SPRING HOLIDAY – MANAGEMENT COVER ARRANGEMENTS

The spring holiday period is nearly upon us and as Managers you will be busy making sure that services still operating during the holiday are appropriately covered, to ensure smooth delivery for our customers and service users.

This is just a reminder to make sure that the appropriate management cover arrangements are also in place and have been notified to those colleagues working over the spring holiday period to ensure that they feel appropriately supported and know who to turn to should a situation arise.

SHORTLEETING UPDATE

As part of the budget savings, shortleeting for all vacancies will be returning to the hiring managers responsibility from 1^st April 2024.

A new Interchange page is currently in progress with guidance on how to shortleet, how to navigate Talentlink, etc.  You can find the page HERE

It is important that all managers who will participate in the shortleeting process, read the guidance detailed above before attempting to shortleet. Equality and fairness within the recruitment process is of paramount importance for the council and could result in an employment tribunal if carried out incorrectly.  Job applicants are protected by discrimination law (Equality Act 2010).

An email reminder has already been sent out to all 3^rd and 4^th Tier Managers and to department admin contacts to raise awareness, however, please make sure you remind your team of cessation of centralised shortleeting.

For any questions on shortleeting please contact HR on hr@moray.gov.uk or 01343 563261

POLICY REVIEW UPDATE

We’ve updated 2 of the council’s employment policies to take into account changes in legislation, benchmarking and best practice recommendations These policy changes were approved at the Corporate Committee in January 2024.

Pregnancy Loss is an addendum to the Special Leave Policy and outlines the provisions for employees who experience a loss of the pregnancy before 24 weeks of pregnancy. You can find out more about Pregnancy Loss here

Combat Fraud, Theft, Bribery and Corruption Policy updates to reflect good practice and promotes the importance of creating a culture of prevention.  You can find the policy here

MISS – MISCARRIAGE SUPPORT SERVICE - TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES

MISS are an early pregnancy loss charity based in Aberdeen, who offer support to those who have experienced miscarriage and provide information to organisations to help understand the prevalence of pregnancy loss, the impact it can have, and about pregnancy loss in the workplace.

If you would like support, or would like to support a colleague through miscarriage, infertility or childlessness please join a one hour virtual lunch and learn session, there are various dates throughout 2024. Sessions are suitable for all employees and are free to attend.

To gain additional information or to book a place on one of these training opportunities please see https://linktr.ee/miss_support

EQUALITY DATA

The Council collects data on ethnicity, race, religion, marital status, disability, sex, sexuality and gender reassignment status - these are all protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010 and the data is collected during the recruitment process.

This information is utilised to make sure that its recruitment processes and employment practices are fair, nobody is put at a disadvantage because of any protected characteristic, and that the Council considers how its employees can do their jobs effectively.

One of the challenges for the Council is that a large number of employees do not fill in the equality data. Although people don’t have to share information about their protected characteristics, it does help the Council to deal with inequality more effectively.

We would like to encourage all employees to ensure their data is up to date, and you can do this via the Employee Self-Serve Portal. You can also update your bank details, address, phone number and view your payslips here. All information given is held confidentially.

Information on how to launch the ESS portal is available on Interchange including how to access the portal and find your way round it.

To read more about Equality Data please visit Interchange HERE

CYBER AWARENESS TRAINING (METACOMPLIANCE)

The Phishing mandatory module needs to be completed by all Moray council employees.

The email link previously sent out was genuine, the training is mandatory, and a reminder email will be sent to all staff who haven’t completed the training, and it shouldn’t be ignored. The email link is unique to the individual member of staff, so if it is deleted, it is not simple to just resend the link. Please bear that in mind.

As part of Moray Councils staff awareness and cyber security training, working in partnership with Meta compliance there will be a number of planned modules designed to foster a culture of cyber resiliency within Moray Council and combat the threats we face. In the coming year, employees should also expect additional simulated tests to check that the training is effective and that our overall exposure to insider/outsider cyber threats is reduced.

Mandatory module 1: Employee awareness and cyber security training

You will have seen a simulated email phishing attack at the end of November. You may remember seeing this email. You may even remember clicking on it.

The results were concerning. The bad news is 737 of you clicked on the link and 452 of you entered your details. The good news is that around 275 of you reported this as a suspected phishing/scam email to our IT Service Desk, and thanks go to those colleagues.

To help ensure all employees understand the dangers, and what employees can do to help protect Moray Council as well as themselves personally. Moray council will be launching mandatory cyber security training in the form of a series of bitesize videos, which will help you identify phishing attacks. This training should take no longer than 15 – 20 minutes to complete.

What to expect

All employees will receive an email from no-reply@metacompliance.com which will contain a link to the online training module provided by MetaCompliance, and will look like this:

This training is the first of a number of planned mandatory cyber awareness and security modules which every employee needs to complete.

Please remain vigilant for any phishing emails or any unusual cyber activity or links, if you are in any doubt, please contact ICT immediately.

If you have any questions regarding the training or access to the training log in page, please contact ICT at our IT Service Desk

THE DIGITAL CHAMPIONS NETWORK – HERE TO HELP

Struggling with Excel? Baffled by PowerPoint?

Our Digital Champions are here to help. They are an engaged group of passionate employees, who recognise the benefits of technology, and are committed to helping colleagues across our organisation improve their confidence, motivation and digital skills for work. Through peer-to-peer learning, Digital Champions are supporting colleagues with a range of digital tasks from helping someone get to grips with making a video call on Microsoft Teams, accessing eLearning or getting the most from Excel.

It is very easy to get help, just send your request to DigitalChampions@moray.gov.uk and a member of the network will be in touch.

CAREER READY – #PowerOfAnHour

Career Ready, a programme designed to connect disadvantaged young people with the world of work, unlock their potential and level the playing field, is looking for volunteers.

Moray Council have been supporting this programme since 2014 by creating opportunities for interested staff to volunteer as a mentor.

Becoming a Career Ready mentor is a fun, flexible way to inspire a young person, unlock their true potential, and guide them through the early stages of their career journey. There is no denying that being a mentor is a commitment. It requires monthly contact (about an hour a month) with the young person over the 18 months and the support of a 4-week summer internship.

Although an hour might not seem long, a one-hour mentoring session is proven to have a long-term positive impact on both a young person and their mentor.

• 91% of students say Career Ready raised their career aspirations.
• 87% of alumni said Career Ready had a positive impact on their life.
• 89% of mentors report their mentoring and coaching skills as excellent or good at the end of the programme, compared to 40% at the start.
• 98% of Career Ready students’ progress onto positive destinations in education or employment.

We ask that anyone interested in becoming a mentor, contact us so that we can begin to fulfil our commitment to the next programme which is due to start in October.

For further information please contact: organisational.development@moray.gov.uk

MANAGEMENT DEVELOPMENT IN 2024

We’re pleased to announce that throughout 2024 we’ll be offering several management development programmes. These are the First Line Managers Programme (FLMP), and the Leadership Development Programme.

First Line Managers Programme

Are you new to management? Is this your first time in a supervisory role? Or are you an aspiring manager?

If the answer to any of these questions is yes, then the FLMP Is for you. Over 4 sessions we’ll cover off the following:

• communication styles,
• goal setting,
• managing performance,
• change management, and
• establishing you team.

Leadership Development Programme

Our leadership development programme will give you the opportunity to reflect on your service delivery today, where you want to be, and how you’re going to get there. We’ll look at how as leaders we don’t need to know all the answers, and how we can work with our teams and resources fully.

Through a series of 7 half day workshops, and practical sessions, we’ll look at tools and tips to help you on this journey. The topics we’ll cover are:

• 3 Horizons tool,
• Leading in Complexity,
• Communication style using the Jigsaw tool,
• Action Learning Sets (putting it into practice),
• Wash-up session.

To find out more about these programmes please email organisational.development@moray.gov.uk, or visit the corporate training calendar on Interchange Here for dates.

EMPLOYEE SURVEY 2023

The Employee ‘Your Voice’ Survey 2023 Results

From 21 August – 15 September 2023 we asked employees to use their voice and tell us how things are at work. We had a positive response rate of 23%. Thank you to everyone who had taken part in the survey, sharing your views and allowing us to obtain a more accurate understanding of how employees feel.

The Employee Survey asks questions across a range of different themes to obtain views about employee’s experiences of working for Moray Council and this will show us where things are working well and where there may be room to make some improvements. Additionally, by comparing to previous survey results we will be able to track trends and see where previous improvements have made a positive difference.

The results have been analysed and are fundamental in identifying what we do well, and where improvements need to be made to make the Council a great place to work and provide the best services we can for the people of Moray.

Elected Members are keen to show their support in improving the workplace for all. Having reviewed the analysis a decision has been taken to create a short life working group with the objective of considering the findings from the survey and supporting improvements in workplace culture across the council. Watch out for more information on this in due course.

Please ensure you discuss these results with your teams. All the results can be found here Employee survey 2023 results

CYCLE TO WORK

The Cycle to Work scheme will be returning for 2024, dates to be announced but expected in late spring/early summer. 

The salary sacrifice scheme offers an opportunity for all employees to hire a bike (manual or electric) and/or accessories over a 12 month period, with the option of purchasing the bike at the end of the 12 month hire period by either taking out an extended hire agreement at no additional cost or returning the bike.  To qualify for the scheme the bike should be utilised for 50% of travel to your workplace.  This is a hire agreement so please ensure you fully read all the terms and conditions surrounding the scheme.

So, if you or your team fancy a new bike, get window shopping now!

Further details will be communicated on the Interchange soon here

BUDGET SUPPORT UPDATE

You will be aware that there is formal consultation underway on a range of budget savings proposals that will contribute to the Council’s aim of future financial sustainability. Indeed, some of you will be involved in supporting members of your team through this process where they are impacted by proposals.

Please refer to the last Budget Team Brief for details about the current proposals.

MANAGERS FORUM

The Manager’s Forum is normally planned for the last Thursday of the month at 2pm and is delivered virtually using Microsoft Teams.

The forum can be a great way for you and other 3rd tier managers to connect over shared experiences in a proactive, non-judgemental, and supportive environment. It will allow you: -

• Time to take a step back, pause and reflect.
• Check in to see how others are doing.
• Capture and share learning on what’s working and what could be done differently.
• Build on positives achieved.

We would love to hear what topics you would like to be discussed at future sessions and if there are any managers interested in hosting a session please get in touch. Are there any emerging themes you would like to explore, or examples of good practice you would like to share? All suggestions are appreciated.

For more information or to discuss a future session please get in contact with me via glen.dunn@moray.gov.uk

Remember, although facilitated by the OD team, the topics and direction of the forum are led by forum members.

PRE-RETIREMENT COURSES

Are your retirement savings on track? Do you know how much income your pension savings may provide? And have you thought about how much income you might need when you retire?

Financial education specialists ‘Affinity Connect’ would like to personally invite you to attend an interactive full day course around the key aspects of planning for a financially secure future.

Retirement might be up to 10 years away but it’s never too soon to start planning. This course is perfect for anyone thinking about retirement or already at the planning stages.

During the course you’ll learn how to:

• Help you plan for the lifestyle changes ahead
• Maximise the benefits of your State and workplace pensions
• Make the most of your tax-free cash
• Understand the income options available from your pension
• Achieve your retirement goals

Affinity is also offering a new course ‘Your Financial Wellbeing’ on the following dates:

This course is designed to help employees clearly identify the 4 steps towards becoming financially well that can support employees through working life and beyond.

Booking links for the above courses:

Face to Face Retirement Course Booking Link: https://affinityconnect.event-registration.co.uk/events/moray-council/pre-retirement/1-day-course

Online Retirement Booking Link: https://affinityconnect.event-registration.co.uk/events/moray-council/pre-retirement/2-hour-30-minute-course-online

Online Your Financial Wellbeing Link: https://affinityconnect.event-registration.co.uk/events/moray-council/your-financial-wellbeing/1-hour-30-minute-course-online

You can also find more information on how to join a course here - Planning for the Future

SCOTTISH MILITARY COMMUNITY PAGE

The latest edition of the Scottish Military Community Update has been published on Interchange: Latest Updates

This month there is information on the HM Armed Forces Veteran Card, action for LGBT+ veterans, a Felting Workshop in Dyke, training opportunities and funding options as well as new funding opportunities, plus much more!

TIME FOR TALKING

The winter blues are very common, with many of us experiencing a mood shift during the colder, darker days before the warmer, lighter days of spring appear.  During these times, we may need a bit of extra support, guidance or advice.  We may look to family, friends or colleagues for this, but there could be times when someone independent or professional is preferred.

Time for Talking (TfT) the Councils Employee Assistance Provider, can assist with those over whelming moments, just by listening or offering advice without judgement.

They offer a number of resources, from blogs and podcasts to videos, planners and online information on their website. 

You can contact them 365 days a year, via their website www.timefortalking.co.uk, by phone on 0800 970 3980, by app (downloaded from the app store or google play) 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.

More information can be found at Time for Talking