Report of the Director of Human Resources, Organisation Development and Transformation.

This report provides an overview of the Council’s Workforce Strategy and the priorities we are delivering against which ensures the Council is in the best position to deliver the Corporate Plan, Our Manchester Strategy and to continue to deliver excellent services to residents.

The committee considered a report of the Director of Human Resources, Organisation Development and Transformation which provided an overview of the Council’s Workforce Strategy and the priorities being delivered against to ensure that the Council is in the best position to deliver the Corporate Plan, Our Manchester Strategy and to continue to deliver excellent services to residents.

Key points and themes within the report included:

• The priorities and strategies of the Workforce Strategy;
• How these priorities were delivered; and
• How success was measured;

Key points and queries that arose from the committee’s discussions included:

• Noting the emphasis on mental health in the priorities of the Strategy, and querying the challenges relating to this;
• If apprenticeships were linked to career pathways;
• How talent pools would be developed and how these would work; and
• Whether there were any peer networking groups for apprentices with other local authorities.

The Director of Human Resources, Organisation Development and Transformation explained that the Workforce Strategy enabled the Council to define its ambition and how this would be achieved.

In response to the Chair’s query regarding challenges around mental health, the Director of Human Resources, Organisation Development and Transformation acknowledged that this was becoming one of the biggest challenges for organisations across the country. He noted that the ways to respond to this were complicated and there would not be a one-size-fits-all solution to this. He stated that there was a specific focus on health and wellbeing within the Strategy with a range of interventions to help address some issues. It was also stated that statistics showed keeping those facing mental health issues in work led to the best outcomes, although this was acknowledged as not always being possible.

The Head of Workforce Strategy recognised that mental health was the biggest cause of staff absence. He stated that engagement had been undertaken with staff as part of the Workforce Strategy refresh to understand experiences and more work was needed on this. He explained that the Strategy focused on prevention and early intervention and targeted support would be provided to areas with higher levels of absence, such as frontline services. Managers would also be trained with knowledge and skills needed to provide effective support to those experiencing mental health challenges. The Employee Assistance Programme and occupational health service would also be publicised more widely. The committee was advised that these challenges were not unique to the Council and were indicative of challenges across local government. 

In response to comments around apprenticeships, the Head of Workforce Strategy stated that apprenticeships were an important part of internal development and would be aligned to career pathways. Apprenticeships were also key in attracting young people and people from across Manchester to work for the Council. The Head of Workforce Strategy stated that each directorate would have a set target for the number of apprentices recruited each year.

The committee was informed that talent pools were in the process of being developed and would provide access to coaching, mentoring and leadership development programmes to enable progression. Further detail on this could be shared once available.

The Director of Human Resources, Organisation Development and Transformation stated that young people were more likely to want to move across a Council and into different services, as opposed to staying in one role, and talent pools could help with this.

The Deputy Chief Executive and City Treasurer advised that the workforce budget had been assessed to enable greater flexibility around apprenticeships and vacant posts. She also highlighted that the priorities in the Strategy were interlinked. 

In response to a query regarding peer networking groups with other local authorities, the Head of Workforce Strategy explained that this had not been considered but he welcomed the idea. He stated that the Council had a strong offer of apprenticeships, professional programmes through universities and externally commissioned training. The Directorate Equalities Lead for Children and Education Services advised that there were several groups and networks for Education Services staff across Greater Manchester and the wider North West.

Decision:

That the committee notes the report.