People Management Peer Review February 2008

The Review Team Chris Geyton – Excellence in Business George Bishop – Director of Personnel and General Services, Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea David Colvill – Director of Resources – Crawley Borough Council Len Hull – Head of HR – Bassetlaw District Council Rebecca McKenzie – Director of HR – Swindon Borough Council Cllr David Minnery – North Shropshire District Council

The Review Findings based on interviews on site and documentary information provided during a 2 day on-site visit Process does not seek to make binding judgements Designed to strengthen the Council’s self- awareness – focus on strengths and areas for improvement Final report has been made public

Context Southend has undergone many changes in both process and personnel in the last few years Significant changes in personnel at senior management level Significant distance travelled in the last few years from a position of recognised weakness Driving up performance Encouraging results – “Improving Well”

People Management Peer Review (PMPR) Benchmark 1. Leadership Based on the following rationale: LEADERS determine the high level STRATEGY for people management within the Council. They ensure that there is an appropriate DELIVERY model in place including management arrangements and processes to translate high level Strategy into OPERATIONAL RESULTS. LEARNING from the implementation of the people management arrangements and the results achieved is used to drive continuous improvement within the Council

PMPR OUTCOMES Strengths and areas for development identified SBC to determine priorities/timings within organisational context

Leadership Strengths Clear and well-communicated vision and values People Management issues represented at CMT level OD Programme Board chaired by the Leader CMT are visible and take a lead in delivering and cascading strategic messages

Leadership (continued) Areas for Improvement Member engagement and development Complexity of member groups/committees involved in People Management issues – leads to difficulties in monitoring progress against People Management Strategy* No clear measures in place to judge the effectiveness of Corporate Equalities Steering Group

Leadership (continued) Areas for Improvement (cont) Plans to develop initiatives such as exChange are not clear to staff* Uncertain commitment to Health & Safety*

Strategy Strengths Revised People Management Strategy Corporate Plan, service planning and appraisal process provide the basis of the “golden thread” to drive performance Key HR policies have been subject to review and improvement National agendas on People Management included in strategies and plans

Strategy (continued) Strengths (cont) Investment in OD Some examples of strong joint working (Southend Together), focused use of data/analysis (Children’s Specialist Services) and succession planning (school leadership)

Strategy Areas for Improvement Extent to which employees are involved in the development of the PMS not demonstrated* Lack of “People”/HR area on the Intranet* Current PMS needs to be better integrated with key HR activity* Lack of systematic approach to training and development*

Strategy (contininued) Areas for Improvement (cont) Lack of “risk-based” approach to resource planning Limited evaluation by senior managers or Members of the impact of strategies and plans Lack of strategy to improve effectiveness and efficiency of HR through technology Lack of a Council-wide Workforce Development/Planning Strategy*

Delivery Strengths Evidence of positive collaboration with partners to deliver more efficient and effective HR services A number of strong processes, e.g. communications and cascade of Employee Absence Support System Improvements in relation to sickness and absence management

Delivery (continued) Strengths (cont) HR staff have been actively involved and informed throughout the HR change process Examples of Equality & Diversity agenda being embedded into mainstream work High level of buy back from schools into the HR Service

Delivery (continued) Strengths (cont) Career progression schemes and positive recruitment campaigns in Children’s Services working well Clear evidence of support for staff to deliver performance appraisal process Corporate training and development generally of good quality

Delivery (continued) Strengths (cont) Evidence in some areas that people are given the capacity and authority to perform their role to its potential

Delivery (continued) Areas for Improvement No formal measure or review of the effectiveness of HR Service delivery* HR Business Partner role needs developing* Decentralised recruitment budgets means an insufficient resource or direction to establish “a clear brand”

Delivery (continued) Areas for Improvement (cont) Lots of positive but not integrated action in respect of recruitment – again due to lack of resource in HR function Managers would like to take on more of the recruitment function Lack of a system link between Payroll and HR – an integrated system should be considered

Delivery (continued) Areas for Improvement (cont) Clarification of role of strategic HR especially in respect of OD* Current Equality & Diversity Action Plan for CMT is not widely understood* Lack of systematic approach to identification of training needs and the development of the corporate training offer in line with corporate priorities*. Budgets not identified for this purpose

Delivery (continued) Areas for Improvement (cont) Still some inconsistency in application of appraisal process* Management competence/ability to cope with their HR responsibilities is not reviewed*

Operational Results Strengths Staff satisfaction levels are monitored and measured and are improving Awareness of higher profile issues such as sickness Quality of HR data is better Management of sickness is better Perception of staff is that staff morale has improved

Operational Results (continued) Strengths (cont) View of partners is that quality of partnership working has improved Genuine enthusiasm about Inspiring programme – Authority has improved as a result Examples of customer feedback influencing service improvements Excellent examples of “softer” recognition – Managers saying thank-you, personal letters from Chief Executive

Operational Results (continued) Areas for Improvement Staff feel that stress levels are increasing* Number of groups with overlapping responsibility for People Management needs to be reduced* Need to establish a balanced set of local People Management PIs, linked to service plan* Need to use data more effectively to inform policy and strategy Need for a more consistent and equitable approach to training budgets

Learning Strengths HR function and Council are self-aware and recognise respective strengths and weaknesses Committed to being a “learning” organisation Healthy attitude towards external challenge of its People Management practices

Learning (continued) Strengths (cont) Examples of learning producing positive results, e.g. developing capacity around procurement Evidence of evaluation of leadership/management development programme via 360° appraisal Examples of benchmarking visits to inform future planning and improvement

Learning (continued) Areas for Improvement Need to capture and share good practice in a more effective way Better analysis of exit interviews

Actions Already in Hand* People Management and Development Board – replaces OD Programme Board and People Management Strategy Working Party

Actions Already in Hand (continued) Revised PMS and Y2 Action Plan – this has been well communicated across the organisation via Unions and staff forums Corporate Workforce Development Strategy – to be developed as one of Y2 actions in PMS. Will now be picked up by newly formed POD team Refocusing of Health & Safety arrangements. Action plan endorsed by CMT in June 0 8 (includes Stress Management). H&S CMT lead identified as Andy Lewis

Actions Already in Hand (continued) Developing a “People” section on the Intranet – again as part of Y2 PMS Action Plan Developing People Management PIs as part of service planning process and PMS Y2 PMS Action Plan now integrates with key HR activity Review of appraisal process and link to identification of training needs underway

Actions Already in Hand (continued) Redefinition of HR Business Partner role underway OD function now mainstreamed within HR & Communications and role aligned to HRBP model Work towards Corporate I.i.P. will focus activity and lead to changes around training and development processes, etc Peer Review on Equality & Diversity work is planned Proposed permanent recruitment solution with Capita PC is currently being explored

Outstanding Issues Member engagement and development Integrated HR/Payroll System Evaluation of impact of strategies and policies