking account of the level of resource within the HR Section and the high level of recent demands on the service which are anticipated to continue for the foreseeable future. 3.6 The November 2013 report also referred to the results from the 2013 Employee Survey which were mixed. Areas of concern have been highlighted to departments and Heads of Services have undertaken to address these. 3.7 Another issue arising from the 2013 Employee Survey was the response to the questions about victimisation and harassment. The employee survey did not provide details such of the sources of victimisation or harassment nor the nature of the inappropriate behaviours. The Council wants to find out more about what the issues are so we can tackle inappropriate behaviour and the following plan outlines the action proposed to enable the Council to address this issue appropriately and is being implemented from March to June 2014. 4 Steps Action Information Information issued to clarify bullying/harassment, Survey to obtain overview of what is happening and where Tell Us Now Open door to report any issues to: HR service manager local trade union representatives Identify Issues & Review what s reported Actions Investigate individual cases Identify actions to assist Resource the improvement work Make Implement actions
PAGE: 4 Improvements Address individual issues 3.8 Feedback from the established elements of the employee engagement programme for the period July to December 2013 is summarised as follows: 3.8.1 Service Learning Visits staff continue to appreciate the visits from CMT and the Elected Members and in the main consider them worthwhile. Regular issues discussed are: pool car availability, booking and cleanliness; concerns about the current financial position; the pressure of fewer staff and resources but the same amount or more work; procurement (particularly by schools); and the desire to publish good news stories to combat the criticism often received by services in the local press. 3.8.2 Teamtalk the volume of feedback for Teamtalk has decreased significantly. As manager briefings are now well established and should be enabling managers to respond to issues, this is positive. From the feedback received though staff, they have generally found the content interesting, although the relevance to everyday work has been questioned. 3.8.3 Listening Meetings continue to be welcomed and felt to be worthwhile by managers. With no further meetings since feedback was last provided, the next feedback from the sessions starting 16 th April will be incorporated into the next update. 4. SUMMARY OF IMPLICATIONS (a) (b) (c) (d) Moray 2023: A Plan for the Future/Service Plan:This report relates to the provision of support to enable the priorities in the 10 Year Plan to be delivered. It also supports Outcome 16 in the Single Outcome Agreement through workforce planning, service planning, staff engagement and empowerment, Outcome 12 of the Best Value for Moray Corporate Improvement Plan through managing and empowering staff as a key resource supporting the Council to deliver effective and quality services to the people of Moray, and through the Corporate Workforce Strategy and Plan with regard to the Council s commitment to be a good employer. Policy and Legal: There are no policy and legal implications arising from this report. Financial implications: There are no financial implications arising from this report. Risk Implications: There are risk implications related to decreasing staff morale which are heightened during periods of significant change such as the Council is currently experiencing.
PAGE: 5 (e) (f) (g) (h) Staffing Implications: There are no staffing implications arising from this report. Property: There are no property implications arising from this report. Equalities: There are no equalities implications arising from this report. Consultations: The Corporate Management Team have been consulted on the report and agree with the recommendations. Actions will be integrated into the current Employee Engagement Action Plan with timescales adjusted to accommodate the specified resourcing issues (amended copy attached). A copy of this report will be provided to the Trade Unions and they will be consulted with at the next scheduled Local Negotiating Committee of Teachers and Trade Union Officer Group. 5. CONCLUSION 5.1 The Employee Engagement Programme Action Plan has been in place for approximately 6 months. A review of progress to date indicates that there although some developmental work on actions has taken place, due to resourcing constraints the majority of work is still to be completed. The timescales within the action plan have therefore been set to more accurately reflect the possible scale of achievement with the current level of resource available. Author of Report: Frances Garrow, Senior HR Adviser Background Papers: Employee Engagement Programme 2013 (Audit & Performance Review Committee 06-11-13) Ref: Employee Opinion Survey 2013 (on Council intranet)