Agenda item

To consider a report on the progress with Human Resource and Organisational Development issues.

The Head of People and Organisational Development, aided by the Organisational Development Manager, presented a report which provided a general update on Human Resource issues.

The key findings from the Staff Survey had been shared with managers and staff.  The results had revealed areas of strength which could be built upon and also had identified areas of challenge for the Council which would require focus and committed action for improvement.  Managers were currently taking to their teams about the results and discussing ideas about what actions could be taken at a local level or corporately to turn answers into actions. 

The Council’s employee recognition scheme had been reviewed and a new scheme ‘Making a Difference’ was launched on 1 July 2014.  The revised approach included ‘Make my Day’ Instant Recognition, ‘Making a Difference’ Employee/Team of the month and ‘Making a Difference’ Employee/Manager/Team of the year.  The staff survey results had indicated that employees did not always feel valued for the contribution they made and the new recognition scheme aimed to start to re-address some of these concerns.

The A Team Apprentice of the Year Awards ceremony had taken place on 10 July 2014. The A Team Apprentice of the Year had been awarded to Dean Burrows, Social Media apprentice working within the Connecting Cheshire Partnership. The runners up were Aaron Green, Business Admin apprentice working in Procurement, and Chloe Green, Social Media Apprentice working in Workforce Development.

Following the change in legislation regarding the right of apply to work flexibly, which came into force on 30 June 2014, the Policy had been amended to reflect that all employees now had the right to request flexible working regardless of their reasons, as long as they had at least 26 weeks service and had not made a previous application in the last 12 months.  The Committee was asked to provide feedback on the revised policy.  Comments were made in relation to the right of appeal and the effect of the policy on health and safety issues including lone working.

The Corporate Leadership Board (CLB) Appraisal Board had meet in full on 23 June to review the 2014/15 objectives for the Chief Executive, Chief Operating Officer and Strategic Director of Commissioning.  Smaller sub groups of the Committee had also meet to review the 2014/15 objectives for the other members of the CLB.  Mid year reviews with each member of the CLB would be set up for October 2014 followed by end of year assessments during March/April 2014. 

Following the establishment of ANSA, Orbitas, Everybody Sport and Recreation Trust and CoSocius the headcount of staff employed by Cheshire East Council had reduced by 13.72%.  A total of 351 employees had TUPE transferred to ANSA and 24 employees TUPE transferred to Orbitas on 1 April 2014.  On 1 May 2014 693 employees, including casuals, TUPE transferred to Everybody Sport and Recreation Trust and 106 employees TUPE transferred to CoSocius.  Excluding TUPE transfer staff, the staff turnover between April and June 2014 was 2.7%. 

The Council was seeking to introduce a new tool that would help managers manage their structures through interactive organisation charts that drew down on information available in Oracle.  This tool had proven to be very effective in other authorities in terms of ensuing organisation wide consistency of organisation charts, stronger management controls and provide a suite of meaningful management reports which would enable managers not only manage staffing expenditure but also workforce planning and service reviews.

RESOLVED:

That the report be noted