Agenda item

INFORMATION NOTE OF THE CORPORATE HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGER

To update the Committee on the progress made in the last quarter on the People Strategy 2015 – 2020 which covers the Workforce Development needs.

The Human Resources Operations Manager presented the Information Note entitled People Strategy Update.

The Human Resources Operations Manager presented the Information Note entitled People Strategy Update.

The Human Resources Operations Manager advised that recruitment continued to be busy with several vacancies currently being filled.  The Council now had its online account up and running to pay the Apprentice Levy and to purchase apprentice training in future.  Feedback for a new improved shortlisting process had been positive and the process was now being used for the majority of vacancies.  IT had built the system for online shortlisting for managers, which was being tested and looked very promising, with the hope for a go live date during the autumn of 2017.

The Senior Human Resources & Contracts Manager commented that mandatory gender pay gap reporting was introduced in the public sector from the end of March 2017, with the first set of data needing to be submitted by 31 March 2018.  Discussions were underway with Serco regarding the reporting requirements and a solution was being developed by SAP which was currently being tested and should be available on general release by October 2017.  It would then be tested by Serco and added to the system as part of the patching work that took place at the end of every calendar year.  It was hoped the report would be available for consideration by Human Resources in early January 2018.

The Human Resources Operations Manager reported that the new Regular Performance Review (RPR) had been successfully implemented and had been well received.  95% of RPRS had been completed, and a new set of organisational competencies had been developed and were now in use.

The Human Resources Operations Manager stated that the Learning and Development Team were continuing to develop activities that supported organisational change.  This had included Practical Project Management and Political Awareness workshops.  Further workshops on supporting staff through organisational change were planned for early 2018.  An Institute of Leadership and Management Level 5 Programme had also been completed.

The Human Resources Operations Manager commented that the Learning and Development Team was about to launch a replacementLearning Management System, which would be easier to use.  This new resource for e-learning would be launched on 1 October 2017 for both Members and Officers.  The Council’s Investors in People standard had been renewed under the new standards and the recommendations received in late August 2017 would form the basis of an action plan for further improvements throughout 2017/18 and beyond.

The Human Resources Operations Manager advised that, following a review of the Council’s Home-working Policy, some anomalies had been identified between the original statements of particulars of employment issued to home-workers when the scheme was first introduced, and current policy.  New standard statements of particulars of employment for home-workers had therefore been prepared and would be issued to all current staff who home-worked.

In respect of key performance measures, the Human Resources Operations Manager explained that there had been a significant reduction in staff turnover, and short term absence figures had improved during 2017/18.

The Senior Human Resources & Contracts Manager and Human Resources Operations Manager answered a number of Member’s questions on the report.  They undertook to ensure that Members and Officers were informed of the successful outcome of the Investors in People re-accreditation.