Organisational Development
Framework
2016
Cornwall Council: fit for purpose, prepared
for the future
February 2016
Foreword
Cornwall Council has developed an organisational development framework to
ensure that - together with our partners - the Council is fit for purpose now and
prepared for the challenges of the future, including delivering the Council
Strategy.
Everyone at the Council and our companies is passionate about delivering good
public services and making life better in Cornwall.
Our long term Strategy is to create a sustainable Cornwall:
A prosperous Cornwall that is resilient and resourceful; a place where
communities are strong and where the most vulnerable are protected.
To help deliver the Strategy we need to recognise the ways in which public
services are organised and delivered in Cornwall are changing.

The devolution benefits secured by the Cornwall Deal will fundamentally
alter how the Council works with local delivery partners, local
communities and the users of public services.

The financing of local government is changing dramatically with the
Council having to rely less on funding from Government and more on
raising income, local devolution, becoming even more efficient and doing
things differently.

The roles of elected members and public servants are evolving and we
need to equip our people and partners with the skills, attributes and
values needed to succeed.
We have reviewed the strengths and weaknesses of the organisation and used
this information to set our ambition for transforming and aligning the core
elements of Cornwall Council – our people, our systems and processes, our
allocation of resources and our strategies for the future - the future Cornwall.
We are all responsible for improving how the Council operates; after all, the
Council is the sum of its parts. Therefore I would encourage you - as
Councillors, Employees and Partners – to get involved and help take this
agenda forward.
Kate Kennally
Cath Robinson
Chief Executive
Cornwall Council
Interim Director of Communities
and Organisational Development
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Introduction
What is the organisational development framework?
The organisational development (OD) framework has been established with the
overall aim of ensuring that Cornwall Council remains fit for purpose now and
ready to meet the challenges of the future, including delivering the Council
Strategy1.
The OD framework ensures the organisation is focussed on the right things to
deliver the Council Strategy and directly contributes towards the delivery of the
strategy theme of being ‘efficient, effective and innovative’.
We have taken a very practical approach to developing the OD framework,
which includes structuring the framework across four core elements of the
organisation which impact most on our ability to achieve the Council Strategy.
These are:
i)
People – our staff who deliver services and our members who
represent the views of our residents and communities;
ii)
Systems and Processes – the ways in which we organise,
manage and deliver our work;
iii)
Resources - the allocation of our resources – money, staff and
assets – to our delivery activities and our investments for the
future;
iv)
Strategy – our longer term aims and objectives for Cornwall, for
Cornwall Council and for Cornish public services.
The overarching aims of the OD framework will be delivered through 10 linked
strategies. Each of the strategies will have an impact directly or indirectly upon
the four core elements (see diagram 1 below).
Diagram 1 – Four
elements of the
organisation
1
Cornwall Council Strategy
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Cornwall Council Context
Created in 2009, Cornwall Council is one of the largest unitary authorities in
England.
We have a clear four year Strategy and budget which covers the period 2015 to
2019.
We have 123 locally elected Members representing the views of over half a
million Cornish residents and communities.
We have 5,500 staff who are organised under 3 directorates into 13 services
and who are based at 60 offices across Cornwall. We also own a group of
companies, employing over 2500 staff who deliver a range of services in
Cornwall on behalf of the Council.
We have an annual gross budget of £1.1 billion. Reduced funding from the
Government, coupled with additional demand and rising costs, has required the
Council to reduce the budget by £170m since 2010. Plans are already in place
to deliver a further £103m from April 2016.
The challenges and opportunities faced by the Council are equally compelling.
We have in the order of 250 statutory duties that we are required by law to
undertake and we use 1300 software applications in the course of delivering our
day-to-day activities.
We are experiencing an increasing demand for our services – people are living
longer in Cornwall but with long term health conditions which require support.
Customer expectations of our services are changing as a new generation of
service users comes of age.
We have secured a pioneering devolution deal with Government securing
greater freedoms and flexibilities to work with local partners to develop an
integrated health and social care system, and to deliver significant economic
growth, together with a much improved public transport network and more
efficient use of public sector buildings.
We have 59 local devolution projects in train transferring local assets and
services to local councils, groups and organisations within Cornwall.
We have many strengths but, like all local authorities,
we recognise that we have areas for improvement
which we need to tackle in order to be fit for the future.
In order to understand the priority actions that Cornwall Council should take to
be fit for the future, we have set out to understand the current strengths and
improvement needs of the organisation.
We have collated a new organisational evidence base drawing from a range of
corporate surveys and assessments, service based inspections and reports,
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customer survey exercises (including the Residents Survey), as well as the
feedback from a range of engagement exercises held with members and over
600 staff at various events across Cornwall and online in October and
November 2015.
We have had the evidence base independently reviewed and, set out below, is a
summary of the core strengths and areas for improvement of Cornwall Council:
Significant Strengths

The passion and commitment of our staff. Employees are loyal and
committed to meeting the needs of the customer.

Basic customer access systems work – more residents are satisfied with
their most recent contact with the Council than are dissatisfied

Structural change arising from restructures has been well managed and
leadership is strong – the relationships between cabinet and senior
managers are good and performance measures are well developed.

Other strengths of the Council include the value that staff place in their
line manager, the flexibility provided by modern working practices (eg
working at home, flexitime), a drive to put the customer first, the clear
direction given by our Strategy, how we work in partnership with others
and our willingness to adapt and embrace change.

In addition, Cornwall Council is leading the way in our pioneering
devolution deal, our Leader was positioned on the Local Government
Chronicle’s list of the most influential people in local government and we
have been nominated for their Council of the Year award.
Areas for improvement

Connections and relationships between staff, leaders and members would
benefit from investment. Specific examples include visibility of leaders,
understanding of the role of members and the need for leaders to role
model positive behaviours.

The breadth and diversity of work delivered by the Council and its
companies, combined with the geographical spread across Cornwall
exacerbates the presence of a silo culture and disconnection between
services and locations. Reinforcing the corporate brand and a common
purpose that everyone can identify with would help to mitigate this.

In general our systems and processes are considered too burdensome,
bureaucratic and too controlling. Staff experience significant issues with
particular systems which impacts on staff morale and effectiveness.
Examples highlighted include HR policies and procedures and IT systems
(examples include EDRMS, ERP, MOSAIC, Lagan).
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
There is a need for clarity regarding how some of our key strategies and
policies link together , including the impact of the Cornwall Deal and the
future operating model of the Council (i.e its size, structure and the role
of the group of companies). Without clarity it is very difficult to ensure
that decisions taken by the Council are aligned and prioritised towards a
common goal.

There is evidence of a culture of risk aversion and many staff do not feel
supported.

In light of reduced staffing levels and budgets, the organisation needs to
prioritise resources and to communicate the impact of prioritisation to
customers, the public and our partners. Staff are also asking for help to
prioritise locally and for support from leaders in the decisions they take.

The ability to recruit and retain skilled staff.
Priority challenges for 16/17:
In general, the evidence base points to the need for us to think differently
about how we work, to think and plan strategically and to coordinate and
integrate our ways of working at organisation, team and individual level.
Staff are asking for:






increased opportunities to engage in decision making
inspirational leadership
transparency of decision making and 2-way communications
less bureaucracy
a balance between enabling support services which operate through
frameworks and guidance, and the balance the mandatory and legislative
requirements which operate through rules and procedures
empowerment to innovate and take risks
The priority areas for development which the framework needs to respond to in
16/17 include:

Enhancing leadership capabilities, including our leaders actively
demonstrating or ‘role modelling’ the positive behaviours that we are
seeking to encourage through our Performance Development System

Refreshing and coordinating corporate engagement and internal
communications activities to improve morale and reconnect staff, leaders
and members

Tackling systems and processes issues, namely HR policies and procedures
and IT systems

Providing tools and methods to prioritise and explain our allocation of our
resources – locally and at organisational level
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
Exploring how to tackle the culture of risk aversion

Providing clarity on the key strategies impacting on the current and future
activity of the public sector in Cornwall, and what that means for the Council

Building the views of local communities, customers and our partners into our
decision making processes

Building trust and enhancing the reputation of the Council
How will we deliver the Organisational Development
Framework?
The OD framework will be delivered in two main ways. Firstly, the actions
identified within the ten component strategies which sit beneath the framework
will be incorporated into the Council’s annual business and service plans and
these are subject to the Council’s risk and performance management processes.
Secondly, an organisation-wide change programme is being prepared to
support and coordinate implementation of the overall framework aims alongside
delivery of the component strategies, in particular those strategies which
require cultural or behavioural shifts to take place.
The OD Steering Group, chaired by Kate Kennally, Chief Executive, will continue
to oversee delivery of the framework, receive performance updates, guide the
change programme and lead an annual review of the framework and
component strategies.
How will we measure our success?
Each of the ten component strategies contains their own measures of success
which the Organisational Development Steering Group will monitor delivery of
on a quarterly basis and as part of their annual review of the framework.
To measure the success of the overarching framework itself we will develop a
set of baseline measures for each of the four core elements of the organisation
(People, Systems & Processes, Resources and Strategy). The Employee Survey
and the Residents Survey are likely to provide the main vehicles for establishing
the baselines and measuring progress.
The Council’s Employee Engagement Group (EEG) was formed in 2015 and
comprises staff volunteers from each service and from across Cornwall. The
EEG will continue to be the primary way of engaging staff in the OD framework,
along with our internal communications highlighting progress and seeking input
from all staff through the intranet and the ‘team talk’ cascade briefing.
We will also create a Stakeholder Insight Group to inform and challenge
delivery of the OD framework. The Group will be comprised of a mix of Cornish
individuals and organisations including delivery partners, local interest groups,
businesses and staff. We will be seeking volunteers to join this group shortly.
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Our Organistional Development Framework is made up
of four key Strategic Aims;
Over the next few pages, each of the four strategic aims will be presented as
follows:

The strategic aim describes what we are going to do to support the
overall Council Strategy.

The rationale explains why this is important and describes the current
context.

The activities explain what we will need to do or put in place to
achieve our strategic aims.

The measures describe how we will evaluate our success.
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The rationale…
Our people – our 5,500 staff and 123 Members – are the biggest strength of
Cornwall Council. They are passionate about delivering good public services and
making life better for everyone in Cornwall.
In order to be fit for the future we want our people to be confident about the
purpose of the Council and how we work alongside our partners, about their
own role, the decisions they take and be able to advocate how what we all do
makes a difference.
We also want all our people to be capable which means providing the right
support, ranging from a set of basic tools and training through to inspirational
and engaging leadership. It also means recruiting and retaining capable people.
We will achieve our aim by…

Delivering an organisationwide change programme
to support implementation
of the framework

Implementation of the People
Strategy which will deliver a lean,
resourceful, talented and productive
workforce

Implementing a leadership
development programme
to prepare our leaders for
new challenges

Supporting our people – staff and
members - to be ready for the
changing future role of local
government in the 21st century

Ensuring all staff and
members are aware of the
expectations of their role
and future changes

Discussing with public sector
partners shared strategies to
recruit and retain skilled staff to
deliver Cornish public services

Building understanding and
working relationships
between Members,and
staff and Cornwall’s
delivery partners

Maximising engagement
opportunities and embedding
understanding of Cornwall Council’s
values and principles
How will we know we’ve been successful…

Improved employee engagement index scores

Our leaders are recognised as effective role models

Our people feel confident and capable
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The rationale…
Time spent by our people on corporate systems and processes is potentially time
lost on either the delivery of public services or considering how public service
delivery might be improved.
In order to be fit for the future our systems and processes must focus on enabling
the effective delivery of public services, our systems and processes should not
create unnecessary burdens or controls.
We also want our systems and processes to be effective which means listening to
the needs of users of our systems and processes – be they customers, partners or
staff – and acting on their feedback as we design and improve our systems.
We will achieve our aim by…

Delivering a corporate
programme to tackle issues
with key systems and
processes which impact most
on morale and effectiveness

Ensuring our IT systems and
processes support the delivery
of public services through our
Information Strategy

Reviewing and updating HR
policies and procedures,
through implementation of our
People Strategy

Reviewing the structure and
culture of our support
services to ensure they are
enabling and fit for the future

Reducing bureaucracy and simplifying
corporate systems and processes
through implementation of the
Corporate Improvement Strategy

Implementing the Positive
Governance Strategy which will
embed governance in day-to-day
activities

Improving the efficiency of customer
service processes through
implementation of the Customer
Access Strategy

Encouraging innovation and ideas
by providing support and forums for
staff and customers to improve
systems and processes
How will we know we’ve been successful…

Staff morale improves as issues with key systems and processes are tackled

Customers recognise efficiency improvements in our service processes

Our systems and processes are recognised as enabling and effective
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The rationale…
Staffing levels are declining and government funding is likely to reduce further. We
need to use and invest our limited resources in ways which achieve the maximum
impact for Cornwall, being clear and transparent about our resourcing decisions.
In order to be fit for the future we want the allocation of our resources to be
prioritised at an organisation level, with robust information about customer need
informing those decisions. We also want to support our people to plan and prioritise
their resources and time locally within their teams and as individuals.
We want the resources that we allocate to the delivery of each of our services and
activities to be proportionate to the public service benefits they deliver for
Cornwall.
We will achieve our aim by…

Undertaking prioritisation of
resources at organisation-wide
level and being clear about the
impacts for our customers and
partners

Learning lessons from others who
have achieved success eg shifting to
new customer delivery channels and
reducing the demand for services
through early intervention

Developing tools and
methodologies to support
staff and managers to
prioritise resources within their
teams

Further developing a culture of
robust financial management
across the Council through
implementation of our Finance
Strategy

Managing our property in the
best interests of the people of
Cornwall through our
Property Strategy

Building a commercial culture
across the Council through
implementation of our Commercial
Strategy.

Exploring new opportunities to
generate income from the
services we deliver.
How will we know we’ve been successful…

Our people feel supported when prioritising local resources

Our allocation of resources to priorities is clear and transparent

Our allocation of resources to our services is recognised as proportionate
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The rationale…
The ways in which public services in Cornwall are organised and delivered are
changing, as are the needs and expectations of our customers. We need to consider
the future role of the public sector in Cornwall, and what this means for the future
operating model for delivering public services in partnership.
In order to be fit for the future we want the strategies that we and others are
working towards to align and where there are conflicts or tensions, we want to
actively manage them.
We also want our strategies to be clear so that our people and our customers
understand and are aware of what we are working towards and the service levels
they can expect from us, building trust in the Council and enhancing our reputation.
We will achieve our aim by…

Preparing for changes in public
service delivery in Cornwall
and understanding the impact
for the operating model of
the Council

Building trust in the Council by
communicating our services and
achievements through the
Communications and Marketing
Strategy

Developing and
communicating a clear
explanation of the strategies
shaping public service
delivery in Cornwall

Continuing to pursue double
devolution for Cornwall through
implementation of our Localism
Strategy and the Cornwall Deal

Actively managing tensions
between the strategies which
shape public service delivery in
Cornwall

Understanding and measuring
customer experiences and acting
on feedback
How will we know we’ve been successful…

Our people and customers are clear about what we are seeking to achieve

The strategies we are pursuing are aligned and any tensions are managed

The impact of changes to future public service delivery in Cornwall Council
are clear and plans are in place to respond to them
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Summary…

The ways in which public services are organised and delivered in Cornwall
are changing.

We are embarking on a programme of organisational development to
prepare the four core elements of the Council for the challenges of the
future – our people, our systems & processes, our resources and our
strategies.

The aims of the organisational development programme are captured in
this Organisational Development Framework, which will be delivered by
10 strategies through a coordinated delivery programme.

Ensuring that Cornwall Council is fit for purpose and prepared for the
future is a shared responsibility. Get in touch and get involved.
If you would like this information in another format please contact:
Cornwall Council
County Hall
Treyew Road
Truro TR1 3AY
Telephone: 0300 1234 100
Email: [email protected]
www.cornwall.gov.uk
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