Workforce Plan | Our People Strategy 2017 2021 | Page 1
Transcript of Workforce Plan | Our People Strategy 2017 2021 | Page 1
Workforce Plan | Our People Strategy 2017 – 2021 | Page 2
Our People Strategy 2017-2021
Version 1 | March 2017
Review Schedule | March 2019
Workforce Plan | Our People Strategy 2017 – 2021 | Page 3
Great people are the key to a great business. As such, this Strategy is of the utmost importance to our business, Singleton Council.
It is through people that we realise our organisational vision of ‘Engaged people; Safe workplace; and a Performance based culture’. Or ESP as it known to our people!
Our People Strategy supports the Community Strategic Plan (CSP) 2017-2027 which describes the vision for our community as vibrant, progressive, connected, sustainable & resilient. While our 4-year Delivery Program sets out the high level priorities and goals for the organisation, our People Strategy presents a clear picture of how we, as the people who work for Singleton Council, will achieve those goals.
Our goal is to have a highly motivated and engaged workforce led by talented leaders in a work environment that is attractive and second to none to both current and prospective employees. We want to be the employer that everyone wants to work for: an employer of choice.
To achieve this, we have developed a people strategy focused on building on our current position with a dedicated and skilled workforce with the optimum combination of skills and performance levels required to deliver on our corporate goals. As we roll it out over the next four years, we aim to create an organisational culture that promotes dynamic change, staff engagement, personal responsibility and openness.
We acknowledge the enormous contribution that our employees have made to the organisation and I am delighted to present Our People Strategy 2017-2021.
In the weeks, months and years ahead, as we turn words into action, this document will increasingly play a central role in our work. I urge you to take the time to read it.
Jason Linnane
General Manager
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Through the development of the Community Strategic Plan, Council undertook a very significant community engagement process. The information, inspiration and aspirations of our community have been clearly identified. This has provided a very solid foundation for Council to align the services and activities provided with our community’s needs and desires.
The aim of Our People Strategy 2017-2021 is to provide a framework for ensuring Singleton Council’s services to the community are provided by the right people, in the right jobs, with the right skills and attitude, at the right time. It describes the outcomes we are aspiring to achieve and provides clear deliverables to progressively achieve them over the next four years.
This can only be achieved if our people:
place the needs of our community at the heart of all we do;
understand our vision and values;
have clear customer focus;
align to our community aspirations;
are motivated, contribute to a positive culture and work collaboratively and effectively;
accept responsibility and accountability in their roles, are clear how their role fits in;
have the right skills and continuously develop these to create and meet change;
are flexible, adaptable and responsive;
contribute to a safe and healthy work environment;
create a welcoming, inclusive community;
are led and managed well; and
drive continuous improvement in the way we work.
Our People Strategy identifies our workforce challenges, and provides for a continuous business planning process to ensure there is sufficient and sustainable capability and capacity to deliver the CSP objectives now and into the future.
Like many businesses, our ageing workforce and constant change in our operating environment provide some challenges. There is a need to ensure Singleton Council is prepared and resourced to meet these demands and challenges.
Our People Strategy demonstrates our commitment to ensuring the strategies going forward address the potential gaps through improvement of leadership, organisational processes, attraction, recruitment, professional development, talent management and succession planning.
This Strategy has been developed by analysing data that was obtained from Singleton Council’s human resource information system and contained within the Australasian LG Performance Excellence Program FY16 Report to construct a profile of our workforce. External data analysis, our Leadership Group, and key stakeholders have also provided us with an understanding of the current and future workforce requirements which form the basis of the development of the People Strategy.
Our People Strategy 2017-2021 is not a benchmark, neither does it attempt to predict or influence the organisational direction Singleton Council may take in the future. The information and data used are what is available at the writing of this document and are subject to change.
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Our People Strategy is Council’s tool to have the workforce in place to achieve our organisation and the community’s objectives.
The Singleton Community Strategic Plan (CSP) and Delivery Program is the framework for the future workforce needs of Singleton Council. The challenge for Council is to ensure we have the requisite resources and organisational capability (i.e. Workforce, Assets and Finances) to deliver the CSP outcomes in the most efficient and effective manner.
Singleton Council’s People Strategy 2017-202 clearly defines how we plan to align our workforce and its capabilities, with the CSP objectives. This includes managing our people and resources efficiently and effectively, reviewing the current organisation, developing the current workforce and identifying the future workforce needs.
This People Strategy contains themes that sit primarily within the CSP Our Leadership Pillar: Services are provided by the right people, in the right jobs, with the right skills and attitudes at the right time.
Our People Strategy is therefore a key input into the Delivery Program that enables business units to plan for and make decisions on service delivery and resources required to deliver the CSP. This Strategy provides an ability to bring a renewed strategic focus to Singleton Council’s current workforce related programs, policies and plans.
It contains detail on
What our goals are
What success looks like
How we will achieve it
What we will measure
together with information on how this will be managed in council’s routine business.
It gives our Leadership Team a strategic basis for making human resource decisions and provides a plan to address current and future workforce needs, within and across our organisation.
The implementation of this strategy will help Singleton Council to:
Make staffing decisions to provide services based on strategic priorities
Identify potential resource or skill shortfalls and take steps to address these
Identify and plan for new and emerging roles
Recruit appropriate numbers of staff to meet future needs
Develop workforce skills and capabilities that take time to grow
Provide improved career development opportunities
Reduce staffing costs through appropriate staffing levels
Increase employee motivation and contribution through better job design
Contain workforce-related costs including the cost of turnover, attraction of appropriate employees, absenteeism and
injury
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Source: The Australasian Local Government Performance Excellence Program FY16, PWC and Local Government Professionals, Australia NSW, 28 February 2017
(as at March 2017)
The voluntary staff turnover rate is
now 12%. LG NSW average is 12%
45%
48% of LG NSW surveyed workforce are women
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Gender Diversity
• 21% of senior
management roles held
by women in FY16
• 43% of new starters recruited in
FY16 were female
• High proportion (65%) of women are
represented at team leader level
• The rate of male employees leaving
in their first year of employment has
increased to 63%
• An Equal Employment Opportunity
Survey is completed by our employees
during March, annually
Recognition
and Salary System
• New recognition and reward
scheme, the Especialist program,
was launched in January 2017
• Our salary system will undergo a
review in FY17 against industry
benchmarks to ensure market relativity
Recruitment
• 28% of employees joined
Council in the past two years
• Average time to fill is 43 days
• Approximately 16 applications are
received per vacancy
• New online recruitment system,
SCOUT, was rolled out in October
2016
• 11% of new starters were recruited
from within local government
Learning and
Capability
• Training spend per FTE is $2,340
(LG NSW average spend on training is
$1045 per FTE)
• 23% of employees receiving
assistance to complete tertiary
qualifications
• Leadership Capability
Framework was developed
in FY16
Workforce
Tenure Snapshot
• Average workforce tenure is 7 years
• 18% voluntary turnover
• 37% employees exit with less than 5
years’ service
• The average age of our permanent
employees is 44 years
• 45.5% of new employees resign
within the first year of employment
• Gen Y (42%) employees are far
more likely to leave Council
compared to Gen X (21%) and baby
boomer (16%) employees
• Generational mix – 35% baby
boomers, 35% Gen X, and 30% Gen Y
• By June 2026, 27% of our managers
and 41% of our supervisors will reach
the retirement age of 65 years
• Succession planning program will
be implemented across Council in
FY17
Employee
Engagement
• Our workforce will be
invited to complete an
employee engagement
survey during May
2017
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To effectively plan for the future, we need to understand the risks associated with our workforce. These risks are the things that will inhibit or prevent us achieving the objectives in this strategy. Singleton Council’s Strategic Risk Register identifies the following significant people risks:
Inability to attract & retain key staff Impact on service delivery Impact on staff morale Diminished workforce capacity High turnover Costs to recruit Poor candidate pool Damage to reputation
Injury or illness to staff, volunteers or contractors
Poor engagement
Personal issues
Injuries
Lost productivity
Impact on service delivery
Fines & penalties
Imprisonment
Damage to reputation
Increased insurance premiums
High turnover of staff
There are a number of operational people risks also:
Insufficient employees with the necessary skills, knowledge and behaviours to provide Council services
Lack of quality candidates for critical roles
Insufficient succession planning and talent management, leading to potential skills and service gaps
Ineffective leadership and/or management skills
Loss of skills, knowledge and/or services as mature age/long-term employees leave and younger workforce is
inexperienced
Loss of corporate knowledge
Ageing workforce
A disengaged and/or demotivated workforce
Increased levels of unplanned leave
Culture misalignment
Competitive market for specialist skills
Lack of communication and/or understanding of the organisational values, priorities and strategic direction
Council’s ability to put in place the necessary workforce to achieve the community’s aspirations for the future is affected by several internal and external factors. The factors that will impact on the supply of the workforce include:
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Operational expenditure – cost of employment Local Government (State) Award salary increases
Workforce demographics Changes in service level in response to community priorities
Length of service Changes in employment and/or workplace health and safety legislation
Turnover Competition from other Councils/businesses
Skills shortage Reputation
Attraction and retention capacity of Council
Service planning, cultural change required for integrating focus and purpose of the organisation
People-related policy, strategy and plans
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The National Local Government Workforce Strategy 2013-2020 and the NSW Local Government Workforce Strategy 2016-2020 provide evidence of the key challenges we face and the imperatives to improve the leadership and performance of our workforce. Our key challenges include:
We will be operating in a tight fiscal environment over the next four years to ensure that we remain ‘fit for the future’ which requires our people to do more with more, same with less, or more with the same. Given that our workforce expenses account for 29% of Council’s operating budget, improved efficiencies and productivity is important for us.
Council has three tools to guide the organisation and our people to greater levels of efficiency:
Business excellence framework - a focus on business improvement using the fundamentals of Business Excellence;
Service delivery reviews – Council has a two year program of service delivery reviews for every service package the Council provides.
Systems thinking and process mapping – a clear understanding of ‘how things are done’ at Council and system view and process maps for Councils core function.
Community service expectations are constantly increasing. Our communities utilise and expect a wider range of services. The community is better informed and more knowledgeable. We are increasingly expected to deliver services, customer support and information outside
business hours and on weekends.
Changes to Government policy, legislation and regulations are going to have an impact on our operations. Most of these changes (Local Government Act etc.) will have a direct impact on our workload, costs and existing resources.
In light of the imminent retirement of baby boomers generation, we need to ensure that workers of retirement age are encouraged to remain in, return to, or join Singleton Council if we are to continue to benefit from the wisdom they possess, and deliver quality services to the community.
By 30 June 2021, we predict that 11% of Council’s workforce will reach the retirement age of 65 years and have the option to retire. If we do not focus on succession planning, we could encounter a situation where our service delivery to our community and customers might be impacted due to a loss of corporate knowledge and experience.
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Services and work processes are constantly evolving to take advantage of technology, including:
Advancing our information technology systems, in conjunction with NBN capability, allows greater capacity for remote access and flexible working arrangements
Increasing mobility of our workforce through provision of technology solutions such as tablets
Better communication with our workforce through improved access to information via SharePoint and Skype
Electronic forms making it easier for our people to report incidents and interact within and outside the organisation
Successful adoption of new technologies, new management systems and new methods of work will assist in gaining greater efficiencies and providing better services. There is an opportunity to invest in and engage with modern technology as enabling tools to efficiently and effectively carry out tasks and provide services to our community, including continued use of social media, online recruitment systems or systems that help manage various functions (such as performance review, succession planning and training administration) and making meaningful workforce data readily available to enable evidence-based decisions.
It is critical that our people keep pace with technology changes and that Council takes advantage of the efficiencies and/or improvements to service that these technological changes present.
Effective leadership is important to ensure that a constructive environment and culture is created, that our people are motivated, skilled and focused, that services are transformed and that the community benefits from the Council’s work.
Having the right kind of people leadership is crucial.
Making employment to Singleton Council more attractive (especially to younger generations) requires our culture to be contemporary and one that different generations identify with.
Being an employer of choice is achievable through positive values-based culture, recognition for exceptional performance, opportunities for professional development and benefits and conditions that are an attractive value proposition for existing and potential employees.
As part of implementing succession planning activities in 2017/2018, Council’s Leadership Team needs to identify positions at all levels of the organisation that are considered critical to the ongoing functioning of Council’s operations and services. An extensive assessment will be undertaken to better understand our critical positions and their impact on our organisation into the future.
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Singleton Council, like many local government areas, has limited resources with which to provide an increasing number and quality of services. With a clear understanding of what is required to take our organisation forward into the future, the challenge for Singleton Council is to meet these requirements within resources available.
As at 30 June 2016, Singleton Council employs 196 FTE (full time equivalent) positions in a wide range of areas. In addition to its permanent and fixed-term workforce, Council has also has a pool of casual employees (22) who in the main are employed to meet variable and cyclical demand for services in areas such as the library, our visitor centre, and children’s services.
Budget FTE
Permanent Full-time
Permanent Part-time
Fixed Term Casuals Headcount
Total 196 165 24 16 22 227
Over the past four years, from FY13 to FY16, Singleton Council has increased its FTE establishment by 7 positions or 3.7%. However in FY16 the FTE establishment decreased by 3.4%. Our FTE will be continuously reviewed to ensure it meets the needs of our community and the commitments under the CSP however it is not anticipated that without additional revenue streams the FTE allocation would increase. Continuous improvement programs will be addressed to ensure that we live within our means.
The costs for our workforce are calculated as part of the Long Term Financial Plan.
‘In a service-based organisation, such as local government, the engagement and passion of your people is a critical success factor’
Australasian LG Performance Excellence Program FY16 Report
Equivalent to 8.1 FTE per 1000 residents. LG NSW average is 9.3 FTE per 1000 residents
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Our people strategies have been identified and developed in response to our workforce challenges. The Community Strategic Plan (CSP) was used as a pivotal reference document to guide and provide context for development of our People Strategies.
Singleton Council delivers services to its communities by means of its employees and the linkage of the CSP to the People Strategy is clearly demonstrated by the CSP strategy: Services are provided by the right people, in the right jobs, with the right skills and attitudes at the right time.
The people strategies are not a once-only fix-all to be used and then shelved. Our people strategies will be reviewed to determine whether they are relevant and in step with any changes to community and customer needs and expectations, as well as our changing environment and labour market.
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CSP - Our Leadership Objective
An effective and efficient operational Council
CSP – Our Leadership Strategy
Services to the community are provided by the right people, in the right jobs, with the right skills and attitudes at the right time
Underpinned by Our Values
Integrity Respect Excellence Innovation Enjoyment
Our Workforce Vision
Singleton Council is a great place to work where our values and safety are brought to life every day in everything that we do
Our People Strategy Themes
Employer of Choice Performance-based Culture Engaged Workforce Safe & Healthy Workforce
Our Goals
Council is a workplace that recognises and harnesses the full potential of our people and has effective employee recruitment, engagement, development, and retention practices.
Everyone who comes to work at Singleton Council understands what is expected of them and how their behaviours and performance at work benefits our community
We motivate and inspire our people by fostering a culture of genuine collaboration, engagement, innovation and respect
Everyone who comes to work at Singleton Council leaves work in an equal or better state of health and wellbeing than they arrived.
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Council is a workplace that recognises and harnesses the full potential of our people and has effective employee recruitment, engagement and retention practices
Our leaders role model Council’s values, setting high standards of behaviour and conduct for all employees
Our leaders will be effective change agents and have the skills to engage and empower staff to make a real
and tangible difference
Our culture is built on mutual trust and respect recognising the value of a collaborative, diverse and inclusive workforce
Our workforce embraces change as an opportunity to unleash potential and re-shape the way we do business and drive continuous improvement
Our organisation is viewed as an employer of choice attracting highly talented, qualified and diverse applicant pools for all roles
Embed and enhance our values through an ongoing program of consultation, training and awareness
Foster a continuous improvement environment by embedding continuous improvement in all Council activities and benchmarking gains
Promote Singleton Council as an employer of choice by promoting the success of our people and fully utilising our communication capacity
Turnover trends all employees – overall % and by gender (as agreed annually)
# complaints relating to the conduct or behaviour of Council employees
% participation in cultural awareness programs
% completion of mandatory training
% completion of recruitment and marketing programs
% recruits leaving in first year
# of applicants received for advertised positions; % of acceptances
Time to fill/hire
Overall staff engagement score (annual staff survey measure)
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Everyone who comes to work at Singleton Council understands what is expected of them and how their behaviours and performance at work benefits our community.
Our leaders drive all levels of organisational performance and the achievement of Council objectives.
Our leaders lead and inspire an energised, high performance culture and get the best out of people
Our workforce is highly skilled and has the capability to deliver Singleton Council’s key objectives
Our workforce structure is aligned and supports the strategic direction of Singleton Council with resources and budget allocated appropriately
Our people actively seek and participate in capability development and knowledge sharing activities
Our people understand the skills required for career progression and are empowered to access available development and career opportunities
Our people embrace new technology and look for ways to maximise collaboration, productivity and efficiency in line with our business operating system.
Our people demonstrate personal leadership and effectiveness at all levels across Council and in all aspects of their work.
Our policies and practices drive organisational efficiency and effectiveness and minimise the barriers that restrict decision making vital in a contemporary and modern workplace environment.
Foster skilled workforce and build capability through investment and increased participation in learning and performance development
Actively commit to workforce planning through implementation of succession plans and a knowledge management approach
Improve end-to-end organisation development and human resources processes through a contemporary improvement of policies and processes
Provide enhanced technology, tools and systems that support our workforce through a proactive and ongoing review and implementation program
Overall staff engagement score (annual staff survey measure)
Workforce profile – gender balance, age profile and employment status
% of identified tools, policies and processes completed
% of employees participating in development programs al learning and development
% increase of employees accessing online learning
% succession plans in place for all identified critical positions (as agreed annually)
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We motivate and inspire our people by fostering a culture of genuine collaboration, engagement, innovation and respect
Our leaders are highly visible and accessible, providing staff with information to enable them to do their jobs and take opportunities to celebrate success, innovation and continuous improvement.
Our people actively participate in meaningful two way communication processes, seeking regular formal and informal feedback and embracing a shared responsibility for individual, team and organisational performance
Our people understand the valuable role they play in delivering the community vision and are empowered to contribute to Singleton Council’s success
Acknowledge and reward our people through a well communicated program of formal and informal
acknowledgement
Develop and evolve our approach to staff engagement, collaboration and communication through increased access and participation in learning and development training programs
Continue to develop and deploy tailored programs and support tools that build leadership and management capabilities
Support our people in their leadership and managerial responsibilities through proactive continuous improvement
in learning and development opportunities as well as implementation of policies, procedures and tools
Promote and support the development of emerging leaders through active and targeted development programs
Overall staff engagement score (annual staff survey measure)
% participation in communications and engagement learning and development opportunities
Implementation of our Especialist Reward and Recognition Program
% improvement in Leadership 360 scores
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Everyone who comes to work at Singleton Council leaves work in an equal or better state of health and wellbeing than they arrived.
Our workplace has an embedded culture that only accepts zero harm
Our workplace supports employees to maintain a healthy work life balance and embrace initiatives that promote health and wellbeing
Zero lost time injuries (LTIs)
Actively support the health, wellbeing and safety of our people through wellbeing program
Proactive promotion of safety culture through learning and development , awareness and safety culture programs
% participation/involvement in workplace wellbeing interventions
Sick leave absence days per Full Time Equivalent (FTE)
Reduction in injury rates and StateCover premium
Employee Assistance Program (EAP) utilisation rates
Review of EAP reports
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Our People Strategy is owned and delivered throughout Singleton Council, and our leaders will play a key role in its delivery - guided by the strategic planning process.
Implementation of the strategy is the responsibility of the Leadership Team, and will be implemented through an operational workforce plan that is a proactive and continuous process of shaping the workforce to ensure that it is capable of delivering organisational objectives now and into the future.
An annual plan will be developed with specific actions and success measures. We will also develop our understanding of how the specific success measures contained within the People Strategy impact on our wider measures of organisational success to inform the annual implementation planning process and will be measured and monitored through Council’s governance process.