Agenda item

The purpose of this report was to give the Committee and overview into the Transformation Agenda of the Council – and delivery against it regarding staffing (flexible working, home working and productivity).

It was reported to the Committee that throughout 2019 a significant focus had been placed 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 were delivered by external providers who had worked very closely with the Organisational Development Manager and 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 organisational psychologist. The workshops had been delivered by a team of six internal managers who had been trained in how to deliver the programme. In total 273 staff had attended that programme. The Managing Remote Teams course had been attended by 52 managers and team leaders.

In addition, a booklet entitled Modern Working, Your Guide had been circulated to all course attendees.

Members heard how a number of policies had been updated to support flexible working; including the Allowances Policy (2018) and the Remote Working Policy (2019) which also included the Flexi Hours Scheme.

To further support the move towards greater flexible working and staff personal accountability online training had been overhauled. The Council had used a specialist online provider (iHasco) for all health and safety awareness training. That shift had resulted in greater compliance as staff could plan their own training schedule according to their work patterns. Compliance rates were in excess of 90%. Face to face delivery was still used for those requiring additional support or greater detail.

The Committee heard that during 2018/19 a new in-house online learning platform hadbeen designed and developed.    

Learning Zone could be accessed by all staff via a laptop and other mobile devices. Member access had also been facilitated. That platform hosted a number of mandatory courses, Careline specific courses and personal development learning opportunities. The majority of the courses on iHasco and Learning Zone included an assessment before learners could be marked as ‘complete’ and receive their certificate.

It was reported to Members that flexible working had been rapidly accelerated as a consequence of Covid, especially since March 2020 when ‘Lockdown’ had resulted in the vast majority of office based staff working from home. The flexi-hours scheme had been extended in order to enable staff to work even more flexibly and to take regular breaks away from the screen. Managers and staff had been supportive and appreciative of that approach. It was noted that the vast majority of staff had continued to work their standard hours with only a few variations, most notably around child care whilst schools were closed.

The Committee was aware that Government guidance remained that all employees who could work from home should continue to do so. It was therefore anticipated that in the short to medium term the majority of office based staff would continue to work from home.

In order to improve the sustainability of remote working arrangements a staff survey  had been undertaken by Human Resources in order to gain further insight into the experiences and challenges of staff working from home, as well as those staff who had continued to work within the District and on site throughout the Pandemic. This had enabled the organisation to identify areas of concern and implement the necessary support.

Following over 300 responses, headlines from the staff survey were as follows:

§  75% of respondents agreed they had achieved the correct balance between work and home life, with 50% of respondents reported a better work/life balance;

§  72% of respondents agreed their role makes a difference to local residents;

§  75% of respondents got a sense of personal fulfilment from their job;

§  84% of respondents felt proud to work for the Council;

§  92% of respondents felt as productive or more productive working at home;

§  90% of respondents reported that the Council had kept them well informed during the Coronavirus Pandemic;

§  80% of respondents felt supported by their line manager; and

§  Almost 60% would like to maintain their current working arrangements indefinitely.

In addition, the following priorities had been identified by staff completing the survey:

§  Prioritise return to the workplace for those who will benefit most (when it was safe to do so);

§  Prioritise continued working from home for those most ready and able to continue;

§  Balance preferences with organisational needs;

§  Provide support for those who were most in need; and

§  Identify what lessons we could learn for the future

The Committee heard that Covid had accelerated the Council’s plans for increased flexible working and had caused it to have a greater degree of home working than was originally envisioned. However, the early work that had been undertaken in 2019 had prepared managers and staff in advance. It was to be hoped that it would be possible in 2021 to have a successful blend of home and office based working so that flexible working was could be fully embedded within the organisation.

After some discussions it was RECOMMENDEDTO CABINET that the adaptability of the staff and Councillors in relation to the restrictions introduced for COVID19 to continually deliver success, be formally recorded and appreciated.