Issue - meetings

This report provides the Committee with a breakdown of the most recent staff survey. 

Discussion:

Members considered a report which provided a breakdown of the most recent staff survey.

The following issues were discussed:

·       Survey – the Head of HR clarified that 1,131 people had responded to the survey, which was just under 50% of the workforce. In terms of how to address the fact that some front-line staff did not feel the survey was relevant to them, the Head of HR advised that several drop-in sessions to share the survey findings had taken place, which had generated a lot of useful feedback. In addition, the Medway Makers were being relaunched as one way of better engaging with the workforce. This would allow a balanced representation across the whole council who could help make sure the questions in future surveys were relevant to everyone. In addition, paper copies of the survey had been made available, but none had been returned.

·       Issues identified by the survey  - in response to how any issues or concerns raised by the survey would be followed up, the Head of HR advised that all of these (including from the drop-in sessions) had been logged and a leadership programme was being developed to ensure managers had the tools needed to respond. An escalation route had been established to quickly resolve issues.

·       Performance management and productivity - how productivity was measured was questioned and Members were advised that HR was working with managers to help them how to manage remote teams. However, this would not be a case of employees’ activies being monitored in granular detail but rather regular check ins with staff with an emphasis on key milestones, effective communication and collaboration and clarity on how to escalate problems. The policies and guidance needed to support this were being developed. The Head of HR emphasised this new way of working was a significant cultural shift which would need to be embraced by everyone to be successful and would take time to fully embed.

·       Younger employees – concern was expressed about difficulties young people may face when learning on job and reduced access to mentors. Although none of the survey questions had been specifically aimed at younger members of staff, the drop-in sessions had revealed that some young people felt they were constantly at home, in some cases from shared bedrooms.

·       Training -  in terms of access to training when people were working from home, the Head of HR explained that much training was now online but if there was a need to come into the office for training then this would be expected of staff. 

·       Social isolation – in response to the survey finding that many people had experienced social isolation, the Head of HR commented this issue had been more prominent in the drop-in sessions. The Council was looking to create more outside spaces at Gun Wharf for people to socialise. Many teams had still socialised online during the pandemic. In addition, the Council’s Make a Difference awards event would take place in November.

Decision:

The Committee agreed to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 291