Issue - meetings

The Head of Human Resources and Organisational Development introduced the report and gave credit to its author. He said that staff sickness levels had increased, but levels remained lower than the sector average.

The Head of Human Resources and Organisational Development said that staff were keen on the blended working model and that a policy was being drafted. He said that staff felt supported and that a range of resilience workshops were available on the intranet.

The Chairman thanked the Head of Human Resources and Organisational Development for his report.

Councillor Connolly asked if the Head of Human Resources and Organisational Development was confident that staff absence for minor illnesses was not stress related.

The Head of Human Resources and Organisational Development said that this was a hard question to answer, but that he had to accept what staff put on their self-certifications. He said that some stress was personal, and that during 1-2-1’s staff were asked how they were. He said that staff were given tools and signposted to resources were appropriate.

Councillor Willcocks asked if a year-on-year comparison was available for the reasons relating to long term absence.

The Head of Human Resources and Organisational Development said that previous year’s reports would have this information. He said that this was an area which Leadership Team were to look at. 

Councillor Smith said that 41% of respondents to the staff wellbeing survey had said that a demanding workload was their biggest challenge and asked why addressing this was not in the report’s actions for next year.

The Human Resources Officer said that responses to staff exit questionnaires were fed back to Heads of Service and Line Managers.

The Head of Human Resources and Organisational Development said that respondents to the staff wellbeing survey were asked what their biggest challenge was and were given multiple choice answers. He acknowledged that a demanding workload was commonplace but said that when asked elsewhere in the survey if they felt supported staff had replied ‘yes’.  

The Head of Human Resources and Organisational Development said that it was unaffordable to employ extra staff and that supervision and support was in place for staff. He said that this was why it did not appear as a specific action within the report, but that he was open to any suggestions Members may have. 

Councillor Smith asked for further information regarding Mental Health First Aid training.  

The Head of Human Resources and Organisational Development said that Mental Health First Aiders were volunteer members of staff who were visible to others. He said that the council needed to train more staff to add to the current number.

Councillor Connolly asked if there were indicators on how far the council could go in relation to reducing staff. 

Head of Human Resources and Organisational Development said that front line services needed to be protected, but due to finances it was now not always possible to afford a gold standard of service. He said that the Council had several shared services,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 68