1.      INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND

1.1     The key themes of the Workforce Strategy are:

·         Organisation culture and change;

·         Resourcing;

·         Development, and

·         Reward.

1.2     There has been progress in all of these areas most of which is cross cutting and affects more than one of the themes, particularly ‘Organisation culture and change’ and ‘Development’.

1.3     One of the Council’s STRIVE values is Equality and we are proud to have been able to meet the new legislative requirement to produce our Gender Pay Gap information well within the governments deadline. The Ccouncil has regularly reported the equal pay data in its equality information but there is now a statutory requirement for all employers with more than 250 employees to report this publicly.

1.4     In 2016 we changed the appraisal template for all staff and introduced the ‘Developing Everyone’ framework. This new format reinforces the need for career and succession planning at all levels. It also helps to identify the ‘rising stars’ in the organisation to encourage a more structured approach to supporting their development for the future. All staff have access to development but this group are offered a wider range of opportunities that will take them out of their immediate job role. The Developing Everyone framework has been working well to help this longer term focus.    

1.5     The ‘One Council’ summer session was held for the first time in Mote Park and staff had the opportunity to hear several external speakers on the council’s ‘Love Maidstone’ theme. These sessions are very important to ensure that employees get a sense of the wider organisation and the council priorities and know how they fit into that. One of the sessions was a first taste of a development programme that will be run during 2018 for staff at any level in the organisation and is designed to encourage a ‘growth mind-set’; an area identified as crucial for developing the organisations culture to a ‘can-do’ position. The programme is being piloted at the Depot and in Revenues and Benefits to determine its impact.

1.6     The annual staff awards and One Council update will be held at Lockmeadow on the 21 February 2018, this event is enjoyed by both staff and members and gives the opportunity to recognise the great contribution our team members have made to achieving the council’s objectives and delivering great services to the public. This has become an important part of reinforcing our culture and values.

1.7     In the last update it was reported that the Ccouncil had developed and rolled out Resilience Training for staff and managers (two separate programmes) and that this had been well received. This is as a direct response to the fact that stress and anxiety have been our highest causes of sickness absence for several years. A further development has taken place since the last report. In October 2017 the council signed the ‘Time to Change’ pledge which is a national initiative designed to change attitudes to mental health issues. The Ccouncil will need to develop an action plan for the seven principles:

·           Demonstrate senior level ‘buy in’

·           Demonstrate accountability and recruit employee champions

·           Raise awareness about mental health issues

·           Update and implement policies to address mental health problems in the workplace

·           Ask staff to share personal experiences of mental health problems

·           Equip line managers to have conversations about mental health

·           Provide information about mental health and signpost to support services.

1.8     In the process of working towards the action plan we have supported the accreditation of the Learning and Development Officer to become a Train the Trainer for Mental Health First Aiders which means that we will be able to develop a group of staff who are able to give initial support and then signpost to the right agencies.

1.9     The annual Wellbeing week has been arranged to take place during 19^th to 23^rd February 2018.  A number of events have been organised across the council to promote the importance of being healthy and active.  The aim of the week is to raise awareness on wellbeing by arranging opportunities for staff to get involved in activities that will improve their fitness, mental health and their overall wellbeing. 

1.10 In October 2017 employees were asked to complete the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) Stress at Work survey. This was last run in 2011 and 2012 and the results show a fairly consistent picture across the three years with marginal negative change in the areas of ‘Control’ and ‘Change’ and a positive improvement in ‘Manager Support’. Given that the pace of work has increased significantly in the last six years and resources have reduced it is a positive outcome to see that the results are so stable and have not declined significantly.

2.        AVAILABLE OPTIONS

2.1     The Committee is asked to note the progress to date, and agree that work continues on the current action plan. Members could substitute alternative actions or add to the existing ones.

3.        PREFERRED OPTION AND REASONS FOR RECOMMENDATIONS

3.1     The preferred option is for the Committee to note the developments and support the on-going work.

4.       RISK

4.1    The risks associated with this proposal, including the risks if the Council does not act as recommended, have been considered in line with the Council’s Risk Management Framework. We are satisfied that the risks associated are within the Council’s risk appetite and will be managed as per the Policy.

5.       CONSULTATION RESULTS AND PREVIOUS COMMITTEE FEEDBACK

5.1     The Workforce Strategy was developed with input from the managers in the organisation and discussed with both the trade unions and Staff Forum.

6.       NEXT STEPS: COMMUNICATION AND IMPLEMENTATION OF THE DECISION

6.1     Developments based on the Workforce Strategy are regularly communicated to managers and staff through Wakey Wakey, Team Talk activities, consultation with trade unions Staff forum and by email.

7.       CROSS-CUTTING ISSUES AND IMPLICATIONS

8.        REPORT APPENDICES

The following documents are to be published with this report and form part of the report:

·         Appendix I: Workforce Plan update

9.        BACKGROUND PAPERS

Workforce Strategy

http://aluminum:9080/documents/s49435/Enc.%201%20for%20Workforce%20Strategy%202016-2020.pdf