Workforce Strategy- A Strategy for change - 2012-2015
Introduction
1. Darlington, like all Councils, faces a significant financial challenge and is responding to this
challenge in a strategic way via the business model, transformation programme and
Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP) to ensure sustainability so that it can continue to
meet the key aspirations and needs of the public of Darlington. To achieve this it is
transforming the organisation and the workforce to ensure we can continue as an effective,
efficient forward looking Council. Against a background of reducing resources the Council
is working with its partners from the public, private and voluntary sectors via the Local
Strategic Partnership to deliver the Sustainable Community Strategy “One Darlington
Perfectly Placed” (available in full at
http://www.darlington.gov.uk/dar_public/documents/ConnectingWithCommunities/25894%2
0Community%20Strategy%20FINAL.pdf
Background and context
2. The DBC Community Strategy has two key priorities as explained below :(a) One Darlington - embracing our approach to people, and specifically the need to
make sure that people are not disadvantaged by their lack of income, where they live
or by any other potential disadvantage that could cause them to miss out on the
opportunities that will be created by realising our vision.
(b) Perfectly Placed - describing Darlington as a place and helping us shape our
investment decisions, spatial planning and care for the environment.
The key belief that underpins the vision is that a Unitary Council for the Borough of
Darlington is best placed to maximise the delivery of One Darlington Perfectly Placed.
This belief is based on 20 plus years when Darlington was served by two tier Local
Government with “Upper Tier” services provided by Durham County Council and
“Lower Tier” by Darlington Borough Council. Local Government reorganisation in
1997 created the Unitary Council for Darlington providing all local government services
for the public of Darlington. Evidence would suggest that; by having all decisions
taken locally by Councillors representing Darlington, this has meant that Darlington
has had a greater share of funding than was previously the case and decisions are
more locally accountable and focused. It is belief in a Unitary Darlington that drives
the vision for 2015.
Our Vision for Darlington Borough Council in 2015
3. The Council’s Four Key Functions will be:
(a) Championing the Interests of citizens and business
(b) Supporting strong partnerships to set a vision and direction for the Borough and its
services
(c) Promoting the Borough to secure investment and support
(d) Ensuring the provision of good quality services to the public
4. The Council in 2015 will be:
(a) Strongly focussed on ensuring good overall outcomes for the public and the place
rather than managing day to day service issues (these increasingly the responsibility
of others and the Council retaining ability to ensure they deliver).
(b) Clear and acknowledged leadership of “place” and facilitator of partnerships concerned with delivering One Darlington: Perfectly Placed. (c) Significantly smaller in terms of directly employed staff.
(d) Many of its big budgets linked to contracts, or service level agreements or partnership
delivery vehicles.
(e) Commissioning or delivering directly more modest services and support than was the
case pre 2009.
Our Approach to Delivering the Vision
5. To deliver a more focussed Council with significantly reduced resources requires a
fundamental review of the Council and all it does however although a complex approach is
needed it is based on three simple questions :(i)
(ii)
(iii)
WHAT services must we provide and what services have the most impact on
priorities within One Darlington Perfectly Placed?
HOW do we provide services to maximise impact and deliver the maximum
efficiency?
WHO can deliver services most efficiently?
Workforce Strategy
6. To support the vision for 2015, under the broader remit of the transformation programme, a
project was established to develop a new Workforce Strategy. The first phase of this
project was to seek views of key stakeholders including elected members, senior leaders,
employees and trade unions.
7. The organisational position is very fluid in terms of how the transformation programme,
business model and MTFP impact is unfolding and the position will continue to shift as key
decisions are made on our transformation journey. The principles of the business model
and our overarching OD strategy give us a route map for transformation and whilst the end
point may not as yet be clear what has emerged very clearly is a need to develop the
Workforce Strategy as a “Strategy for Change” that is flexible enough to support the
various options that our transformation journey may bring as key decisions are made and
the future shape of the organisation unfolds.
8. Change can only be achieved if it is planned, prioritised and managed effectively using
robust project, programme and performance management techniques combined with
effective communication and with the involvement of the workforce. We will strive to
ensure we have the culture and capacity to deliver this effectively and the HR function will
prioritise supporting change and transformation to ensure that good people and change
management practices are consistently followed.
9. As an organisation we are highly committed to enabling and supporting our employees to
deal with the challenges and changes we face. This involves us being clear about how
people should behave, the way they work and how they should be managed and
developed in order to support the organisations vision, values and objectives.
10. The proposed overarching aims of the Workforce Strategy for Change are to support
Business Transformation and Change by:
(a) ensuring that our Workforce Strategy clearly promotes the vision of change for
Darlington 2015, ensuring that all employees are encouraged to engage with it and
understand what is required and where they sit in turning the vision into a reality, and
(b) enabling and supporting the organisation to deliver change effectively, ensuring we
have the workforce needed for the future that reflects the diverse needs of the
community we serve.
(c) supporting the workforce to engage with change positively, to work in flexible ways to
deliver efficiencies, embedding core values and culture.
Strategic aims
11. To support the overarching aims a number of specific strategic aims have been developed,
which are;
(a) Organisational Leadership - Ensuring, leaders and managers from a range of
backgrounds embrace the desired leadership culture, are empowering, engaging,
inspiring and motivating in order to lead the workforce and the community through
significant change whilst ensuring continued delivery of value for money services as
set out in Darlington Together.
(b) Workforce Capacity - Ensuring the organisation has the appropriate structures,
capacity, and skills that are needed to deal with the challenges faced to support the
organisation on its journey to 2015 and beyond.
(c) Safe and Healthy Workforce - Promoting resilience to change by encouraging
employees to adopt safe and healthy working practices and lifestyle choices in the
interests of themselves, the organisation, and the community we serve whilst seeking
to develop resilience to minimise and mitigate the personal impact of change .
(d) Recognition and Reward - Ensure that the Council’s reward package is affordable
and realistic and capable of retaining key employees. Ensuring employees feel
appreciated and receive timely and appropriate feedback for their efforts and have
opportunities for personal growth.
12. Equality and diversity, effective communication and the legislative employment
framework are inherent themes that underpin all aspects of this strategy. And as such we
will:
(a) Monitor the potential impact of change seeking to avoid the workforce composition
being disproportionally affected;
(b) have effective mechanisms in place to engage our workforce during the change
process and further enhance two- way communication with employees and their
representatives;
(c) continue to operate Human Resource and Equality best practice within the legal
framework.
Our Culture
13. The culture of the Council going forward will be one that is customer and outcome
focussed where efficiency, innovation and change is seen very much as part of the “day
job” and managers and employees continually strive to deliver new efficiency savings. Job
and process redesign will continue to be significant tools utilised as will “LEAN” practices
and modern technology. The emphasis is to maximise cost reductions by reviewing HOW
we deliver services and WHO delivers them to maximise the funds available to deliver One
Darlington Perfectly Placed.
14. This culture requires strong, effective, innovative leaders who are empowering and capable
of engaging employees in the change agenda. Our leaders must be open to and not afraid
of challenge and not afraid to take tough decisions. The change process may demand a
mixture of leadership style, wherever possible democratic, distributive, discretionary and
empowering but at times it will also need to be decisive and directive. Whichever style is
required we will operate within the core values framework below:
Core values
15. The following core values reflect the collective feedback from the significant stakeholder
consultation that has been undertaken including; elected members, COE/COB, HOS,
employees and Trade Unions;
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
(e)
Customer and Outcome focussed
Innovation and creativity
Teamwork
Value People (i.e. show respect, trust, recognise and appreciate)
Openness and honesty
16. Our employees all have responsibilities and rights:
All employees are responsible for:
• Being committed to high quality, value for money service that delivers the Council’s
outcomes;
• Using the Council’s resources effectively and constantly seeking innovative ways to
improve efficiency and reduce cost;
• Being flexible and responsive to changing needs
• Giving the maximum performance and attendance possible, and doing our best to
maintain our personal wellbeing and “protect the wellbeing of others”
• Communicating effectively with each other as part of the wider DBC team ethos
• Following agreed Council procedures and upholding the core values of the Council
• Their own health and safety and that of others
And in return all employees can expect to:
• Work in a safe, healthy and supportive environment
• Develop their skills to perform effectively in line with the organisations needs
• Be treated fairly
• Be consulted and listened to especially in relation to decisions which personally affect us
• Be recognised and appreciated
• Receive a fair package of reward for the work we do
Key conditions for employee engagement
17. The key conditions identified as key to maintaining continued employee engagement on
our journey are:
(i)
(ii)
(iii)
(iv)
A sense of belonging –achieved through teamwork
Recognition - by showing appreciation
Satisfaction- derived form employees feeling empowered and motivated by
seeing that they have made a difference;
Support from managers and colleagues including ;
-
Good management
-
Effective leadership
Good communication
Positive relationships with our elected members
Tools for the job
18. These conditions, along with the responsibilities, rights and core values will be built into the
PDR competency frameworks to ensure they become part of the everyday norm for all
employees.
19. An overview of the key actions required to deliver the strategy are shown overleaf.
Strategic aim 1 - Organisational Leadership
We will continue our good practice in respect of;
*Maintaining an effective employee relations climate
*Using a range of employee communication that is timely, engages and informs staff.We will also undertake the following priority actions in 2012/13;
*Cascade a clear statement which defines our leadership and general culture to all employees and elected members in support of
the Darlington Together action plan.
*Embed Leadership competences and behaviours, new core values and conditions for high engagement into PDR competences /
behaviours linked to the PDR to support the culture. Ensure consistent use of PDR’s with clear boundaries and goals agreed linked
into the PMF. Management skills programme to embrace key conditions for employee engagement.
*Keep the learning alive from the Senior Leadership Programme (Jigsaw) – regular update sessions twice per year and run a further
programme for a cohort of Heads of Service not yet attended. Use action learning to encourage innovation and change.
Strategic aim 2 - Workforce Capacity
We will continue our good practice in respect of;
*Tight vacancy control - COE approval for all vacancies and ER/VR requests
*Effective project management processes
*Robust redeployment process – supported by all managers
*Robust redundancy selection process – supported by all managers./ Redundancy support package in place.
*Use of Internships and Apprenticeships.
*Joined up HR policies and processes with key partners where relevant and practicable.
*TUPE process understood and implemented to comply with the law as required.
We will also undertake the following priority actions in 2012/13;
*Embed culture and values into PDR competences. Embed PDR as a key element of performance management contract with
individuals part of the PMF
*Continue to embed broader spans of mgmt. control. E.g. Via Service Reviews, zero based etc. Combine management structures
with key partners where efficient and practicable to do so- linkages to projects with partners e.g. Strategic options for People, Place,
Public Health transition plans etc. Adopt a flexible approach i.e. use of broader role profiles using competences and with links to JE.
*Roll out a skills development programme for officers and Members that reflects the organisations changing needs maximising use
of elearning (e.g. further use of the Academy10 LMS system)
*Review/ update the Management of change policy.
Strategic aim 3 - Safe and Healthy Workforce
We will continue our good practice in respect of;
*Effective Health and Safety Policy, robust safety management systems and practice adopted /embedded by managers and
employees. Risk assessments embedded and effective.
*Health and safety addressed in the commissioning /procurement process
*Wellbeing strategy
*Effective and timely planned communication of changes.
We will also undertake the following priority actions in 2012/13;
*Ensure Job profiles and PDR objectives embrace Health and Safety responsibilities. Embed Core values into PDR management
competency framework and behaviours.
*Develop Management skills to create resilience by ensuring change is communicated and managed effectively. Ensuring
Managers acknowledge people may get stressed and deal with it by rolling out Revised Stress policy, using the PIRA and related
training and issue Employee guidance pack.
*Give support/encouragement for an Employee led Sports and Social committee.
*Reinvigorate the list of listening officers and training as appropriate
Strategic aim 4 - Recognition and Reward
We will continue our good practice in respect of;
*Offering an affordable all round package of terms and conditions of employment and a range of effective, impact assessed and
legally compliant HR policies. Formal recognition schemes e.g. 4 Star, You’re a Star
*Employees suggestions welcomed and supported via “Your ideas” scheme *Fair means of assessing job grades -Job evaluation scheme and pay policy – Use of market supplements, only where justified and
subject to regular review. Proactive defence of the equal pay challenge
We will also undertake the following priority actions in 2012/13;
*Keep our Terms and Conditions under regular review in line with MTFP – and Equal pay compliant- Continue to defend the Equal
Pay challenge. Maximise further non cost employee benefits i.e. salary sacrifice schemes etc. Communicate the Council’s total
reward package to ensure employees fully understand what it contains.
*Embed core values and conditions for employee engagement into PDR competences and management skills development. Embed
the timely use of PDRs, 1:1’s that include “thank yous” into culture
*Give more recognition to the runners up in the 4 Star awards-and encourage nominations by other means such as
twitter, SMS
* Elected members continue to demonstrate / encourage public support for the workforce.