EAST AYRSHIRE COUNCIL

CABINET – 23 JANUARY 2013

ORGANISATIONAL DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY

Report by Executive Director of Finance and Corporate Support

1. PURPOSE OF REPORT 1.1 The purpose of this report is to submit for Cabinet’s approval an

Organisational Development Strategy. 2. BACKGROUND 2.1 On 28 June 2012, Council agreed the Transformation Strategy for 2012-2017

which identifies 25 workstreams through which change will be delivered to ensure that Council services remain financially sustainable in the current economic climate. This programme of workstreams will involve all Services in a sustained programme of change.

2.2 The Transformation Strategy identifies 10 strategic imperatives which provide

a clear framework for change within which the 25 workstreams will be actioned. One of the 10 strategic imperatives is Organisational Development (OD).

2.3 In order to ensure that the Council’s goals continue to be delivered by individual employees, teams and Services, it is necessary to ensure that all our activities are suitably aligned to the achievement of our stated outcomes. The Organisational Development Strategy sets out arrangements for OD interventions, planned and emerging, to be put in place to support all services to achieve the stated outcomes. In addition, the Strategy sets out planned employee development activity designed to equip employees with the skills to lead, manage and deliver change.

2.4 Organisational Development (OD) describes the actions that organisations

take to achieve significant and continuous improvement in delivering their corporate aims and objectives. It is not only about learning, development and training; it is about taking a whole organisation approach which draws together all of the elements that contribute to building an effective and high performing organisation.

2.5 The Strategy, which is attached, sets out how the following will continue to be

achieved:-

• Building leadership and management capability • Providing ongoing tailored support and development to all employees

throughout a period of change; and • Communicating with and engaging all employees throughout the change

process

3. FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS 3.1 There are no direct financial implications arising from the proposals. The

actions identified will be delivered within the current Management Development budget and related departmental resources.

4. HUMAN RESOURCES IMPLICATIONS 4.1 There are no direct human resources implications arising from this report as

the Organisational Development Strategy will be delivered by Organisational Development staff in partnership with departmental colleagues.

5. COMMUNITY PLANNING IMPLICATIONS 5.1 The proposed arrangements will support delivery of the Community Plan. In

particular, where appropriate and relevant, change activities will be carried out in partnership with our Community Planning Partners and our Communities.

6. RISK MANAGEMENT IMPLICATONS 6.1 Implementation of the Organisational Development Strategy will ensure that

the Council takes appropriate steps to ensure that at a time of change and reduced resources its employees are properly supported and developed. This will ensure that effective and Services to communities are maintained.

7. RECOMMENDATIONS 7.1 It is recommended that Cabinet:

(i) approves the Organisational Development Strategy; and (ii) otherwise notes the content of this report

Alex McPhee Executive Director of Finance and Corporate Support 14 January 2013

BACKGROUND PAPERS

Nil Anyone wishing further information should contact Martin Rose, Head of Human Resources, telephone 01563 576092.

Contents 1 Introduction

1

2 Vision 3

3 Community Plan 3

4 The Wider Context 4

5 Our Approach 5

6 Developing the Strategy 14

7 Implementing the Strategy 15

8 Appendix: Organisational Development Strategy Action Plan

16

Introduction This Strategy is for and about our people. East Ayrshire Council covers a large geographical area and consequently our workforce is dispersed. We deliver an extensive and varied range of services. This requires a highly skilled and diverse workforce.

East Ayrshire Council has around 6,300 employees delivering 27,000 different services to our 120,000 residents.

We are a high performing organisation. This is evidenced consistently through our internal Best Value and self-assessment processes and through external validation from organisations such as Audit Scotland. Our employees are our biggest asset and we are proud of the excellent services that our workforce provides to the residents of East Ayrshire. The whole of the public sector is facing substantial changes in the years ahead as a result of: • changes in legislation; • changing demographics; • increased demand for services; • changing customer expectation; • substantial reductions in local authorities budgets; and • public sector reform. Our challenge is to continue to deliver high quality services and to deliver them in new and innovative ways as a Council, with partners and with our communities to ensure they are affordable and sustainable and continue to meet people’s needs. Employees will be required to undertake new roles and responsibilities within different structures and teams. Our workforce will need to reduce and, realistically, some employees will require to be supported to leave the organisation or be redeployed. To effectively manage change we need a motivated and committed workforce which continues to be suitably skilled and focused on providing excellent services. We must make available support as well as learning and development, which meet the different and complex needs of individuals and teams, a diverse range of services and the organisation as a whole. This requires a holistic and cohesive approach to providing development activity to large numbers of employees on an ongoing basis. We have put in place a Transformation Strategy which sets out the Council’s Strategic Priorities for the period 2012 to 2017. In it, we have identified 25 workstreams through which change will be delivered. Transformation is about people and the purpose of the Organisational Development (OD) Strategy is to ensure that elected members, employees and partner organisations understand the

organisational culture and that it is appropriately aligned to agreed strategic priorities and outcomes. The OD Strategy describes the actions we will take to enable all employees across the Council to make their contribution to the achievement of the Council’s vision, including the delivery of the Community Plan, Single Outcome Agreement and the key workstreams set out in the Transformation Strategy. In it, we set out the specific actions we will take to make sure that our workforce is well led, well managed, supported and developed, motivated and engaged to deliver change. The Strategy and the actions we have identified will make sure that every employee will be able to access support and development relevant to their needs and understand how they can play their part in delivering necessary change and ensuring that the Council continues to be a high performing organisation fit for the future. Action will be taken forward under three key themes of: • Leadership and Management • Support and Development and • Communication and Engagement

Organisational Development (OD) describes the actions that organisations take to achieve significant and continuous

improvement in delivering their corporate aims and objectives. It is not only about learning, development and training; it is about

taking a whole organisation approach which draws together all of the elements that contribute to building an effective and high

performing organisation.

Vision The Community Plan is the Council's sovereign planning document and as such, it sets out the Council’s overarching vision that: “East Ayrshire will be a place with strong, 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.” Within this context, our vision for the Organisational Development Strategy is that: “Our employees will be well led; well managed; supported and developed; motivated and engaged and contributing fully to the delivery of our vision for the people of East Ayrshire.” Through the delivery of this Strategy, we will ensure that we have the right people, with the right skills, in the right places at the right time, who understand our priorities and who are committed and equipped to meet service demands and react effectively to change. We will do this by building the capacity of our leaders and managers, upskilling our employees and providing them with ongoing support and development opportunities, and engaging and involving our workforce. Underpinning the skills of our workforce and the delivery of our services will be our shared values of:

• Quality • Equality • Access

• Partnership

Community Plan The Community Plan continues to be recognised as the sovereign planning document for the East Ayrshire area, providing the overarching strategic policy framework for the delivery of services by all Partner agencies. Importantly, the Plan acts as the Council’s Corporate Plan. The focus of Organisational Development is on equipping people to deliver outcomes and enabling and supporting all of the Council’s employees to deliver their respective roles. In this way, the OD Strategy contributes to the delivery of each of the National and Local Outcomes set out within the Community Plan and the associated Single Outcome Agreement (SOA). The themes, priorities and outcomes within the Community Plan are entirely consistent with the key workstreams and actions outlined within the Transformation and OD Strategies, particularly in relation to partnership working, maximising opportunities for community empowerment, increasing the capacity of the workforce, regenerating communities and focusing on prevention whilst supporting and enabling our most vulnerable residents.

The Wider Context The context within which we work is constantly changing and no more so than now, while we are feeling the effects of a major economic recession. Governments and organisations have no choice but to think and do things differently and to instigate reforms which make finances stretch further and achieve more. The UK Comprehensive Spending Review announced significant reductions in funding across public services in the UK for the period 2011/12 to 2014/15. For the Council, this means an estimated budget gap of £34.1 million over the period 2013/14 to 2016/17. Wider economic conditions remain unpredictable and challenging, and reductions in public sector spending are expected to continue for the foreseeable future. As a result, we will be encouraging our workforce to be more flexible, supporting employees to develop new knowledge and skills and new ways of working. More emphasis will be placed on partnership working, recognising that we can often achieve much more by breaking down the barriers that divide organisations. We recognise that significant reductions in funding mean that the Council can no longer be expected to provide the range of services under current delivery models. We are committed to developing a new approach for the delivery of community based services, working with rather than for our communities. This will require us to challenge existing thinking in respect of traditional roles and practices. We will be looking to our communities more, engaging and involving them more in our decisions and in the delivery of our services. In 2010 The Commission on the Future Delivery of Public Services (The Christie Commission) reported that despite a series of Scottish Government initiatives and significant growth in public spending since the establishment of the Scottish Parliament, inequalities have remained unchanged or become more pronounced. It recommended a radical change in the design and delivery of public services, irrespective of economic challenges, to tackle the deep-rooted social problems that persist in communities across Scotland. We will need to ensure: • a decisive shift towards prevention and early intervention; • greater integration at local level driven by better partnerships, collaboration and

effective local delivery; • greater investment in the people who deliver services through enhanced

workforce development and effective leadership; and • a sharper focus on improving performance through greater transparency,

innovation and the use of digital technology. Further strategic changes like the creation of an Integrated Health and Social Care Service; delivery of Shared Services; increased and improved partnership working; and alternative service delivery models will all result in radical service reform. Our teams are working hard to influence and deliver on these agendas at a national and local level and to determine what these changes will mean for us at individual, team and organisational levels.

Our Approach We start from a position of strength. This was reflected in Audit Scotland’s Best Value 2 report in April 2010, which confirmed that:

“The Council has demonstrated that it has the capacity and systems in place to meet the challenge of sustaining

improvement... It has a good record of delivering improvement, and continues to address development needs.”

Recognising the need to support and develop the workforce at all levels, to ensure the continued delivery of high quality services in our communities, we have been working to strengthen our approach to OD. The Strategy focuses on three key themes of: • Leadership and Management • Support and Development and • Communication and Engagement Organisational development is an evolving and responsive process. We will continue to identify areas for improvement and address them throughout the lifetime of the Transformation Strategy. Some of our key achievements have been: • revising of the East Ayrshire General Employee Review (EAGER) and the

introduction of a Competency Framework which supports all employees to better target learning and development to individual and business needs;

• introducing an Elected Member Learning and Development Strategy which ensures that Elected Members’ development needs are identified and met;

• developing a Learning and Development Matrix, which provides access for all employees to learning modules linked to each of the core and leadership and management competencies in the Competency Framework;

• updating and improving OD intranet pages which improve access to information on learning and development available to employees and to our Corporate Calendar;

• incorporating Health and Safety training within the OD section to provide all corporate learning and development from within the Human Resources Service;

• introducing e-learning, which facilitates learning with minimal disruption to service delivery; and

• adopting a Business Partner approach which provides each service with dedicated OD support to proactively identify and address workforce development in partnership with managers.

We are committed to building on our success to date. The sections below, along with the action plan, set out how we will do this.

LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT In order to face the challenges ahead, we need strong, inspirational leaders to motivate our workforce and lead radical change. We are committed to nurturing our existing talent and developing creative and innovative leaders for the future capable of delivering reform of our services in partnership with the communities we serve. Our Elected Members, employees and managers will be working and managing change in a dynamic and challenging environment and we must ensure that they have the skills and support to enable them to take the organisation forward. Elected Members The Council’s 32 Elected Members fulfil a complex and demanding role. In addition to representing their constituents, they provide strategic direction to the Council and scrutinise performance. We have in place a programme of development to support all Elected Members to fulfil their generic and specific roles. This includes: • a tailored induction programme; • generic and role specific training programmes, such as Governance and Scrutiny

training and Licensing training; • topic-based seminars on issues such as Integrated Health and Social Care and

Public Sector Reform; • access to Masterclasses delivered by the Improvement Service; and • an information portal to keep members involved and informed.

Each Elected Member is afforded the opportunity to undertake an annual one-to-one review meeting with a member of the OD team and have in place a Personal Development Plan which is regularly monitored and reviewed. The OD section helps to ensure that identified development needs are met. Employees Officers are responsible for the provision of professional advice and for operational leadership and management. The OD Team provides access to leadership and management programmes for all levels within the organisation (see figure 1 below). We also provide access to coaching and mentoring through our OD section. These programmes are supplemented by the learning modules aligned to the leadership and management competencies.

Figure 1: East Ayrshire Council’s Management Programmes

We deliver a range of Management Programmes for employees:

• the Introduction to Management delivered in house, targeted at new and identified future managers;

• the First Line Manager programme delivered in house and externally accredited by the Institute of Leadership and Management (ilm); and

• the Senior Manager Management Development Programme delivered in partnership with the University of the West of Scotland and accredited by the Chartered Management Institute (CMI).

In addition, bespoke management programmes tailored to the specific needs of sections and roles are delivered in partnership with managers. Our programmes are designed to equip our managers with the skills and ability to deliver change and manage transition; to be creative and innovative; to motivate, enable and engage their teams; and to support a performance culture to maximise effectiveness and efficiency. A wide range of OD development sessions is delivered in partnership with services to support the implementation of change, build effective team working, engage employees in new working arrangements and embed our new structures. The OD section has identified areas to work in partnership with lead officers in respect of identified workstreams within the Transformation Strategy. This will enable OD to support lead officers to identify and address emerging support and development needs to support change as change is implemented. We have introduced Strategic Leadership competencies which reflect the leadership behaviours required of the future leaders of the Council and plan more targeted leadership development to grow the Chief Officers of the future as part of our succession planning arrangements.

We have set out the following strategic priorities in relation to Leadership and Management: • We will be led by proactive, innovative, flexible, empathetic and engaging leaders

at all levels who inspire others to maximise their potential in a strong and dynamic organisation.

• We will create a culture where individual, team and organisational goals are aligned and understood and where managers proactively manage performance to deliver outcomes.

Building on the effective development programmes which we have put in place, we will: • introduce 360° feedback for Chief Officers, in order to strengthen strategic

leadership within the organisation; • work with our neighbouring authorities and the NHS to promote best practice in

leadership, partnership working and performance by jointly arranging masterclasses; and

• introduce a “Back to the Floor” programme will give senior managers an opportunity to learn from experiences of staff and teams at the coal face of the organisation.

SUPPORT AND DEVELOPMENT Employees need support to understand why reforms are necessary and to play their part in implementing change within the organisation. It is important that we take our workforce with us as we respond to the challenges ahead. Support Our employee relations arrangements are designed to support fairness and equality and to help create an environment where people feel confident and able to perform their role in a supportive environment. The Council has in place a wide range of Human Resources Policies and Procedures to support employees at work. These are reviewed and revised regularly to reflect current need. Work/Life Balance When employees are able to achieve a healthy work/life balance they are able to perform more effectively. To support and promote this we provide the opportunity to work flexibly, including our flexitime scheme, job share and part time working, compressed hours and home working. We also offer excellent working terms and conditions together with employee benefits. Healthy Working Lives This Award Programme supports employers and employees to develop health promotion and safety themes in the workplace in a practical, logical way that is beneficial to all. Having healthy and motivated staff can reduce sickness absences,

improve productivity and help create a safer working environment. We have adopted the Government sponsored Healthy Working Lives Initiative and we have achieved the Bronze award. We are continuing with this programme and we are currently pursuing the next stage of the award (Silver). Managing Workplace Health Delivering the Council’s commitments will require our structures to be leaner and it has never been more important to have healthy, motivated employees able to be at work and to fulfil their roles to their full potential. The Council provides an Occupational Health Service through which access to medical and physiotherapy services is provided. Referrals can be made by Human Resources Officers or by employees themselves. The Employee Counselling Service can be similarly accessed. Our Sickness Absence Management Policy provides for early intervention in cases of stress or musculo-skeletal problems. This initiative, along with the other provisions of the policy, is in place to support employees to maximise attendance. Our policy also provides for mandatory Return to Work meetings and Absence Review meetings to provide ongoing support for employees. Managing and Preventing Workplace Stress All managers are required to complete a mandatory training course on the management of workplace stress to enable them to recognise and address stress in their teams. Managers are trained to provide appropriate support and development to employees in line with the Stress Policy to enable them to perform their roles and engage with the organisation. Proactive measures are in place to help employees to recognise stress and seek support to eliminate it. Procedures to undertake Stress Risk Assessment and Stress Risk Audits are in place to reduce the incidence of stress and manage it proactively. We continue to review our human resources policies and procedures to enable our employees to attend work and perform to the best of their abilities. Development Many of our employees will need and want to access development opportunities to enable them to continue to deliver high quality services throughout this time of change and it is the responsibility of both individuals and the organisation to support this. We recognise that each employee is unique and make available support and development which is appropriate to the needs of the individual. The EAGER (East Ayrshire General Employee Review) and Professional Review and Development (PRD) processes ensure that all employees identify their development needs linked to effective delivery of their role and the delivery of the Council’s objectives. Each employee is required to use EAGER and PRD to undertake a review of their objectives for the year and to identify appropriate learning and development activities

to support them to meet these objectives. This helps to ensure that all employees understand what is expected of them in their role and that they can access appropriate development to deliver on their objectives. The EAGER and PRD processes encourage employees to take ownership of their own learning and to select learning methods which are right for them and so more effective. Managers have been trained in the implementation of the EAGER and PRD processes to ensure appropriate, effective and targeted learning and development is made available. The OD section, working as HR Business Partners, provides a professional in house consultancy service to help services identify learning and development activity that will deliver real improvement and enable their people to fulfil their roles to their full potential and operate effectively in their teams. The OD section facilitates development sessions with services to focus employees on delivery of objectives, build productive and high performing teams and engage and involve employees in the development of their services. Training Training is an important element in the delivery of our business plans and we have made significant improvements to our training provision. Training matrices have been developed with services to support employees to identify and access corporate, health and safety, and professional and technical training to meet the requirements of their roles. Our OD section delivers training in: • leadership and management; • corporate policies; • core skills aligned to the Competency Framework • IT Skills; and • health and safety.

Our training programmes have been modernised, streamlined and made more accessible. An A to Z list of courses, together with course outlines, is available on the Council’s intranet site. In addition, bespoke training is developed, in response to specific requests. Professional and technical training is identified with managers through EAGER and PRD review meetings and appropriate provision accessed based on need. These training courses may be delivered by professional bodies or other external providers. In addition to external provision, where appropriate, specialist training is provided through a range of sources/mechanisms, including: • the Social Work training section; • the Gateway and Glow portals for teachers; • Adult and Child Protection teams; • the Moving and Handling team;

• Project Management training advisers; and • multi-agency training delivered by, for example The Drug and Alcohol

Partnership. All courses are designed to minimise time away from front line service delivery. An e-learning platform has been implemented to enable knowledge-based learning to be accessed in the workplace. The OD section of the Council’s intranet pages provides access to a wide range of corporate learning and development opportunities for all employees, including e-learning modules. We have adopted a blended learning approach which results in the right method of delivery being selected to meet the needs of individuals and teams and maximises the use of resources. We have set out the following strategic priorities in relation to Support and Development: • We will provide a range of employee support mechanisms and promote the

health and wellbeing of our workforce. • We will provide continuous, targeted development opportunities to support

employees to perform effectively and efficiently in their current and future roles and create an environment where individuals take ownership of their learning and development to continue to deliver excellent service.

Building on the effective support and development mechanisms which we have already put in place, we will: • achieve the Healthy Working Lives Silver Award; • introduce a “Promoting Positive Mental Health in the Workplace” module; • update and improve our induction processes to promote early employee

engagement and the development of a performance culture; and • produce Workforce Development Plans for each service. COMMUNICATION AND ENGAGEMENT Key to enabling all of our employees to be motivated and involved and to take pride in their performance, is communication and engagement. Employees need to understand how they contribute to the success of the Council as a whole and to the delivery of excellent services to the people of East Ayrshire, as well as knowing that their contributions are valued. The contributions of our employees are recognised and success celebrated both formally and informally. Our managers praise and recognise individual contributions on an ongoing basis; our EAGER and PRD processes provide an opportunity to recognise and celebrate success within the context of performance review and development; and we hold corporate Employee Excellence Awards every two years. We have processes and procedures in place to make sure that everyone has access to the information they need to deliver their roles and the opportunity to contribute their views.

Communication We work hard to provide employees with relevant information to enable them to deliver services effectively and have in place a range of mechanisms to communicate information to employees and services. These include: • the Internet; • the Intranet; • plans and documents; • agendas and minutes; • Chief Executive messages; • our meetings structure; • ewords; • A Quick Word About briefings • newsletters; and • recognition events. Engagement Two-way communication is vital. It is important for employees to have an opportunity to be heard, to see that their opinions count and make a difference. We obtain the views of employees through feedback, inviting suggestions for improvement, and involvement in planning and decision making processes at both service and Council wide level. These views are reflected in decisions taken and are gathered through a range of mechanisms such as those detailed below: • the Employee Attitude Survey; • Ideas for Change; • Executive Directors’ employee engagement events; • team briefings/meetings; • supervision and one-to-one meetings; • EAGER and PRD review meetings; • bespoke consultation and focus groups; • Trade Union consultation; • OD Development sessions; and • shared learning.

We have set out the following strategic priorities in relation to Communication and Engagement: • We will ensure that employees have access to information on a timely basis

through a range of communication methods. • We will consult, engage and involve employees in the change process as it

develops to reflect the contribution of employees individually and collectively. Building on the communication and engagement processes which we have in place, we will: • continue to provide relevant and timely information on change through the Chief

Executive’s messages, ewords and other methods;

• use the results from the Employee Attitude Survey to identify and action areas for improvement; and

• introduce listening events to provide opportunities for employees to contribute their views.

The detailed actions that we will take to meet the strategic priorities and outcomes of the Strategy can be found in the Appendix. Whilst we have identified action owners for each of the areas within the plan, everyone must play their part by fully engaging with the change process and working together to deliver the Transformation Strategy. By working collaboratively across services, departments and with our partners, we will be able to use our collective skills for the benefit of the communities we serve and support achievement of the Council’s vision.

Developing the Strategy IMPACT ASSESSMENT To ensure that we are aware of the impact of the Strategy on all employees and can address any potential issues for specific groups and individuals, an Equality Impact Assessment (EQIA) has been undertaken. It found that there are no differential or negative/adverse impacts in relation to any of the nine protected characteristics (age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, sex or sexual orientation). The EQIA concluded that the Strategy will have a positive impact on all groups as everyone has equal access to the development opportunities required to deliver results and changes identified by the Council. ENGAGEMENT AND CONSULTATION To inform the development of the Strategy, evidence was gathered from a number of sources, including: • the Employee Attitude Survey; • consultation, listening events and focus groups; • feedback received formally and informally, for example, in training events, HR

Business Partner meetings, employee engagement sessions and Ideas for Change submissions from employees and managers across all services; and

• development needs analysis both organisationally, through our review processes, for example, Best Value Service Reviews, our Strategic Review of the Revenue Budget, Investors In People health checks and European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) review meetings, and individually through needs analysis and workforce development planning activity.

The Strategy also reflects evidence based practice from both public sector and private organisations that support the delivery of effective change management.

Implementing the Strategy PERFORMANCE MONITORING An OD Review Group will be established to ensure representative views from across services and workstreams are fed back into future development provision and the effective monitoring of this Strategy. The OD Strategy Action Plan attached in the Appendix will be monitored quarterly by the OD Manager and reviewed annually with the OD Review Group. Training provision and OD activity will be evaluated against stated objectives as it is delivered and fed back into the annual review process. We will further enhance arrangements for the evaluation of the impact of interventions on practice to promote the transfer of learning. Analysis of the Employee Attitude Survey will contribute to the monitoring of the OD Strategy by providing information about employees’ views on the quality of leadership and management; support and development; and communication and engagement within the Council. TIMEFRAME AND REVIEW This Strategy underpins delivery of the Transformation Strategy and covers the period 2012 to 2017. The Action Plan covers the period 1 January 2013 to 31 March 2014. It will be reviewed during January / February 2014. A further Action Plan will be agreed for the financial year 2014 / 2015 and annually thereafter in January and February to respond to emerging needs during the lifetime of the Strategy.

Appendix: Organisational Development Strategy Action Plan Leadership and Management Actions Action

Projected outputs Timescale Action Owner

Leadership and Management Support Elected Members to fulfil their Leadership and Portfolio Holder roles

Review of current arrangements . End June 2013

OD Manager

Work with our neighbouring Authorities and NHS Ayrshire and Arran to promote Best Practice in leadership, partnership working and developing a high performing culture

4 Leadership Masterclasses delivered

End March 2014

OD Manager

Engage a bank of Executive Coaches to provide Leadership Development for Chief Officers

Coaches identified December 2013

OD Manager

Deliver a short programme of development for Chief Officers aligned to the Strategic Leadership Competencies

5 short workshops delivered End March 2013

OD Manager

Develop an in-house IT system to undertake 360° feedback on the Competency Framework

System operational End December 2013

Systems and Performance Manager

Introduce 360° feedback on the Strategic Leadership Competencies to the EAGER process for Chief Officers every two years

360° feedback used in every second EAGER review meeting for Directors and Heads of Service

December 2013 and ongoing

OD Manager

Make available mentoring for senior managers Mentoring arrangements in place End June 2013

OD Manager

Introduce a Strategic Leadership Development programme to support succession planning and develop Corporate Officers of the future

• Leadership programme developed

• Programme delivered

End December 2013

OD Manager

Complete roll out of the Senior Manager Management Development Programme (MDP) to provide access to all 4th tier managers including Head Teachers and Depute Head Teachers

Senior managers identified by Heads of Service given access to programme

End March 2014

OD Manager

Action

Projected outputs Timescale Action Owner

Introduce psychometric tools (DiSC Profiling) to support development activity

DiSC used in 4 OD development programmes

End March 2014

OD Manager

Deliver Change Workshops as required/requested by teams and groups of staff

12 workshops delivered End 2013 OD Manager

Provide OD support to officers leading on the implementation of workstreams identified in the Transformation Strategy

Support offered to all lead officers As required ongoing

OD Manager

Facilitate Managers Forums which upskill managers through knowledge sharing and learning together

4 per annum offered to every manager on completion of the MDP

4 Forums scheduled annually

OD Manager

Introduce and roll out a “Managing Poor Performance” training course 6 completed annually Introduce by End December 2012 and ongoing

OD Manager

Review and revise the teacher Professional Review and Development process

Revised process in place End December 2013

Senior Education Manager

Revise First Line Manager (ilm) accredited programme to target middle managers and introduce project work to the programme

New modules developed and accredited by ilm targeted at middle managers

End June 2013

OD ilm lead officer

Introduce a “Back to the Floor” programme 2 programmes undertaken End 2013 OD Manager

Support and Development Actions Action

Projected outputs Timescale Action Owner

Support Achieve The Healthy Working Lives Silver Award Silver Award achieved End March

2014 Healthy Working Lives lead

Introduce a “Promoting positive mental health in the workplace” module

• Module in place • 4 courses delivered annually

Introduced end June 2013 and ongoing

OD Manager

Review Corporate HR Policies and Procedures on a rolling programme to ensure they remain fit for purpose and support the change being implemented

• Reviews undertaken and revised

• Policies and Procedures implemented

Ongoing ERS Manager

Roll out Toolbox Talks to support implementation of the revised Sickness Absence Management policy and procedures

TBT undertaken by all employees Within 3 months of Cabinet approval of revised Policy

OD Manager All Managers

Provide support to employees through our redeployment process and support employees leaving the Council to obtain alternative suitable employment elsewhere

Career Counselling, CV production and Preparing for Interview support in place

Ongoing as required

ERS Manager and OD Manager

Development Introduce revised competency based recruitment process linked to our competency framework

• Revised policy approved • Policy implemented

incrementally as vacancies arise

Fully implemented by June 2013

ERS Manager

Update and improve our induction processes to promote early employee engagement and the development of a performance culture

• Corporate Induction programme amended

• Job Induction guidance in place

February 2013

OD Manager

Action

Projected outputs Timescale Action Owner

Further strengthen and regulate our Business Partner relationships with services to continue to add value as they embed the changes resulting from the review of Management Structures and the delivery of Transformation Strategy workstreams

OD team HR Business Partners meet quarterly with nominated senior managers in each service to address current issues

Ongoing OD Team

Provide facilitated OD development sessions to teams and services implementing new structures

Delivery of development sessions meets demand

Ongoing as required

OD Team

Amend training modules aligned to the Competency Framework to reflect changes implemented

Amended modules developed Ongoing as required

OD Manager

Introduce a formal three day shadowing programme across services Programme undertaken by 2 employees

By end March 2013

OD Manager

Review training provision and provide access to online in place of face to face provision as appropriate

15 courses reviewed for suitability as online modules

End March 2014

OD Manager

Deliver I T training modules online All IT courses delivered accessible as e-learning modules

End March 2013

OD IT lead Officer

Increase opportunities for young people to enter the workplace through Modern Apprenticeships and work experience at the Council

25% increase on places available year on year

End March 2014

Economic Development Manager

Identify further opportunities to train and develop employees with our Community Planning Partners

• Review meetings attended quarterly

• 2 shared activities undertaken per annum

Ongoing OD Manager

Produce Workforce Development Plans for each service Workforce Development Plan in place for each service

End April 2013

Heads of Service

Provide funds to enable employees to undertake Higher Education or Further Education qualifications required by them to continue to meet the requirements of their role or deliver continuous improvement

Corporate Higher Education/Further Education budget allocated

Annually Director of Finance and Corporate Support

Undertake in-house IIP Health checks to identify areas for improvement within services and teams

Two health checks undertaken per annum

Annually OD IIP lead officer

Communication and Engagement Actions Action

Projected outputs Timescale Action Owner

Communication and Engagement Issue regular Chief Executive’s messages to keep all employees advised of the progress in the delivery of the workstreams identified in the Transformation Strategy

Messages issued at least monthly

Monthly Chief Executive

Provide relevant and timely information on change through ewords

ewords issued quarterly Quarterly Communication and Customer First Manager

Encourage senior managers to ensure that team briefings/meetings are held at all levels in all services

Team briefings/meetings raised as a standing item at all OD Business Partner Meetings

As appropriate

All Managers

Review and amend intranet pages to provide relevant targeted and up to date information

Intranet pages up to date and relevant

Review monthly

Heads of Service

Increase use of social media such as online forums, text, twitter and online voting to share key messages and encourage idea generation internally

One new initiative adopted annually

Annually Communication and Customer First Manager/ Systems and Performance Manager

Use outputs from the Employee Attitude Survey to identify areas for improvement

• Results fed back to services and sections

• Improvement actions identified

End March 2013

All Managers

Use feedback from the Managers Forum to influence positive change

Ideas generated are considered in option appraisal of key workstreams within the Transformation Strategy

Ongoing OD Manager

Recognise and celebrate success • Employee successes promoted as standard agenda item on all team

Ongoing All

Action

Projected outputs Timescale Action Owner

briefings/meetings • Employee Excellence

Awards held • Successes reflected in

EAGER process Introduce listening events to provide opportunities for employees to contribute their views

Regular events held to consult on workstreams

Ongoing as required

OD Managers and all workstream lead officers