Making it balance –can organisations afford it Bill Tidnam

Project funding Significant initial investment in process of change:  C. £30k funding scoping exercise (Thames Reach, Broadway, London Housing Foundation.  Then £500k (Oak Foundation/ESF equal) over 3 years to fund:  Organisational change  Development of training and support programme  Dissemination of results

Years 1+2 Development and organisational change (1)  12 ‘supernumerary’ trainees per year, based across the organisation. (‘Community support trainees’ based in large frontline hostel, paid through contractual funding)  Management within organisational HR team  Project manager:  Developing trainee programme and support mechanisms  Identifying and removing cultural barriers.  Producing a guide to user employment for the homelessness sector/  Commitment to mainstreaming service user trainee programme by year 3.

Years 1+2 Development and organisational change (2) Specific measures over this period included:  Internal first advertising up to service manger level  Development of additional entry level posts and discussion about role of these posts  Development of internal programmes around structured volunteering  Development of ‘management pathways’ scheme Challenges included  Tougher external environment – cost, regulatory burden.  Higher sickness level for trainees making transitional to paid employment (+1.9%)

Year 3 Mainstreaming (1) Year beginning June Sixteen trainees per year of which:  75% funded through core contractual budgets  25% ‘supernumerary’ trainees – teams can bid for this extra resource  Training manager with responsibility for running trainee programme, also commissioning organisational training.  Commitment to incorporating further trainee and entry- level posts into team budgets as review and development allows.

Year 3 Mainstreaming (2)  Trainee and entry level posts allow us to deliver more cost effective services in larger services – need to be managed well and allow main grade staff to do more.  Supernumerary posts and contribution to project management paid for by a ‘charge’ to other teams - this represents 0.4% increase in salary budget per team.

Going forward  Significant savings on recruitment costs.  Pool of locum staff  More competitive pricing model  Prepares organisation from challenges associated with LAAs and de-ring-fencing of Supporting People -Fits well with increased organisational emphasis on employment, allows us to model the behaviour we need from other employers -Gives our service users clear role models