## Employee Engagement Caroline Anderson London Borough Of Hackney Hackney - A Complex History

- 2001 serious financial and managerial difficulties - £50m deficit
- Government intervention - Section.114 - Education Services externalised - Non-discrimination notice (420 ETs) - Difficult relationship with TU's - Single status ET - Police intervention
Hackney has transformed itself and The Borough

- One of the fastest improving Authorities in the country - Improvement in 81% of key PIs in the last 2 years
- Residents satisfaction 60% - 70% (double to London average) - Council tax frozen for 5 years - Top 3 savers nationally - Investment in regeneration
Crucial to our success is the positive relationship we have with our staff

## 2009 Staff Survey Results

Ipsos Mori 2009 revealed above average in over 20 employee engagement indicators

- Advocacy of the Council (+24 points higher)
- Feeling informed (+ 24) - Belief that Management has clear vision (+21) - Pride in working for the Council (+21) - Feeling valued (+17) - Believe the organisation looks after its employees (+9)
- Job satisfaction (+6)

## Staff Survey Cont..

"The Council receives better ratings from its staff than any other public sector employer we work with"
Simon Atkinson, Ipsos Mori, Mar 2009

## Putting In The Building Blocks

- Leadership - Vision and clarity - Effective partnerships (internal & external) - Financial management and stability - Performance management framework - Commitment to learning and   
development
- Investment in the workforce

## Awards Service First Programme An Organisational Change Programme Aim:

- Improve and extend access to Council Services
- Reduce our property portfolio and associated costs - Implementation of consistent and excellent levels of customer service

## Service First  Programme Involved:

- Construction of two new buildings (1,600 staff)
- Co-location of all front facing services - Development of single front office (integration of 40 services) - Implementation of consistent and excellent levels of customer service - Introduction of New Ways of Working (home, mobile, shared space) 
- supported by enabling technology (CDM, CRM etc)

## Challenges

- 1,600 staff, 75 decants - Development of new service configuration - Blending and creating new teams - New skills and competencies - New ways of working (processes and systems) - Programme interdependence - Engagement and communications - Proactively managing emotional impact - Timescale of 24 months
New customer service centre, bringing services together

## Service First Framework Service First Od Framework Objectives:

- Proactive and visible leadership - Transfer of ownership and  
responsibility
- Effective project and programme  
management
- Effective communication - engagement - Supporting processes and systems - Developing new skills and 
competencies

## Managing The Process Distributed Decision Making Engagement Activities

- Comprehensive, varied and flexible - Hard and soft skills - Mandatory and options - 300  interventions delivered
- Face to face interaction - Preparation and support for move - Supporting communication (web, toolsets etc) - Workshops and training sessions - Tailored interventions to meet staff needs
- planning and preparation - implementation - embedding and support
- Project delivered 
on time and on budget
- Funded internally - Management of 
all work streams delivered in house.
- The whole 
organisation able to take pride in the achievement

## ……So What'S Next?

A period which is at least as challenging as 2001 - Financial and organisational uncertainty - Reduction in public sector funding - fundamental review of what and how we deliver services - Impact on the way we organise and 
manage staff

## Leading To An Organisation

Which is, Customer focussed, efficient and high performing but with a smaller, well managed and well motivated workforce.

## The 'New Hackney'

Is expected to be characterised by:-
- Increased centralisation and integration of processes/functions
- A mixture of service delivery models, 
representing best practice - Quicker, more flexible and more efficient processes - Flatter organisational structures, with wider spans of control

## The 'New Hackney' Cont…

•Devolved decision-making to reduce bureaucracy - Greater use of generic roles - Career paths attached to generic working - Increased use of electronic solutions - Minimum standards in key skills

## "Delivering The Vision"

Will test the relationships between employers and staff.

- Will require a reframing of the relationship with staff and their representatives.

## Best Use Of Resources (Buor) Overarching Efficiency Programme Work Programme To Deliver The Hr & Od

OD Cultural Change Board
(Sponsor: GIfty Edila)
HR & OD Building Blocks
HR Policy & Procedures
Changing Structures
Capacity & Skills
Supporting Arrangements
Linked Activities
-Restructuring
-Redundancy
-TUPE
-Redeployment
-Contract Terms & Conditions
- Code of 
Conduct
- Restructure of Senior Management Team - Pay & Grading Review - Creation of Job Families, Generic Roles - HR System Review - Framework for Relations with Trade Unions
- Managers Framework - Service Review Methodology - Competency Framework - Workforce L&D Plan
- BUoR/HR Ops Team - Recruitment Team (Redeployment/ Assessment/ Outplacement) - OED Team/ Policy Team - Staff Support and Engagement
- Refresh Council's Constitution - Financial Regulation - Procurement - Scheme of Delegation - Performance Framework (Appraisals/ Code of Conduct)

## Communication & Engagement Maintaining Staff Engagement

As we enter into this period of change and transition, we need more than ever to protect and nurture the unique relationships we have 
with our employees by:
- Being honest - Transparent in our decision making - Involving them where possible - Communicating with them consistently and regularly - Providing effective and speedy processes - Support mechanism for people who stay and those who go.
We think our staff are  
unique They care about Hackney

They care about: - The Council - The Borough - The services they provide And - each other This will stand us in good stead as we move into this next chapter in the Hackney story.