To provide an update on Learning and Development activity during 2018/19 and Investors In People Gold Assessment.

There was submitted a report by the Deputy Chief Executive (Corporate Services) (A.1) presented to the Committee by the Organisational Development Manager (Carol Magnus) which provided it with an update on Learning and Development activity during 2018/19 and the Investors in People Gold Assessment.

Learning and Development Activity

It was reported that throughout the financial year 2018/19 a number of new courses had been centrally organised as part of the Organisation Development function. One of the main areas for attention had been that of giving more junior or less experienced staff skills training on note-taking, report writing and handling conflict.

Priorities during this period had included increasing the Authority’s understanding of, and support for, mental health related issues which had culminated in the organisation signing the Time To Change Pledge in January 2019. A significant focus had been on preparing staff to work more flexibly and with greater autonomy. Two programmes had been key to this: InDependence and Managing Remote Teams. All courses had been delivered by external providers working very closely with the Organisational Development Manager and the HR Operations Manager on design, development and content. The InDependence programme had been designed and developed by the Organisational Development Manager with input from an organisation psychologist. The workshops had then been delivered by a team of six internal managers who had been trained in how to deliver the programme. Initial feedback reaction to this programme had been positive and a further evaluation was being developed to assess how the learning had enhanced practice within the workplace.

The Committee was also made aware that the staff sponsorship programme continued to be well-used and the principle of ‘grow our own’ was well-established. Currently there were two staff studying a degree to become planners, one was undertaking a degree in IT. All staff in receipt of sponsorships were meeting or exceeding the minimum requirements of their course and a number were on target to achieve distinctions. Recently three staff had completed degrees and all had gained a First. Those subjects were Environmental Health, Planning and Building Surveying.

In addition, via the new Apprenticeship route five staff were currently undertaking degrees - one in Management, two in Building Surveying and two in IT.

Members noted that additional development of staff for their specific technical areas of expertise as part of ongoing continuous professional development was identified and organised by their respective departmental managers.

In addition, the organisation’s e-learning platform had been completely re-designed and updated. A ‘soft’ roll out was currently underway.

Investors in People

Members recalled that in December 2015 the Council had been assessed against the Investor in People Gold standard and had achieved IIP Gold accreditation. Since that time the Council had had to undertake a process of moving across from the Generation 5 to Generation 6 IIP standards. That process had included a review of the benchmarking evidence and the new standards and award process were substantially different.

In summary the new standard was as follows:

(1)  High Performing;

(2)  Advanced;

(3)  Established; and

(4)  Developed.

The Committee was made aware that the Council needed to ensure that the majority of evidence presented as part of the Re-Assessment process was in the Advanced category in order to maintain Gold Status.

Members were informed that in December 2018 the Council had been formally assessed against the new Standards. This had been a more exacting process than the previous system as it included not only interviews but also results from an all staff survey.

In Spring 2019 it had been confirmed that this Council had retained its Gold Status. This was an excellent achievement against a tough benchmark and was a demonstrable sign that the Council continued to develop and support its staff at all levels. The Council had then received a report on the findings. This had been extremely positive overall and on 26^th March 2019 the Leader of the Council had announced at Cabinet that the organisation had been assessed and had retained its Gold Award.

The Committee was informed that as with any good report it had also provided recommendations for next steps, many of which were already in hand. They included:-

·           Further work to develop great leaders, e.g. aspiring leaders and 3^rd /4^th tier managers

·           Address slippage in 1:1s and team meetings

·           Staying ahead of the change curve having a clear vision for economic growth and prosperity

·           Consider another IiP survey in December 2019 to confirm improvements and outcomes, following Transformation

·           Embed succession planning at Tier 1 and 2 levels

·           Develop communications plan for all Council activities

·           Celebrating achievements and PR

·           Make the most of every possible opportunity regarding the Transformation Programme  work streams – people, channel shift, digitisation, accommodation

·           Continually review how the organisation recognises and rewards people.

Members raised questions which were responded to by the Head of People, Performance and Projects (Anastasia Simpson) and the Organisational Development Manager (Carol Magnus).

Having considered the contents of the report:-

It was moved by Councillor Calver, seconded by Councillor Griffiths and:-

RESOLVED, that the contents of the report be noted, with the Committee’s thanks and appreciation.