Agenda item

The Employee Engagement Action Plan 2024/25 was presented by the Leader of the Council.

The Action Plan built on the results of the Employee Engagement Survey undertaken by 502 respondents, constituting 85% of SKDC employees.

The report outlined that the Engagement Index had increased to 72. The Index was a measure of employee engagement based on the following 6 survey questions:

-       I would recommend working for SKDC,

-       I am proud to be working for SKDC,

-       I am happy with my current job at SKDC,

-       I find the work I do interesting,

-       My job makes good use of my talents, skills and experiences,

-       Morale at SKDC is generally good.

Amongst the notable results identified was that 88% of respondents said that they were treated with respect by their colleagues, and 80% said that they found their work interesting.

58% of respondents also agreed that morale at SKDC was ‘generally good’, an increase of 26% upon the 2022 response. The Head of Paid Services noted that they were particularly pleased with these results but would strive to act on the findings to pursue further positive increases in morale.

The report identified the following to be the key areas of focus for the Action Plan:

-       Teamworking

-       Communication and Change

-       Training and Development

-       Wellbeing

-       Other areas.

Each of these areas was broken down into individual feedback given by employees with a subsequent action identified. There was then an owner of the action, and a timeframe codified.

During discussions, Members commented on the following:

-       The impact of the survey results and the Action Plan on the level of absenteeism amongst colleagues. The Human Resources (HR) Manager noted that year-on-year absentee levels had decreased, however, there had been a short-term increase over December 2024 due to cold/flu. This was worse for service areas that were unable to work from home. In response to this the HR Department were planning a focus on the availability of the flu jab for staff. It was also noted that the level of mental health-related absences had decreased given the wealth of mental health support available.

-       The availability of training and development opportunities. It was confirmed that Officers had online access to the HR Hub with a dedicated training section. An initiative had also been introduced in 2024 of internal work experience between departments. Furthermore, training and development opportunities were clearly signposted during all-staff calls and internal spotlights.

-       Potential reasons for the significant increase in workforce morale were queried. The union representative suggested that key reasons for this was the Head of Paid Services’ open-door management style, the open-plan office space and the thorough work of the Wellbeing Team in organising mental health support. The Chairman praised the work and co-operation of the union representative in the increased morale of the employees.

-       The Leader of the Council urged Members to mirror this positive morale and identified training opportunities as key to achieving this.

-       The aspect of the Wellbeing feedback regarding high workloads was queried, particularly regarding which service areas this related to. The HR Manager agreed to feed this back to the Member following the meeting. ACTION

The Employment Committee noted the Employee Engagement Action Plan 24/25.