Agenda item

The Head of Human Resources and Organisational Development introduced the report which looked at the council’s employee turnover. He said that as earlier highlighted by the Human Resources Officer, the report did have some crossover of information with other reports which were on the agenda.

The Head of Human Resources and Organisational Development said that staff turnover was down and that the reasons given for staff leaving were consistent and of no concern.  He said that in line with savings, ten posts had been deleted and that there were four posts on hold.

The Head of Human Resources and Organisational Development said that the Applicant Tracking System (ATS) from Webrecruit had improved a candidate’s experience and enabled the hiring manager to see job applications before the closing date. He said that the onboarding of new employees was still however being undertaken by Human Resources as the ATS did not allow for the approval and manipulation of contracts.

The Head of Human Resources and Organisational Development said that ‘name blind’ recruitment had not progressed as wanted as this also removed an applicant’s qualifications from view. He said that the council was not paying to use ATS, but that a fix for this was being sought. He reassured Members that statistics did not show any recruitment bias. 

The Head of Human Resources and Organisational Development drew Members’ attention to an error in section 11 of the report, which should read 2023/24 and not 2022/23. He said that there had been improvements to both the job section on the council’s website and the staff recognition scheme.

The Head of Human Resources and Organisational Development said that the Human Resources Department had undergone a review by the council’s Lean Six Sigma team. He said that the recommended process changes from this review have been implemented, which included the inclusion of interview dates on job adverts.

The Head of Human Resources and Organisational Development said that the council’s induction process had moved more on-line and that the reasons for successful  candidates declining job offers or not commencing a job were to be investigated further.     

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

Councillor Smith asked if the deleted posts were removed to make savings or because they were not required.

The Head of Human Resources and Organisational Development said that in line with the Transformation Programme the posts were deleted for a combination of these reasons. He said that any vacancies now went before a panel before being recruited to, and that fixed term contracts were being used in some circumstances.

Councillor Smith asked how deleting posts effected those remaining staff’s workload and expressed her concerns regarding these workers and stress.

The Head of Human Resources and Organisational Development said that some staff embraced the opportunity to develop new skills and that some stress was unavoidable.

It was moved by Councillor Buckmaster and seconded by Councillor Swainston that the recommendations, as detailed be approved. After being put to the meeting and a vote taken, the motion was declared CARRIED.

RESOLVED – that the Annual Turnover Report 2022/23, including the actions in section 11.0 planned   for 2023/24, be considered and any comments be provided to the Head of Human Resources and Organisational Development.