Customer and Corporate Services Scrutiny Committee		3 October 2022
Report of the Head of Human Resources and Organisational Development

Progress of the Organisational Development Plan

Summary

1. This report provides an update on the Organisational Development Plan (OD Plan) which was revised and approved in March 2022 and presented to this Committee on 14 March 2022.

Recommendations

2. Members of the Committee are invited to note the progress made on the OD plan as outlined in Annex 1.

Reason: The above recommendation contributes to the effective delivery of a resilient, skilled and capable workforce to deliver the Council Plan.

Background

3. The key themes, actions of the OD Plan and Lead sponsor for the themes were agreed in March;

OD Plan Theme	CMT Lead Sponsor
Strong Leadership	Ian Floyd – Chief Operating Officer
Engaged Staff	Claire Foale – AD Policy and Strategy
Embed a performance culture	Bryn Roberts – Director of Gov. & Monitoring Officer and Debbie Mitchell – Chief Finance Officer and s151
Adjust to new ways of working	Pauline Stuchfield – Director of Customer and Communities
Improve skills and knowledge	Neil Ferris - Corporate Director of Place
Encourage staff retention and recognition	Jamaila Hussain Corporate Director of Adults Social Care and Integration
Improve health and wellbeing	Sharon Stoltz – Director of Public Health

Narrative on Progress Made

4. Good progress has been made on the majority of the action plan (Annex 1), many aspects will not be complete in the short term or as a one off action, as a key part of the challenge is embedding good leadership, culture, the values and behaviours.  The Values have been promoted and starting to be more visible on key messages. 

5. The themes of the OD plan are also alive in all directorates.  Place Services have started a cultural piece of work which includes reinforcing and embedding the Council Values and behaviours, as well as working together as we embrace new ways of working.  Succession planning and addressing the recruitment challenges that this service and other parts of the Council are facing are also key priorities.

6. In Adult Services a resilience exercise is underway to support the workforce as they support our vulnerable residents.  There is also a focus on ensuring we attract and retain key social care staff.

7. The new Children’s Director roles are now in post and the directorate are focusing on workforce priorities and elements of the OD plan.

8. Corporate focus has been on projects such as the Working as One programme, performance and governance improvements, the implementation of the new Constitution (and member and officers code of conduct), continued development of Microsoft Teams, review of equalities and members inductions.

9. There are also a number of sizeable projects underway including the review of processes to ensure that managers are able to deal with the ongoing challenges of a workforce under pressure, the development and roll out of the manager programme, review of terms and conditions and ensuring that we are an employer of choice in the competitive and challenging recruitment and retention climate that we currently face.

10. Since the writing of the plan in March as a Council we are facing the added challenge of cost-of-living increases, as are our residents and employees who we need to support.  This is not an easy challenge and puts pressure on our physical, human and financial resources and delivery of the already agreed agenda.   Efforts are being made to ensure that our workforce are aware of the support that they can access the same way as our residents can.

Manager’s role

11. Managers are key to delivering many aspects of an employee’s experiences and journeys within their employment.  Good or bad, the manager is key as they shape the service, influence culture, drive change and have a role and responsibility to manage employee’s behaviours, expectations and to develop them in their roles.  Therefore, the Council’s employer brand and image rests largely with managers and the management team.

12. Employees leaving the Council will always reference their manager as a key reflection of their employment with the Council.  If we do not equip our managers with the resources to manage employees; this can directly impact on employee’s performance and motivation and the investment that we place on recruiting and inducting can be lost quickly or eroded over time.  Employees often, leave their managers rather than wanting to leave an organisation.

13. We will, therefore, continue to reinforce the managers role and their importance to deliver the Council plan, the OD Plan and Values.

Next Steps

14. Keeping the OD plan and themes alive are key, Corporate Management Team continue to champion themes of the OD plan and progress workforce improvements.

Implications

15.

Financial – costs associated with the implementation of any aspects of the OD plan will be considered on an ongoing basis and be fed through CMT

Human Resources – The OD plan fits with the HR Service plan and is key to developing and ensuring that the Council has a workforce fit to deliver all

Equalities – any aspects of the OD plan that require equality impact assessments will be considered on individual basis as part of the project planning process

Legal – the Director of Governance and legal Team will provide any legal challenges associated with the individual actions associated with the OD plan.

Crime and Disorder – there are no known crime and disorder implications

Information Technology – the Head of ICT will be contacted where there are any actions require ICT intervention and considerations

Property – there are no known property implications, those projects such as the working as one already have an established engagement and consultation process where any of the Council’s estates are impacted.

Other – there are no other implications identified to note

Risk Management

16. There are no known risk implications associated with the recommendations in this report.

Author responsible for the report:	Chief Officer Responsible for the report:
Helen Whiting Head of HR and OD Corporate Services helen.whiting@york.gov.uk	Ian Floyd Chief Operating Officer
	Report Approved	ü	Date		08/09/2022
Wards Affected:  For further information please contact the author of the report				All		ü

Annex 1: Summary of OD Plan Achievements by Theme

Background Papers:

Review of the Organisational Development Plan (14 March 2022)

https://democracy.york.gov.uk/documents/s157548/OD%20Plan%20Report.pdf

Abbreviations

HR – Human Resources

OD – Organisational Development

CMT – Corporate Management Team

HHR&OD – Head of Human Resources and Organisational Development

COO – Chief Operating Officer