Report of the Director of HROD attached

This report provides Members with an update on progress to date to increase diversity, ensure that Manchester City Council is an inclusive employer and to challenge discrimination.

The Committee considered the report of the Director of Human Resources and Organisation Development, which provided Members with an update on progress to date to increase diversity in the organisation, ensure we are an inclusive employer and to challenge discrimination.

Key points and themes in the report included:

• The context and development of the Strategy, which had arisen from the findings of an external review of race issues published in 2020;
• An update on a range of activities over the last 12 months against identified actions, arising from the review;
• An update on the ongoing development of a revised Workforce Equalities Strategy; and
• Conclusions.

Some of the key points that arose from the Committee’s discussions were:

• The extended scope of the data the organisation now gathers from its workforce, and how the collection of data is embedded across the Strategy
• Progress towards achieving parity across the disciplinary action process for employees
• Changes to the organisation’s recruitment practices
• Communication strategy

The Race Lead for Women welcomed the report and the organisation’s ambition to eradicate all forms of discrimination.  She spoke about her involvement in the Working Group and said that she was encouraged to see that early feedback from staff had been positive.  She said it was important to recognise that the overarching purpose of the Strategy was to ensure that the organisation’s employment practices recognised and respected differences amongst all employees, and that those differences were not solely confined to race or ethnicity but were represented across all of Manchester’s communities.  She acknowledged the breadth and quality of work undertaken at pace to develop a more comprehensive and inclusive workforce strategy that discriminates against no one.  She thanked officers for their ongoing commitment to developing the Strategy.

There was a discussion about the work undertaken to close the gaps that had been identified in the data that the organisation gathers on the workforce. The Committee was informed that the organisation’s staff monitoring classifications had been significantly broadened out to develop a richer picture demographically of the workforce population.  This had been done in consultation with Trade Unions, focus and community interest groups and the information gathered would again be evaluated alongside updated census data due next year.  The revised categories were tested out in a recent staff survey and had received a good response rate with further surveys underway.  The Chair commented that completion of the revised survey had been disappointingly low (44%) amongst managers graded 10 and above. The Chair noted that although she would not wish to see anyone pushed to provide information if it made them uncomfortable, she would be worried if given the work done in this area, large numbers of senior leaders were unhappy about providing it. There was a discussion about potential barriers to completion and the essential role Leaders and Managers play in headlining the implementation of policy change. Mindful that completion itself was discretionary and therefore not a compulsory requirement for any staff, the Committee noted that active discussions with the Senior Management Team were planned to explore ways to improve completion rates and gather data across the directorates.

With regard to tracking employee progression within the organisation, the Deputy Director HROD said that the employee appraisal system was an ideal way to set objectives and monitor progress over 12 months.  She agreed to circulate information to committee members about the revised appraisal system following the meeting. She added that proposals were also underway to review the ‘About You’ (one-to-one) system with particular reference to the developing Strategy.

Mindful of the sensitivities around the disclosure of suspected discrimination, the use of exit questionnaires as a possible way to explore retention issues was discussed.  Members were informed that whilst exit questionnaires were an available option for employees leaving the organisation, uptake was historically low, despite the alternative submission route through HROD. Options were however being considered for the development of exit questionnaires for employees leaving a particular service yet remaining within the wider organisation.

There was a discussion about the need to champion both the organisation’s zero tolerance approach to discrimination and the volume of work being delivered to support its implementation. The Race Lead for Women  felt that the positive and inclusive message this relayed to staff should be celebrated. The Deputy Director HROD spoke about the broad programme of research and engagement which had revealed a strong message around the need for parity in the Strategy’s commitment to both anti-discrimination and inclusivity.  This message would therefore form the central message of all aspects of communication about the strategy and would be reflected through various processes to reinforce that balanced approach through variety of strategies to raise awareness.

Discussions moved to a previously reported issue around a disparity in disciplinary cases involving Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic staff who had been disproportionately represented in proceedings that took place in the 2018/19 municipal year.  Whilst acknowledging a significant statistical drop in cases more recently, the numbers were still not at parity and Members sought assurance that this matter had been and would continue to be appropriately explored and addressed.  The Deputy Director HROD described the extensive involvement of the HR casework team, whose role of support and challenge was to ensure that there was consistency across those proceedings and explore all possible underlying factors that may have influenced the decision to progress to disciplinary action.

With regard to the delivery of equalities training, the Committee noted that amongst a range of learning objectives, this aimed to raise awareness about the impact of unconscious bias as well as exploring other attitudes and beliefs that may adversely affect behaviours or decision-making.  Members expressed an interest in being included in this type of training so that they may play a more active role in supporting the delivery of Strategy.  It was also suggested that such training should be targeted to managers who are graded below Grade 10.

There was a discussion about how the impact of the various number of outputs would be evaluated for effectiveness.  Members expressed the view that there should be an appropriate focus on auditing and measurable outcomes to help determine whether meaningful progress had been made and to underpin further decision making.  It was also suggested that staff groups should be consulted about the development of targets.  The Talent and Diversity Lead gave assurance that whilst the Strategy itself formed the overarching document, numerous detailed action plans sat beneath and that specific  pieces of work had been commissioned to extract the highest quality and most accurate data.  He added that the aim of the Strategy was not purely to focus on protected characteristics but to create a working environment where all employees could thrive, be treated with respect and dignity and feel supported by the organisation’s zero tolerance approach to all forms of discrimination.

There was a discussion about the organisation’s recruitment practices.  It was noted that austerity measures had  contributed to a greater focus on internal recruitment.  The Committee was informed that the organisation was about to embark on a full scale review of the application of its recruitment policies and practices with a view to developing task based assessments to develop a more inclusive recruitment process that provides for all forms of diversity.

The Deputy Leader (Equalities and Human Resources) spoke about the findings of the race review and welcomed the organisation’s clear commitment and enthusiasm to address those imbalances at pace. In response to questioning regarding the budget for this work, he stated that there was no specific budget but that resources were being committed as required. He urged the Committee to note that whilst the update given today provided some insight into the wholesale transformation of the organisation’s recruitment policies, these initial measures should be seen as the early foundations of the organisation’s solid commitment to eradicate the perception of a ‘glass ceiling’ for any employee and uphold that talent will be recognised irrespective of an employee’s background or protected characteristic.  He added that progress reports on the development and implementation of the revised Strategy would be submitted to future meetings of this Committee.

Decision

1.         To welcome the latest version of the Workforce Equality Strategy and note the progress towards increasing diversity across the organisation.

2.         To note that a further reports on the development and implementation of the Workforce Equality Strategy will be submitted to a future meeting of the Committee.