Agenda item

Invitees:

-        Rhys Cornwall (Strategic Director for Transformation and Corporate)

-        Tracy McKim (Head of People, Policy and Transformation)

-        Kevin Howells (HR and OD Manager)

The Head of People, Policy and Transformation (PPT) introduced the report, and the HR and OD Manager gave a summary outlining that recruitment and retention would be a key focus.

The following was discussed:

·       The Committee highlighted timelines were not mentioned within the Plan. The HR and OD Manager informed the Committee that they would be monitoring the Plan throughout the period and progress monitoring would take place under Service Area Plans.

·       The Committee sought clarification on how the Plan would work in practice and how actions were prioritised. The Committee proposed that actions and measures should be separated. The HR and OD Manager informed Committee that actions would have to be evaluated, prioritised and measured over the course of the Plan.

·       The Committee recognised the advantages and challenge of working from home for staff culture and asked how this would be managed. The HR and OD Manager highlighted that whilst the pandemic prompted an increase in office-based staff working from home, a vast number of staff outside of central services did not make this change due to the nature of their work. They informed Committee that the New Normal policies had been embedded for approximately 12 months and noted that it was about finding balance between staff and service, considering the needs of the service and employee wellbeing. The HR and OD Manager confirmed that Audit Wales had reviewed the workforce and asset process, providing positive feedback and that Newport City Council (NCC were considering how best to measure and reflect that success).

The HR and OD Manager informed Committee that there was a balance between being an employer of choice that offers flexible working arrangements and managing potential wellbeing and contact issues. The Head of PPT informed Committee that they had established a framework around engagement, directorate roadshows, service area discussions, check ins and 1-2-1 conversations as consistent engagement was important when staff worked from home and in other environments. The Strategic Director informed Committee that during and since the pandemic, they had tried to be pragmatic and flexible. They informed Committee that they were aware of the potential welfare, wellbeing and team development issues working from home presented. They informed Committee that while many staff were unable to work from home, they needed to make fair decisions and increase visible leadership. They informed Committee that the footfall in the Civic Centre now was comparable to pre-pandemic levels.

·       The Committee made some recommendations to officers on the presentation of the report and asked for more detail around themes to be included. The Committee queried whether the Fairness and Equality Impact Assessment (FEIA) in full was necessary for the report. The Head of PPT informed Committee they had discussed how to present the FEIA and decided to include it within the agenda and provide a link to it online.

Conclusions:

·       The Committee recommended improving the presentation of the Plan and separating Actions and Measures of Success into two separate columns.

·       The Committee recommended summarising the FEIA and creating a link to it within the report.