HR Bulletin - September 2021

INTRODUCTION

Welcome to the September edition of our HR Bulletin. Our penultimate edition of 2021! There are some interesting articles below for you to escalate to your teams. For additional information on any of the below articles please contact: karen.baker@moray.gov.uk

MENTAL HEALTH & WELLBEING SURVEY

Thank you to everyone who responded to The Mental Health & Wellbeing Survey which concluded in July 2021. There were 1,193 surveys completed electronically and 58 completed paper copies, this equates to approximately 25% of our employees.

The results along with any recommendations for improvements are currently being analysed and the final report will be available in the coming month.

STAR AWARDS ARE RETURNING!

The appreciation scheme was really successful in acknowledging and appreciating the scale of effort being made every day by our colleagues to keep services going and bring services back on board during the pandemic, in place of the STAR awards.

We are pleased to announce the STAR (Special Thanks and Recognition) Awards are coming back. They take place once per year to celebrate the achievements of employees as nominated by their colleagues/managers. The date is to be confirmed but expected to launch in September with the awards ceremony in December 2021.

KICK START SCHEME

The recruitment for the kick start scheme will be underway soon. To tackle youth unemployment, the UK Government has announced that through the Kickstart Scheme, funding is available for employers to create a 6 month, 25 hours a week work placement for young people currently out of work, aged 16-24.

Placements are still available for uptake by services and departments so if you would like to know more information about being able to secure a kick start opportunity within your team, please get in touch with Kayley.kearns@moray.gov.uk

LONG SERVICE AWARDS

After some delays in being able to progress the Long Service Awards (2020), we are delighted to be able to say that we are on catch up with this and awards will be distributed shortly.

There are 76 awards for the first half of 2021 to be distributed across long serving people within the various services across the council and we are very pleased to be able to mark such dedicated service over the years including 2 employees celebrating 40 years’ service.

SCOTTISH MILITARY COMMUNITY PAGE

We are continuing to update the Scottish Military page monthly with updates from Age Scotland for our service veterans, and information directly from a Major in the Scottish Military for our serving personnel. You can find details on the Interchange: http://interchange.moray.gov.uk/int_standard/Page_134613.html

PRE RETIREMENT COURSES

Affinity Connect are running 2 hour pre-retirement courses to anyone considering retirement within the next 3 years. The courses will encourage a positive and realistic approach to a financially secure retirement and help employees make informed choices. The last course of this year is on:

Thursday 18th November 2020 @ 10am to 12pm via TEAMs

Spaces are available to book via Learnpro or by emailing organisational.development@moray.gov.uk

DIGITAL CHAMPIONS RECRUITMENT

The Organisational Development Team are establishing a network of Digital Champions. They are volunteers recruited from our workforce who can support colleagues to learn digital skills, gain digital confidence and overcome barriers to getting digitally active. Through peer to peer learning, Digital Champions will support colleagues across our organisation with a range of digital tasks from accessing a digital payslip or organising their inbox to creating pivot tables or using advanced features of Word or other Office products.

We are now actively recruiting for Digital Champions to join the network, if you are interested in applying or require further information please contact DigitalChampions@moray.gov.uk

CAREER READY

Career Ready is a programme designed to connect our young people with the world of work, unlocking their potential and levelling the playing field.

Moray Council has pledged to provide mentors to this programme every year to support students from our secondary schools and becoming a Career Ready mentor is a fun, flexible way to inspire young people, unlock their true potential, and guide them through the early stages of their career journey.

Although the programme launches in December 2021 when the students would meet their mentors for the first time, we ask that anyone interested in becoming a mentor gets in contact now.

If you are interested in a mentor role please contact organisational.development@moray.gov.uk for more information.

E-LEARNING UPDATE

There is an update on CLIVE on what new courses are available, what courses are coming soon, and which ones are currently being reviewed.

New course available now:

• Presentation Skills

New courses coming soon:

• Adult Support and Protection Module 1
• An Introduction to Benefits Mapping
• An Introduction to the 3 Horizons Framework

Courses under review:

• Equalities and Diversity
• Recruitment and Selection
• Customer Care
• Handling Complaints

If you need to undertake one of the above under review courses, they’re still available to complete.

Updates will be put on Interchange when courses are available.

In the meantime, if you have any questions about CLIVE or courses that are available, please email organisational.development@moray.gov.uk

MANAGERS FORUM

The next Managers Forum is scheduled for Thursday 30th September at 2 pm. We will be joined by Jamie Gordon (OD Adviser) who is leading on management training so in this session, we will explore training and development opportunities for managers now and in the future. If you would like to attend, please email glen.dunn@moray.gov.uk to register your interest.

TIME FOR TALKING

We all know that maintaining our health & well-being is crucial at any time, but perhaps even more so during the current pandemic with so much worry, change and uncertainty.

Remember when you are talking with staff, to promote the employee assistance programme, currently delivered through Time for Talking (TfT). They provide psychological, emotional and practical support, which can be accessed by any employee when they need it.

Services they offer include:

• Structured telephone counselling
• Video conferencing / Face to Face counselling (dependant on Covid)
• Telephone support (24/7, 365 days a year)
• Live Chat
• Information & resources including links, podcasts, templates and exercises

Their website www.timefortalking.co.uk offers a wealth of information on a variety of topics including depression, managing stress, harassment & bullying, managing anger, dealing with change, financial wellbeing, work life balance, exercise and self-harm.

Staff can contact Time for Talking on 0800 970 3980 or chat online to a counsellor through their Live Chat using the password TfTnow

All chats are totally confidential, people don’t need to give their name or email address unless they want to.

Additional information on support services and well-being can be found on the Interchange http://interchange.moray.gov.uk/int_standard/Page_132138.html

TU CONTACTS AUGUST 2021

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