Agenda item

Report by Director of Human Resources & Organisational Change.

The Committee is asked to consider the recommendations in the report relating to the progress with staff inductions.

21.1   The Committee considered a report by the Director of Human Resources & Organisational Change (copy appended to the signed minutes).

21.2   Ms Hannant, Head of Organisational Development, introduced the report and explained the progress that had taken place since the first report to the Committee in November 2016.  Further improvements had been made in April 2017 with Directors being sent 6 monthly reports on incomplete elements.  Completion rates had risen from 14% to 44% last year, but had now plateaued at 51%.  Officers were proposing a new expectation that online modules should be completed within 1 month of employment, and face to face modules being completed within 3 months.

21.3   The Committee made comments including those that follow.

•    Expressed concern at the completion rates and asked how they were monitored.  – Ms Hannant explained that new starter data was sent to managers so they could ensure elements were completed.  It was noted that the Library service had a good completion rate and so attempts would be made to mirror this success.  A workforce dashboard was used to monitor induction progress and training attendance.

•    Queried the key areas of incomplete inductions.  – Ms Hannant reported that Adult and Children services were large directorates and so had a high number of incomplete inductions.

•    Felt it would be useful to understand if the incompletion rates had trends related to categories such as pay grades, term appointments, compulsory elements, training elements, etc.

•    Queried how different elements were delivered and the difference between manager and director roles.  – Ms Hannant explained that all mandatory elements were reported on and that different services had bespoke elements on top of this.  The inductions for managers and directors also had different elements included.  Line managers were expected to work with their staff through the induction process and discuss training requirements.  New starters could opt to complete some elements before they joined the authority. 

•    Asked how outsourced and external employees were monitored.  – Ms Hannant explained that the report only covered County Council employees.  External providers would have their own requirements for their staff.  Training modules were made available to outsourced and external employees.  Ms Eberhart added that this would be part of contractual requirements and resolved to confirm this.

•    Queried if this area had been considered by Internal Audit.  – Mr Pitman reported that there was no specification action on this within the plan, but it could be included in the future if necessary and agreed to discuss this with Human Resources.

•    Asked how long the training should take to complete.  – Ms Hannant reported that the online training should take 6 hours and 1 day of face to face training.  Some bespoke roles, such as a lollypop person, contained different corporate elements.

21.4   Mr Lanzer, Cabinet Member for Corporate Relations welcomed the strong steer from the Committee and agreed there was a corporate risk for incompletion.  Induction progress should be linked with appraisals.

21.5   The Committee requested a report to the March meeting to look at progress.

21.6   The Committee felt that recommendation 4 in the report was not sufficient and proposed an alternative.

          That the Committee raises concerns at the lack of completion rates with staff inductions, which it considers a crucial element of corporate governance.  An update is requested at the March 2019 meeting which should reflect all points discussed by the Committee to improve staff induction and staff appraisal processes.

21.7   The Committee unanimously agreed to the amended recommendation.

21.8   Resolved – That Committee:

1. Requests that the monitoring of completion rates of mandatory elements continues with escalation and follow-up as appropriate
2. Supports the proposal to set up a working group in Human Resources to tackle the lack of progress in driving completion rates up
3. Approved the change in completion date for on-line elements to first month and all elements by month 3.
4. Raises concerns at the lack of completion rates with staff inductions, which it considers a crucial element of corporate governance.  An update is requested at the March 2019 meeting which should reflect all points discussed by the Committee to improve staff induction and staff appraisal processes.
5. Supports the use of staff pulse surveys to measure progress on some of the more behavioural and cultural elements of induction, for example, “I am treated with fairness, respect and am trusted to do my job”.