Human Resources Strategy

The Council’s Human Resources Strategy is designed to ensure that we have the right number of people, in the right places with the right skills to deliver improved services, better productivity and greater customer focus in front line services.

There are five priority areas:

Developing the Organisation – to achieve excellence in people and performance management, partnership working and the delivery of customer-focused services.

Developing Leadership Capacity across the Council.

Developing the Skills and Capacity of the Workforce.

Resourcing the Council – ensuring that we recruit, train and retain the staff we need and address diversity and equality issues.

Pay and Rewards – having pay and reward structures that attract, retain and develop a skilled and flexible workforce while achieving value for money in service delivery.

The HR Strategy has now been in place for eighteen months and considerable progress has been made in implementing our Action Plan for Learning and Development. For example, we have launched a mentoring programme with Bath & North East Somerset, established a Coaching Programme attended by all Chief Officers and some 100 senior managers and have integrated competencies into the Personal Development and Performance Review (PDPR) process and our various development solutions.

Traineeships and Modern Apprenticeships

The Council is committed to creating and developing new and existing trainee schemes. We also offer specific positive action programmes in conjunction with CEED to attract young people from sections of the community that are currently under represented.
Existing schemes are in operation in our Children and Young People, Housing, Revenue and Benefits, Community Care and IT departments.

Modern Apprenticeships are a great way for young people aged 16-24 to gain qualifications, earn a wage and get valuable experience. It’s a comprehensive mix of on and off-the-job training, providing apprentices with the knowledge and skills to excel in the workplace and the opportunity to achieve nationally recognised qualifications, provided in partnership with the local colleges.

Investors in People

The Investors in People Standard has long been acknowledged as a business improvement tool, helping organisations of every size, type and location to gain more from their people in support of business goals. It is flexible enough to apply to any organisation and sets a standard for good practice in matching what people can do and are motivated to do with what the organisation needs them to do.

Each of the departments in the Council has been awarded the Investors in People standard and goes through a rigorous re-accreditation process at least every three years.

Benefits of being an Investor in People include increased productivity, increased motivation, reduction in staff turnover and higher customer and client satisfaction. In fact, companies recognised as Investors in People consistently outperform non-recognised competitors in terms of productivity and profitability.

Competency Framework

In South Gloucestershire Council we are using competencies in recruitment, development and our Personal Development & Peformance Review (PDPR) process.

Competencies are personal and behavioural characteristics that are associated with excellent performance and successful outcomes.

The Council’s competency framework consists of eight generic competencies that can apply to all staff with different levels reflecting the hierarchical structure of the Council.

They are:

• Communication.
• Influencing and Networking.
• Leadership.
• Managing Change and Continuous Improvement.
• Managing Performance.
• Problem Solving and Decision Making.
• Service User Focus.
• Teamworking.