June 2017 HR bulletin
The Employee Survey is live and available to complete until 30th June 2017. We would really like to hear from you and your staff.
We have worked really hard to make a difference following the results from 2015 and we would like you to encourage your staff to tell us what they think about how things are now.
Our return rate in 2015 was 31%, just under 1 in 3 members of staff responded – we think we can do better; by increasing the response rate we have a much more representative response on which to base our actions moving forward.
The information gathered in the survey will be used to monitor progress and trends from the previous survey and assess if the working environment has improved. The results will also help us identify where we have areas of good practice and it will highlight areas where we are not doing so well. This information then assists in determining where we need to take action to improve things and equally where service areas are doing things well, share good practice. Either way we need to hear from as many of your team as possible.
The survey has been distributed to all staff so please keep a look out for you and your services copies. Please be supportive and encourage your staff to complete the survey.
Remember our survey:
• can be completed electronically or by paper
• Give your staff 10 mins in work to complete their form
We appreciate that many of our staff work in frontline services so that can be a challenge to allow time for completion of the survey. In these service areas use your team meetings as an opportunity to talk and distribute the survey; we will also be undertaking a number of drop in sessions across these frontline services to allow an opportunity for front line staff to complete the survey there and then. Post boxes will be also be provided in these areas to securely return any paper copies.
A voice does make a difference so please give your staff a chance to use theirs.
If you have any questions on the survey please do not hesitate to get in touch with any of the HR team who will be happy to help.
EMPLOYEE CONFERENCE 2017 -‘Transforming Together’
This year invitations are going to be limited, with your support we are expecting those employees who receive an invite will be able to attend. We’ve issued lists for you to check in advance of sending out the invitations so you can make sure that’s ok and service needs can be considered. If a member of staff cannot attend then please let us know as soon as possible as places are limited this year and we have a waiting list.
Thinking back, we’ve held a number of conferences now and it’s good to see how they have evolved and progressed over the years.
Plans are underway for this year’s conference ‘Transforming Together’ (to be held in the Autumn) and we’re working on the programme for the day ‘as we write’ Holding events out with Elgin has proved popular, so building on that we will hold 3 events again this year in Keith, Forres and Elgin.
The full programme for this year's conference, which will run from 8.45am (for registration) to 1.30pm, is in the finishing stages and attendees will be informed of the schedule nearer the time.
Should any member of staff mention that they would like to attend but don’t receive an invite then please let HR know and we’ll do our best to arrange for them to come.
Please encourage staff who receive an invitation to attend and participate, this is such a good opportunity for them to meet Directors and Senior Managers and speak with them about issues that are important. Of course just as important is the chance to meet with colleagues who have different roles in the Council and work in other services.
BRIGHT IDEAS
You may remember that last year we launched our staff suggestion scheme, Bright Ideas, which is now an established event within our annual calendar. It gives every employee the opportunity to put forward original ideas for savings and service efficiency. The scheme will launch again on 1st June and run until 28 July 2017.
All ideas are welcomed whether big or small, but ideas that contribute to the council’s priorities and help in delivering our services where money is tight are really what we are looking for.
Further information on the scheme and how to make a submission will be available shortly on Interchange. In the meantime please encourage your employees to get their thinking caps on to help shape the future of the Council.
Job Evaluation Update
As some of you may be aware our colleague Jim Vance retired at the end of last year and rather than leading the job evaluation process he is living the life of leisure! For us, this has led to a change in the process of allocating work within the HR department in regard to regradings / job evaluation. All HR Advisers are now involved in job evaluation gradings of new and existing posts. To have the grade of a post assessed please contact lisa.brown@moray.gov.uk in the first instance.
Just a quick reminder of the procedure; the Regrading Form should be completed and submitted to Lisa to instigate the application process and this includes the Management assessment of the application. For new posts a job description and person specification is required. It is extremely helpful to provide as much detail about the role as possible - this will result in obtaining the most relevant job overview and grade for the post.
An initial assessment of each job evaluation request is made by Grant Cruickshank (HR Manager) and Katrina McGillivray (Senior HR Adviser) prior to the jobs being allocated to an HR Adviser, to ensure that the criteria for a review are met as stated in the Grading Policy. The criteria is:
(i) there has been a change in the predominant nature of duties and responsibilities of the post since it was established or since the post was last regraded and this is not reflected in the job overview used to determine the grade for the post.
and/or
(ii) The job overview used to determine the grade of the post does not reflect the predominant duties undertaken and another existing job overview more appropriately reflects the job.
Where a job is being reviewed, the whole post will be considered in terms of the impact on the grade to ensure that both additional duties and any that have been removed or altered are taken into account.
You will be advised who has been allocated the grading work to progress and the HR Adviser will contact you for further information and clarification of details before the process of a detailed job evaluation takes place.
Once the HR Adviser has completed the job evaluation, a grading panel convenes to agree factor level outcomes and reasons, before a final decision on the job overview is agreed. Additional information may be required from the relevant parties in order to finalise the details of the job. Following this you will be advised of the final grade for the role and effective date of implementation. Please don’t hesitate to contact HR for any advice or information.
Forthcoming Strategy Talks
August: Healthier Citizens
September: Health and Safety
Contact Us:
If you need to contact us, we can be reached on the HR Helpline (01343 563261) or by emailing hr@moray.gov.uk