Agenda item

Councillors considered a presentation from the Head of Service (Human Resources and Organisational Development) which gave an update on the HR metrics from the 2023/2024 financial year.

The HR Dashboard covered the following themes from the People Strategy:

• Recruitment and Workforce Planning
• Engagement
• Reward and Recognition
• Development
• Equality, Diversity and Inclusion
• Wellbeing

One notable highlight was that the sickness absence Key Performance Indicator (KPI) had been bettered with a year-on-year reduction in average days lost from 13.53 to 10.33 per FTE (full-time equivalent).

The Head of Service – Human Resources and Organisational Development gave a presentation to members highlighting the recent SK Awards night, alongside further HR metrics. The following areas were discussed:

• There had been a significant drop in staff turnover, with less leavers than starters. Exit interviews were held with all leavers from the Council. The most common reason given for leaving the Council was career advancement.
• There were many initiatives that celebrated employees and their contributions, such as the Team:SK thank yous and long service achievement awards. Recently, an awards ceremony had been held at the Savoy Cinema, Grantham. Several award winners from that night were present in the Council Chamber to receive thanks from members, including Rhys Page (Waste), Michael Chester (Leisure), Jane Jenkinson (HR), Kev Taylor (CCTV), and Beth Randall (Housing).
• The Staff Engagement Survey had seen an 85% response rate. Engagement sessions had been held with each team, and this had contributed to a rise in engagement from 74% from the previous year.
• HR sessions run throughout the course of 2023-2024 included Team Spotlights, a focus on on-boarding, and social events such as the staff barbecue.
• The largest age demographic working at the Council was those aged between 50-59. The Council was working towards being an ‘age-friendly employer’.
• There was no gender pay gap at the Council.
• As part of learning week, there had been sessions for officers’ personal development, as well as the inclusion of training on key skills that had specifically been requested by the staff. There had also been the introduction of internal work experience; this was where colleagues would visit other teams and departments to learn more about other areas of the Council.
• Since the Covid-19 pandemic the amount of sickness absences had increased. The top reasons for this increase were mental health conditions and musculo-skeletal issues.
• Counsellors were available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week through the Employee Assistance Programme (EAP). The EAP had fielded 48 calls from the Council during the last year. There had also been 95 visits from the mental health first aid network in the same period.
• 595 ‘return to work’ conversations had taken place. These conversations occurred when a member of staff had returned to work following a sickness absence.
• It had been a busy period in the wellbeing calendar. For Mental Health Week, there were yoga sessions, the opportunity to use an exercise bike in the office, and the celebrations related to the 50^th year anniversary of the formation of South Kesteven District Council.
• In terms of disciplinaries, there were 4 grievances and 15 investigations.
• For the Staff Engagement Survey, the same 60 questions used for the previous year’s survey were used again. These questions asked staff to indicate a preference, but some boxes enabled staff to add their comments in a free text box.
• ACTION – the Head of Service – Human Resources and Organisational Development was to share the statistics for disciplinaries with Committee Members, to include the departments of the staff members concerned.
• 83% of respondents to the Engagement Survey either ‘strongly agreed’, or ‘agreed’ that other colleagues supported them at work, demonstrating a good demographic of collaborative support at the Council.

The Employment Committee NOTED the information provided in the HR

dashboard for the 12-month period of the 23/24 year.