Agenda item

The Head of Human Resources and Organisational Development introduced the report. He drew Members attention to page 83, point 2.4 regarding the regrouping of the Human Resources Team. He said that the post of Human Resources and Organisational Development Manager had been given more responsibility and successfully recruited in to. He added that the HR apprentice/ trainee was now a permanent member of staff, becoming a full time Human Resources Officer from January 2022. The Head of Human Resources and Organisational Development continued by saying that the post recently vacated by retirement within the department would be reviewed before being replaced.

The Head of Human Resources and Organisational Development said that a rollout of staff briefing programmes relating to the new Personal Development Review (PDR) forms would soon start. He said that 360 degree PDR feedback would commence initially for managers only, as per Unison’s suggestion. He continued by saying that booklets on the new Core Competencies had been produced, and that these would be circulated to Members when finalised.  He said that the move towards using the Applicant Tracking System (ATS) continued. External services were still being provided by the department to Town Councils, and that approaches for services had been received from two Parishes. He finished by saying that the Wellbeing Programme continued, with some activates being effected due to the pandemic, and that the Payroll system development had another new Account Manager. 

Councillor Dumont referred to page 88, point 4.2 and asked if Indeed were being used to advertise posts, and if the Council had any capacity to carry out proactive recruitment through the  accessing of CV databases and the receiving of CV alerts. The Head of Human Resources and Organisational Development said that Indeed were being used as part of a multi-product, and not a sole contract. He said that the cost of access to such databases had increased and there was an issue with having the capacity to enable dedication into the searching of these. He continued by saying that a proactive approach had been taken with executive search, as with the Section 151 Officer and that in future part one of the Council’s application form would be replaced by candidates uploading their CV’s.

The Chairman said that it was good to hear about the Trainee Human Resources Officer  who had attended the last committee meeting in the absence of The Head of Human Resources and Organisational Development. She referred to page 91, point 7.4 and asked if the word ‘Trainee’ was a typing error. The Head of Human Resources and Organisational Development confirmed that this was an error, an overhang as the Officer was no longer a Trainee.  

The Chairman asked if it was expected that attendance at wellbeing events would increase as staff returned to the office.  The Head of Human Resources and Organisational Development said he hoped this would be the case. He said that take up to the wellbeing offer had been low, with no real reasons as to why. Events had been arranged at different times of the day, including during work hours with people being encouraged attend. It was felt that staff prioritised their work over participating in events and looked after their wellbeing themselves. 

RESOLVED – that the report be considered and received.