Agenda item

(Director of Resources) to consider the attached report updating the Committee on the Council’s Apprentices; the Graduate Trainee; the Shared HR Services; the Mast Money Budget; and on Employee Engagement.

Paula Maginnis, the Assistant Director (Human Resources) introduced a report updating the Committee on various corporate projects and area of work carried out by the HR Team.

Apprentices - The Committee noted that the first cohort of apprentices (2013-15) had now successfully finished their apprenticeships. The council appointed 7 business administration apprentices and 2 multi trade apprentices.  The business administration roles would provide a range of transferable skills and thus offer more opportunities for employment.

They were issued with fixed-term contracts for a maximum of 2 years. The aim of the apprenticeship programme was to ensure that the apprentices were recruited to permanent positions in the Council. In the end 8 out of 9 apprentices passed their qualifications. The one who did not had left early in the programme.

The second cohort has now been appointed and it had been decided that it would be just for local young people who would do appropriate NVQs at the local college. There was not as much money around to fund as many places as last time but they received some help from the Communities Directorate in conjunction with a Housing Association and were able to fund two more places, but these places were reserved for the children of their tenants. This time around, the apprentices’ progress would be monitored more closely.

In between the cohorts, in 2014, the Council agreed to participate in the National Graduate Development Programme, a 2 year national management trainee programme for high calibre graduates. Managers were required to bid to have the graduate for 6 months. He has now completed 2 of his 4 placements. Currently he is working in Communities researching the impact of an aging population on the Council’s services. His final placement will be working with the Head of Transformation.

No decision has been made as to whether the Council participates in the National Graduate Programme 2016.

In response to questions asked, the committee noted that:

·         The apprentices are paid above the minimum required. They are separately funded by HR and not the directorates;

·         The first cohort was very enthusiastic and intelligent and were willing to give everything a go and worked well;

·         Ms Maginnis would check to see if the Council received any grants for the apprentices;

·         Planning was running their own graduate programme and were looking to take on two trainee planners.

Shared Services – HR – the HR team participated in the Essex network of the heads of HR the Essex Strategic Partnership for a number of years. In 2010 the partnership reviewed its governance arrangements and agreed to develop it into a not for profit company.

The aim of setting up a not for profit organisation was so that;

§  it could generate its own income so it becomes self-sufficient;

§  it could provide value for money for the member authorities in any contractual arrangements;

§  Heads of HR can work more collaboratively and achieve greater savings for their authorities; and

§  It provides a formal framework for the Heads of HR, limiting the risks and liabilities for individual authorities.

The Partnership established VineHR and there are currently 7 Directors managing the business. Councils are the shareholders and had a liability of just £1 each. Since the establishment of VineHR, it has undertaken 2 significant procurement exercises for the following;

§  E-Learning Platform;

§  Framework of management training providers.

Using the framework, the Council has trained 54 managers and potential managers through the ILM management and leadership programmes and our internal coaches/mentors, of which we have 15, also attend ILM coaching/mentoring programmes. They were able to provide this training by working with others collectively.

The Council’s Assistant Director (HR) took the lead to commission mental health awareness training for managers on behalf of VineHR which 140 of its managers will attend as part of the sickness absence improvement plan.

The Council’s Learning and Development Manager, a member of VineHR’s Training Project Team, successfully put together the ILM programmes and commissioned/organised a range of Masterclasses on a wide range of subjects.

In response to questions asked, the committee noted that:

·         VineHR provides a lot of help to the Town and Parish Councils, for which they are able to buy services;

·         All Parish and Town Councils were aware of VineHR and the services they provide.

Procurement of a HR/Payroll IT System – it was noted that the current payroll IT system was not fit for purpose and that they were presently in discussions with Colchester and Braintree Council’s with the aim of jointly  procuring a system. The evaluation process was due to be finalised before Christmas with an implementation/start date early in the new financial year.

Broxbourne – officers were having initial discussions with Broxbourne Council to identify potential areas where we could work together and find efficiencies. They currently provide museum services for us and it may be we can work closer with them.

Mast Money Budget – it was noted that the Council receives rent from communications companies for the lease of space on the Civic Offices roof for a communications mast. Members have agreed that any money from this lease would be allocated to projects that would benefit the staff. Last year a £20 gift voucher was purchased from Marks and Spencer at Christmas for each member of staff. Subsequently, discussions had taken place at the Joint Consultative Committee and via an employee consultation exercise regarding future use of this budget. The outcome of the survey showed that that the 3 most popular suggestions were: Gift Cards, a Benefit Portal and Health Checks. The advantage of all three suggestions is that they can apply equally to all staff regardless of their location.

In response to questions asked, the committee noted that:

·         The Council has tried to get the Directors to write to all staff that had not taken any sick leave, but this had not worked. Any incentive to not go sick would become an attendance bonus and would be a difficult call to make. Currently we were looking at the sickness target and are training managers in how to handle their staff. Trying to look at this in a different way.

·         Away days, team building courses have been held for managers and management Board, but not generally for staff.

Councillor Stavrou commented that it was easier to make the workplace better in little ways like supplying biscuits and coffee etc. There has recently been a lot of anxiety about the Transformation Policy but this should settle down now.  We could also look into something like having a staff discount for gym membership.

Employee Engagement – The Graduate Trainee organised Employee Engagement Workshops to involve staff and were run from April to June 2015 to gain feedback from employees on a range of engagement centred topics. There were 62 employees who attended the workshops across five different sessions. The workshops were targeted to include a range of employees across the authority e.g. different; locations, grades, roles and areas of work. There were a further two more workshops presented to Leadership Team and JCC.

Employee Survey – As part of the work on the Engagement Strategy the Graduate Trainee was tasked with carrying out the Employee Survey. During the workshops referred to previously employees where asked their views on obstacles to completing the survey.

Unfortunately, despite taking all the comments on board, the response rate was lower than the previous staff survey (58% in 2013 compared to 32% in 2015). The Joint Consultative Committee has requested that those employees who did not participate are asked why they did not.

RESOLVED:

(1)          That the Committee noted the update report on Apprentices; the Council’s Graduate Trainee; Shared Services in Human Resources; the Mast Money Budget and Employee Engagement activity; and

(2)          That the apprentices, along with the Graduate Trainee be asked to give a presentation to this Select Committee at their April 2016 meeting.