Strategic Lead: Safer Communities

2015/16 Service Improvement Plan

Human Resources

June 2015

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Contents

Page

Introduction

Service Profile

3

4

Strategic Context

6

Service Performance Framework

7

Risks and Opportunities

10

Improvement Action Plan 12

Appendix 1 – Organisation Chart 15

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INTRODUCTION

The East Ayrshire Community Plan is the sovereign and overarching planning document for the East Ayrshire area, providing the strategic policy framework for the delivery of public services by all the Partners. The Plan is the Council’s Corporate Plan and covers the 15 years from 2015 to 2030. The Vision contained within the Community Plan is shared by all Partners and states that: “East Ayrshire is a place with strong, safe, vibrant communities where everyone has a good quality of life and access to opportunities, choices and high quality services which are sustainable, accessible and meet people’s needs.” The Community Plan is implemented through three thematic Delivery Plans, namely Economy and Skills, Safer Communities, Wellbeing, and the day to day work carried out by services across the Council. Service Improvement Plans are an essential element of the Council’s performance management and improvement framework. They set out the key issues for delivering services in support of the Community Plan Vision and priorities, provide a focus on performance improvement aligned to the Single Outcome Agreement and describe the service specific risks that may impact on the delivery of the Service. Plans are also informed by the Council’s Transformation Strategy 2012/2017 which is designed to ensure that council services remain financially sustainable in the current economic climate. This Strategy identifies a range of workstreams to meet the estimated funding shortfall of £34.1M by 2017 and Services’ progress in achieving those workstreams are contained within respective Service Improvement Plans.

The diagram below provides a graphic representation of the Council’s Policy Planning Framework and shows the strategic context within which Service Improvement Plans sit. It also shows the wider Performance Management and Improvement Framework which the Council has adopted to ensure the rigorous scrutiny of performance and drive service improvement across the Council.

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SERVICE PROFILE

Following the review of the Council’s management structures, the Human Resources Service sits within the Strategic Lead for Safer Communities and provides a comprehensive HR function which ensures that the Council meets its statutory obligations as an employer and supports and develops employees to perform their roles. It consists of two functional areas; Employee Relations and Organisational Development.

The Human Resources service supports managers across all Council service areas. The service’s contribution to cross-cutting activities assists the Council to deliver on its strategic priorities. The key priorities for Human Resources in 2015/16 are focussed around the Organisational Development Strategy, workforce planning, a review of policies and further development of management information. The Organisational Development Strategy action plan will be delivered by end March 2016 and will improve the service provision through leadership capacity and capability development, ensuring that employees within the Council are supported and equipped with the relevant skills for their role and ensuring the people have the right information and are engaged in order to ensure effectiveness. Workforce planning and review will continue to ensure that efficiencies are met by the council without compromise on the services delivered. A schedule of policy review is in place to ensure that the Council’s HR policies remain fit for purpose within the changing local government climate. Management information will be further developed by the introduction of a new suite of non-statutory performance indicators. These performance measures will be monitored within the Council’s EPMS system where appropriate, and will be discussed and reviewed at monthly management team meetings.

Employee Relations

The Employee Relations Section provides a professional service to the Council and its Service groupings to enable the Council to meet its legal obligations as an employer and progress towards the objective of being an exemplar employer and an employer of choice. Specific areas of delivery are: Advising on Recruitment and Selection; Discipline and Grievance; Conditions of Service; grading and job evaluation; employee benefits; Payroll services; workforce planning; service structures; and staffing numbers. The Section also manages the provision of Occupational Health which is provided by Optima Health. Specific areas of delivery are medical examinations; health surveillance; and physiotherapy. Organisational Development The Organisational Development Section supports the delivery of the Elected Member Development Strategy and delivers a range of organisational and learning and development activities and interventions for all Elected Members, managers and employees. The section is responsible for developing and managing the Council’s approach to organisational and employee development in the workplace and to meet the corporate, service and individual development needs of Council employees to enable them to deliver the Council’s objectives and to fulfil their current or future role within the organisation to their full potential. The key objectives of the Section are set out in the

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Council’s approved Organisational Development Strategy and Plan (2012–2017). The Organisational Development Strategy underpins the Transformation Strategy and sets out how the Organisational Development section will support all employees to make their contribution to delivery of the Strategy and to meet the outcomes of the Community Plan (2015-2030). Specific areas of delivery are: Organisational Development and Change; Leadership and Management Development; Developing High Performing teams; provision of Learning and Development and Training aligned to the strategic direction of the Council; overseeing EAGER; and coaching and mentoring. As a result of the Council’s Voluntary Severance arrangements put in place to deliver savings for the Council, a number of employees within the Human Resources Service left the Council’s service by 31 March 2015. This equated to 9.55 FTE employees. These posts have now been deleted from the Service’s structure. A review of the Human Resources Service was undertaken during 2014/15 to ensure that the service continues to provide professional HR support to Members and Council Services. A revised structure has now been implemented. Staffing Profile The total staffing complement of the service is 60.59 FTE employees and services are delivered from 3 locations, namely; Council Headquarters, The Opera House, and Greenholm Street, Kilmarnock. The Council’s Learning Academy, hosted by Organisational Development is based within the Greenholm Street offices in Kilmarnock. The organisation chart for the Service is outlined in Appendix 1. Financial Profile The Human Resources budget for 2015/16 is £1,874,780, as detailed in the table below.

Human Resources Budget 2015/16 £

Employee Costs

1,943,380

Premises Costs 0

Transport Costs

12,800

Supplies & Services

219,460

Third Party Payments 0

Total Expenditure

2,175,640

Income (12,320)

Income Recovered outwith General Fund (288,540)

Net Expenditure

1,874,780

Planned efficiencies were identified and agreed within the Transformation Strategy 2012 – 2017. The planned efficiencies for 2015/16 and 2016/17 have been achieved by the Human Resource Service as a result of a review of staffing and management structures.

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STRATEGIC CONTEXT

Delivering the Community Plan

The Human Resources Service is committed to continuous improvement, the provision of professional support to members and all Council Services and the delivery of a value for money service. In doing so it will contribute to the overall goals and ambitions set out in the guiding principles and all three thematic delivery plans within the overarching Community Plan.

The Service contributes to the Single Outcome Agreement by:

providing project and service support to colleagues engaged in contributing to all sixteen National Outcomes through provision of effective HR Business Partnering; and

leading in many areas of National Outcome 16, ‘Our public services are high quality, continually improving, efficient and responsive to local people’s needs’, particularly in relation to sickness absence management, equal opportunities, employee turnover, equalities and diversity, and organisational development activities.

National and Local Policy Initiatives

Project Boards have been set up to manage the implementation of the following initiatives:

Adult Health and Social Care; and the

Transformation Strategy. The Service is also responsible for the Council’s strategic direction in respect of Organisational Development, workforce planning and the full range of related HR policies and procedures.

KEY MESSAGES

Delivering the Organisational Development Strategy action plan.

Improved workforce planning through the delivery of the HR Service Review. This will ensure revised operational arrangements are in place appointing employees to new posts and securing new contracts.

Review of HR policies remain fit for purpose and that they comply with legislation in a changing environment

Improving management information by delivering a new suite of non-statutory performance indicators.

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SERVICE PERFORMANCE FRAMEWORK

The Human Resources service utilises the ISO 9001 2008 management system, which provides for compliance with accredited procedures and facilitates continuous improvement by adopting a formal process for managing and recording practices and procedures and enabling the formal identification of opportunities for improvement. Outputs from the Management System are considered on a quarterly basis at a formal management review meeting and corrective or proactive changes implemented. The management system is externally audited twice a year. The Service has Investors in People accreditation which recognises the Service’s commitment to ensuring effective leadership, management and people development practices are in place for the benefit of all employees. Human Resources currently reports annual performance on the Electronic Performance Management System (EPMS) across three themes, namely Organisational Development, Equalities and Sickness Absence. Employee Relations indicators are reported through a range of management reports to the Head of Human Resources. Following the EPMS review, planned work was undertaken early in 2015/16 to develop a new set of EPMS performance indicators for Human Resources, which include alignment with the payroll and management information currently provided by the Service. The new suite of performance indicators have been developed and will be reviewed on a monthly basis at the Human Resources management team meeting. Performance will be measured across the following areas:

Disciplinary Procedures

Grievance Procedures

Investigations

Recruitment

Job Evaluation/Job Sizing

Exit Interviews

Freedom of Information Requests

Disclosure Scotland Checks (including PVG)

Occupational Health Cases

Equal Pay Claims

Training Course Attendances The Local Government Benchmarking Framework (LGBF) indicators for 2013/14 were published by the Improvement Service on 30 January 2015, comparing the performance of East Ayrshire Council to comparator authorities and Scotland as a whole.

Sickness Absence

LGBF Performance Measure 2010/11 2011/12 2012/13 2013/14

Quartile 1 (ranking 1-8)

Sickness absence days per employee

(ranking against 32 authorities)

9.67

(17)

9.36

(18)

9.90

(20)

7.89

(3)

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Summary Analysis:

Range (2013/14) – 7.4 days (Clackmannanshire) – 11.38 (West Dunbartonshire).

Scottish average (2013/14) – 9.2 days. East Ayrshire performance at 7.89 is better than the Scottish average.

In East Ayrshire, performance has improved by 18.33% over the four years (2010/11 to 2013/14), compared to a 5.66% improvement in Scotland.

The sickness absence days per employee has decreased from 9.9 days per employee in 2012/13 to 7.9 per employee in 2013/14, compared to national decrease from 9.8 days per employee in 2012/13 to 9.2 days per employee in 2013/14 and therefore reports the best performance in the benchmarking group for 2013/14. The Human Resources Service will continue to support services in 2015/16 to implement the revised Sickness Absence Management Policy, continue to reduce levels of sickness absence, and ensure the delivery of quality Council services by a healthy workforce through effective people management practices. Equality LGBF Performance Measure 2010/11 2011/12 2012/13 2013/14

Quartile 4 (ranking 25-32)

The percentage of the highest paid 5%

of employees who are women

(ranking against 32 authorities)

40.4%

(26)

43.7%

(22)

43.8%

(24)

43.7%

(27)

Summary Analysis:

Range (2013/14) – 24.0% (Shetland Islands - lowest) - 61.8% (Aberdeenshire - highest).

Scottish average (2013/14) – 50.7%. East Ayrshire performance at 43.7% is lower than the Scottish average.

In East Ayrshire, performance has increased by 3.28% over the four years (2010/11 to 2013/14), compared to a 4.44% increase in Scotland.

The percentage of the highest paid 5% of employees who are women in East Ayrshire has remained relatively consistent in 2013/14 at 43.7%, compared to a national average of 50.7%. East Ayrshire (43.7%) reports the poorest results for this indicator in the benchmarking group for 2013/14. To continue to improve on this indicator in 2015/16, East Ayrshire’s Human Resources service will support services in implementing recruitment and selection policies to ensure the employment of an equal and diverse workforce which is representative of society.

In addition to LGBF statistical indicators, Human Resources carries out qualitative benchmarking through the Society of Personnel and Development Scotland, COSLA and other organisations drawing on best practice examples. European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) Excellence Model The European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) Excellence Model is a practical self-assessment tool designed to promote continuous improvement within organisations by assessing their performance against concepts of tested and recognised good management practice. The EFQM

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Model, which was developed by Quality Scotland, is the cornerstone of the Council’s approach to Best Value. Through this, the majority of Council services carry out a self-assessment of how well they deliver services. The final product from this process is an improvement action plan which the service then implements. Human Resources are scheduled to complete their next EFQM process in 2015/16. A unified improvement action plan has been developed for Human Resources Services for 2015/16. The action plan combines actions across EFQM, IIP, Equality and HR. The action plan details 26 actions split between Strategic Objectives, HR services, Employee Relations and Organisational Development. All actions have been developed in line with the priorities outlined in the Community Plan and Single Outcome Agreement. Staff Consultation In addition to ongoing consultation and information to employees through team meetings, the Service has structured engagement through quarterly all staff briefing sessions. These sessions provide staff with an opportunity to provide contributions and discuss current service issues. East Ayrshire’s Employee Attitude Survey was carried out in March 2015. The results were reported to Cabinet in June 2015 and the HR Service will support all services to use the results to effect continuous improvement.

KEY MESSAGES

East Ayrshire Sickness Absence performance is within the top quartile in 2013/14. The Service will continue to support the implementation of the revised Sickness Absence Management Policy in order to maintain high performance levels.

The highest paid 5% of employees who are women in East Ayrshire is 43.7%, which is within the lowest performance quartile in 2013-14.

New suite of non-statutory performance measures to be monitored and reviewed at monthly team meetings.

New non-statutory performance indictors to be reported in EPMS.

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RISKS AND OPPORTUNITIES

The Council’s future approach to recording risk will involve the application of an objective “5x5” scoring matrix to each risk identified which quantifies the assessment of the likelihood and severity of a particular risk occurring. This information will be hosted on the Council’s Electronic Performance Management System (EPMS) and will be used to understand the impact of proposed controls and mitigations on the overall risk profile. This is a widely used tool in risk management and will both simplify the current process, and also improve consistency of reporting across services and departments. It is of increasing importance in the organisation that managers are “risk aware”. This is different from “risk averse”, and the proposed approach will allow managers to fully understand the risks being faced, and support them to manage the risks accordingly. It is important to note that risk is often unavoidable particularly during periods of significant transformational change. There will however, be a level where a risk is no longer deemed acceptable or tolerable (known as “risk appetite”), and as such appropriate management action will require to be taken to mitigate the impact of the risk. Escalation procedures will also be embedded into the process to ensure Service and corporate risk registers will be populated as appropriate.

The proposed roll out of the EPMS risk module will ensure that all Service risk registers, including the Corporate Risk Register, will be aligned to the revised approach of identifying and recording risk and will secure a more consistent approach to service level risk recording which will be further enhanced through incorporating risk registers within service planning activity. This will allow service objectives and priorities, performance measures and service risks to be captured in a single document. These areas will always be closely aligned, and this approach will offer real benefits in business planning, service delivery, and performance and risk management. A summary of key risks within the Service at this time is provided below and the full Service risk register is available from this link.

The Human Resources Risk Register for 2015/16 details 30 ongoing risks under the headings of Strategic Risks (7), Operational Risks (18), Shared Services/Partnerships (3) and Emerging Risks (2). The key risks and the related mitigation measures are detailed as follows:

Risk Description Mitigating Actions

Lack of suitably qualified and experienced employees to deliver outcomes

Development through EAGER, L&D opportunities, e.g. work shadowing, ongoing supervision.

Increased employee stress / absence levels Continuing to review absence levels at Senior Management Team. Apply Sickness Absence Management Policy.

Failure to meet Statutory / Non Statutory Returns, Performance Indicators

Continue to review indicators as necessary at Senior Management Team.

Failure to meet Service Level Agreements to East Ayrshire Leisure

Programme of review meetings with Chief Executive of East Ayrshire Leisure to be introduced.

Failure to pay employees. System and Business Continuity Plan in place to mitigate.

Failure to provide Real Time Information to HMRC, resulting in a fine.

Review at relevant one to one meetings.

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Failure to provide data to Pension Scheme Office Review at relevant one to one meetings. Review SPFO Pension Committee minutes and pension documentation sent to SPFO by electronic mail.

Lack of management employee data Systems in place and is reviewed at relevant management meetings.

Failure of Scottish Recruitment Portal Continue to have paper application form available.

Loss of Disclosure Scotland Certification Ensure existing systems are applied.

Loss of all in-house training materials and records

including health and safety training materials

Require providers to backup all records.

Increased overpayments/underpayments paid to Council employees.

Ensure existing protocols are adhered to and data is regularly reviewed at relevant one to one meetings.

Fraud by HR employees Review work instructions on regular basis and ensure Internal Audit programme is maintained. Declaration forms must be completed by HR employees.

Loss of Office Accommodation Ensure Service Business Continuity Plan is up to date.

Loss of Training Facilities Ensure access to contact details to secure alternative venues.

Loss of Cyborg and Cognos License Ensure payment of licences.

Failure to provide services to Ayrshire Roads Alliance

Introduce programme of regular meetings with Head of ARA

Failure to properly support activities relating to the Health and Social Care Partnership

Introduce programme of regular meetings with Director of H&SC Partnership

Opportunities

The Human Resources Service has embraced the opportunity through the review of EPMS to develop a comprehensive suite of performance indicators in 2015/16. This will further improve performance scrutiny of the service.

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HUMAN RESOURCES IMPROVEMENT ACTION PLAN 2015/16

The Improvement Action Plan that follows sets out the key priorities for the Human Resources in 2015/16.

Key Action Anticipated Outcome Responsible Timescale

Strategic Implement the HR Service Review Revised operational arrangements in place. Posts

filled and new contracts in place. Head of HR June 2015

Operational – HR Service Maintain and review up to date HR Risk Register Business continuity, risk management and service

improvement

Head of HR March 2016

Provide HR/OD support to enable delivery of the

Transformation Strategy workstreams

As above Head of HR March 2016

Prepare schedule for review of policy development

and associated training provision (see Employee

Relations section entry below for details)

Ensure policies remain fit for purpose in changing

context

Head of HR June 2015

Drive and support succession planning through

targeted HR support

Deliver budget savings, business continuity and

support delivery of change

Head of HR March 2016

Continue to meet the IIP accreditation standard for

leadership, management and people development.

Service Improvement OD Manager March 2016

Review arrangements for the provision and

administration of corporate funding of Higher/Further

Education

Service Improvement. Efficiency through streamlining

of process

OD Manager March 2016

Undertake, report on and drive improvement arising

from the 4th Employee Attitude Survey (EAS)

Service Improvement and delivery of commitment to

employee engagement and involvement

Head of HR May 2015 (completed) and

implementation ongoing

Introduce Systematic Customer Feedback system Service improvement, minimise complaints Head of HR September 2015

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Key Action Anticipated Outcome Responsible Timescale

Promote increased use of the Customer Feedback

and Improving our Service online submissions by all

employees

Increased employee engagement; service

improvement

Head of HR and All Managers 2015/16

Introduce Version 8 of CHRIS21 Service improvement and business continuity HR Manager (Payroll & Mgt

Information)

July 2015

Prepare a draft People Strategy to encompass

Workforce Development and OD Strategy

Organisational development- support delivery of

Community Plan

OD Manager December 2015

Operational – Employee Relations Deliver Statutory Performance Indicators Compliance and business improvement HR Managers March 2016

Deliver non-statutory Performance Indicators Effective and efficient service delivery and provision

of appropriate HR support

HR Managers March 2016

Review documentation in relation to changes in

Employment legislation

Compliance and service improvement HR Managers March 2016

Prepare for and anticipate changes to arrangements

for support of East Ayrshire Leisure delivery of

Service Level Agreement (SLA) and harmonisation

of terms and conditions for the Ayrshire Roads

Alliance (ARA)

As above HR Managers March 2016

Ensure bedding in and monitoring of the new LGPS

and Teachers Superannuation Scheme

To ensure legislative compliance and service delivery HR Managers March 2016

Review employment related HR Policies identified for

review in 2015/16

To ensure legislative compliance HR Managers March 2016

Prepare and rollout Toolbox Talk re revision of SAM

Policy

Effective implementation of revised policy HR Managers June 2015

Operational – Organisational Development Deliver non-statutory Performance Indicators Business improvement and efficiency OD Manager March 2016

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Key Action Anticipated Outcome Responsible Timescale

Continue to promote full implementation of EAGER

to support ownership of development activity linked

to succession planning by individuals, managers and

services

Organisational development and service

improvement and ensure succession planning to

have the right people with the right skills in the right

place for future service delivery

Senior L and OD Officer 2015/16

Support migration of all Service's Training records to

LD21 to take account of existing systems and

Service needs

Service improvement and efficiency OD Manager March 2016

Ensure delivery of the 2015/16 elements of the OD

Strategy Action Plan

Service Improvement. Leadership capacity and

capability developed, employees suitably supported

and skilled; people have the right information and are

engaged

OD Manager March 2016

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Appendix 1 – Organisation Chart