Item 12 - Council Workforce Plan 2022-2027 - Update & Annual Action
West Dunbartonshire Council · 21 May 2025
Back to Corporate Services Committee — 21 May 2025 and its agenda
Text extracted from the council's PDF. Layout and reading order may differ from the original.
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WEST DUNBARTONSHIRE COUNCIL Report by Chief Officer – People & Technology Corporate Services Committee: 21st May 2025 ___________________________________________________________________ Subject: Council Workforce Plan 2022-2027: Update & Annual Action Plans 2024/25 1. Purpose 1.1 The purpose of this report is to provide an update on the Council’s workforce planning activity for 2024/25. 2. Recommendations 2.1 The Committee is asked to: • Note progress during 2024/25 in delivering against the Council Workforce Plan within the People First Strategy and 5-year plan; • Note the workforce profile as at 31st March 2025 and key changes; and • Note progress within the Workforce Plans for each service. 3. Background 3.1 The Workforce Planning Strategy and Framework 2022 - 2027 reflects the 5- year People First Strategy and incorporates the Council’s Strategic Planning Framework. 3.2 The Council Workforce Plan is subject to monitoring and evaluation to ensure that it remains effective in delivering required outcomes and is responsive to any changes in circumstances, which subsequently arise. This report contains 2 sections and associated appendices: • The progress and achievements made over the last year (Appendix 1); • The current workforce profile and monitoring, examining any changes (Appendix 2). 3.3 Service annual action plans are scoped under the four Workforce Planning Priorities from the Corporate Workforce Plan outlined at 4.1 for each Chief Officer Area and are submitted to the relevant Committee as part of the Delivery Planning process. Separate delivery reports are tabled at this committee. 3.4 Whilst separate planning processes exist in relation to West Dunbartonshire Health & Social Care Partnership (HSCP), appropriate alignment is in place including attendance at the Health Care Staffing and Workforce Planning Oversight Group to ensure that Council employees working within HSCP are included and benefit from all Council Wide initiatives and relevant workforce planning requirements. ITEM 12
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4. Main Issues 4.1 The attached (Appendix 1) updates on the annual action plans at Chief Officer Service level for 2024/25 under the 4 Priorities: Priority 1. Our People (Workforce Profile): Ensure resilience and engagement of the workforce; Priority 2. Recruitment & Retention: Current and predicted future workforce gaps are addressed and core skill sets retained; Priority 3. Structure & Roles: Service structures and delivery model/s are stable, fit for purpose and future requirements; Priority 4. Skills & Capabilities: Current and future skills gaps and capabilities are addressed. These 4 priorities are formed from the Corporate Workforce plan which reflects the People First Strategic Plan. 4.2 Key Achievements 4.2.1 Key achievements over 2024/25 for workforce planning within the context of the People First Strategy are outlined in the sections below. 4.3 Workforce Planning Strategy & Framework 4.3.1 During 2024/25 much of the Workforce Planning activity has centred around the Council’s savings options and subsequent service re-designs. This has led to intensive activity around voluntary severance/early retirement, SWITCH and supporting employees and managers through these processes. 4.3.2 There has been an increased number of service reviews progressed over 2024/25 across the Council as managers have reviewed service delivery in the context of efficiencies but also taking into consideration the Council’s Standard operating Model (SOM), digital requirements and building service delivery models which will meet current and future demand. 4.3.3 Efforts have still been concentrated around further supporting the embedding of workforce planning. The Council’s Best Value Thematic Audit report 2023- 24 issued in July 2024 was very positive but provided 2 recommendations for areas of improvement; The council should ensure workforce data allows officers to identify resource gaps and supports succession planning and the Council should develop a new flexible/hybrid working policy or update its existing policy. The latter has already been completed. 4.3.4 Work has stemmed around the revision of Succession Planning guidance, including critical roles and planned (phased) roll-out over 2025 – 2027 through the structure levels and scoping of initial mapping requirements for manager information on the console. There has been progress made around the console also with key developments being implemented.
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4.3.5 Consideration of role profiles including content and format has commenced with scoping work considering workforce planning requirements such as succession planning, critical roles and recommendations from the People First, Year 1, Recruitment project with a particular focus around job evaluation, skills matrix (including digital skills) and cross skilling in line with our leadership frameworks and recruitment/attraction to roles. 4.3.6 Following the initial manager’s survey, to gain feedback and benchmark knowledge on workforce planning a further survey was conducted over February and March 2025. Although the response was disappointing in terms of numbers returned the results are currently being analysed and will be fed back to management teams. 4.3.7 Previous survey results in relation to the workforce planning console and the provision of real time data across the Council informed future developments for the console and these are outlined within this report. 4.3.8 There has been significant work around continued embedding of the Strategy and Framework and promotion of the workforce planning toolkit to support managers including People & Change Partners carrying out sessions using the toolkit at service level management sessions to support the identification and undertaking of workforce planning actions to support service delivery plans. The toolkit continues to be grown with the Succession Planning Guidance Phase 1 being added this year. 4.3.9 Continued engagement in external groups to ensure the Council has input to national and local strategies has seen benefits from initiatives and joint working. Following the National Survey Workforce Planning Survey for all 32 Local Authorities through the Society of Personnel and Development Scotland (SPDS) the findings and recommendations were communicated to all Chief Officers and raised at COSLA (Convention of Scottish Local Authorities) for wider action. Funding bids have recently been submitted for ‘invest to save projects’ which include the re-branding of Local Authority to aid recruitment and retention in Scotland based on the English model which has proved successful. This will support our People First Year 1 actions for recruitment. Also, bids have been submitted for Leadership development and a graduate recruitment campaign. In addition, the SPDS Digital group have also submitted bids which would support with the workforce planning agenda including digital literacy. 4.3.10 The Glasgow City Region Skills Local Government Skills Working Group has partnered with University of West of Scotland to introduce a government funded 4-year degree course for trainee planners (with a 2-year fast track option now launched for those with relevant previous experience). Local Authorities have provided trainee roles for this purpose to alleviate the nationally recognised skill shortage. Building Standards within the Council have taken this opportunity and was successful in recruiting a ‘fast track’ trainee in the first cohort for succession planning. The group will use this as a template model for future career pathways in other local authority roles.
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4.4 Priority 1. Our People (Workforce Profile): Ensure resilience and engagement of the workforce. Equalities 4.4.1 Progress of the Council’s equality action plan has continued to reflect the People First Strategy and employee life cycle concentrating on recruitment including methods, in the first instance, to increase the diversity of our workforce. However, it should be recognised that progress has been slowed in this area with some actions requiring to be carried forward as resources have been prioritised around budget savings and service re-designs. Given this a refresh of the Council’s Equality Plan is currently being undertaken to ensure focus on key achievements over 2025 – 2029. 4.4.2 Progress on People First Recruitment actions were paused whilst this was being considered as part of the National picture as outlined in 4.3.9. Joint working, if the funding bid is successful will bring numerous benefits in the coming year in relation to re-branding local government as an employer and is expected to have positive impacts on our equality agenda in supporting to diversify our workforce. 4.4.3 It is recognised that the Black and Minority ethnic (BME) workforce profile remains an area for improvement for the Council’ as we look to ‘attract more diverse talent’. The Race at Work Charter to make a public commitment to improving equality of opportunity in the workplace was signed towards the end of 2023/24 with the launch of this taking place through our communication channels including Trickle and the Council’s intranet as well as external promotions in early 2024/25. 4.4.4 Understanding the makeup of the workforce continues to be a priority and whilst this was built into workforce planning this year with various services giving consideration to this, it is acknowledged further work is required. This will carry forward into 2025/26 where a data verification exercise which has previously been delayed due to resourcing is planned for the summer of 2025/26. 4.4.5 Focus has been given to maintaining the Equally Safe at Work (ESAW) programme Development Tier. ESAW is an innovative employer accreditation programme to address sex inequality and violence against women and girls, aiming to support employers in reviewing workplace culture and ensuring that policies and practices are enhanced to address the barriers that women face at work. This year has focused on the development of a sexual harassment policy information in line with the new legislative changes on employers to prevent sexual harassment as outlined in the policy section below. The 2 e- learning modules ‘Together for gender equality’ and ‘Gender Based Violence’ have continued to be available with take up figures showing a slight increase this year. It is expected that these will form part of our mandatory training offering and will be further promoted.
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4.4.6 The Council has held the Armed Forces Gold Award for actions in support of Armed Forces, reservists and their family members since 2019. Work has concentrated on maintaining this award, with re-accreditation being received in January 2025. The Armed Forces Support Group continues to meet with the agenda being determined by the key issues of the Group. The Group has also extended membership to Cadets to ensure they are part of the community and can benefit from the support available. 4.4.7 The Council continues to consider its terms and conditions following the recent Equality Review. Consultation is on-going and work is underway to understand the workforce position on public holiday entitlements through a further employee survey. Wellbeing 4.4.8 The priority relating to Wellbeing activity in 2024/25 was to renew the Occupational Health contract and for the counselling and physiotherapy aspects of this contract to be removed in line with the savings option taken at Council in March 2024. Promotion of an alternative counselling provision that is free to the Council as part of the employee benefits platform, Vivup, has continued throughout the year with usage steadily increasing. Promotion of the full range of employee benefits has been shared through all communication channels including mental health first aiders and wellbeing advocates, Trickle, workforce updates and the intranet newsfeed. Registrations on Vivup have nearly doubled in 23/24 showing that employees are increasingly aware of the platform and how to access it and work will continue to promote it. 4.4.9 Additionally, My Money Matters, the Council’s platform to manage shared cost additional voluntary contributions (AVC’s) to employee pension schemes has seen an increase in participation. In 2024/25 there was an approximately 49% increase in the number of employees who have AVC’s generating savings for the employee and the Council and topping up employee’s pension thereby supporting their financial wellbeing. A rolling schedule of financial wellbeing webinars continues to promote financial wellbeing and information on how AVC’s can benefit employees. 4.4.10 The New Manager Induction has also been refreshed with positive feedback received from managers on the content and additional refresher sessions available for existing managers on key policies that support employee wellbeing. Employee Engagement 4.4.11 The Council’s main tool for employee engagement is a digital platform called Trickle, available via the website or App which enables inclusivity as it is accessible to the whole workforce. This enables the workforce, including front line employees, to raise issues and access information via
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the App on their phone. Recognising the benefits of this employee engagement tool, work has continued to focus on improving the level of engagement with Trickle across existing and new users. The number of users is currently 1999, which is an increase from 1974 from the last update. People and Change Partners are working with services locally to drive the increase in users by directly linking to workforce planning actions and encouraging Trickle Champions to be appointed in services. 4.4.12Through the ‘People First’ Strategy, the Council has committed to develop and improving employee engagement by building on existing good practice. The Council continues to promote several initiatives to support employee engagement including Trickle, 1-2-1 (Be the Best) conversations to support workforce development, recognising success and value through employee recognition awards and understanding the workforce voice through Trickle Moodsense in addition to regular monthly workforce updates to inform the workforce of key HR, ICT and health and safety updates. 4.4.13 Due to the volume of service re-design processes employee engagement has also been concentrated around consultation processes and ensuring employees receive the required information and supports to enable informed decisions to be made. Services have concentrated on this at a local level through meetings and various written information around the consultation packs with some services making use of internet spaces to cascade and share information for large and front-line service areas. 4.4.14 Demonstrating that the Council values employees and celebrates success is an essential component of employee engagement. There are many activities currently underway to support this, including a relaunch of the employee Recognition Awards, aligning these to our core ACHIEVE values and this launched in November 2024. There were a total of 36 nominations received across all the award categories with winners being recognised for their contribution at the first Achieve Awards Ceremony on 1st May 2025.
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The Achieve Award categories are detailed below: Award Category Description Trailblazer Award Celebrates individuals who exhibit exceptional ambition and visionary thinking, pioneering new directions in their work and inspiring others to pursue excellence. Doing the Right Thing Award Celebrates ethical conduct, integrity, and a commitment to doing what is morally right Innovative Solutions Award Recognises individuals who demonstrate a remarkable ability to think creatively and develop innovative solutions to complex challenges, contributing to more efficient and effective processes. Teamwork Excellence Award Celebrates outstanding collaboration and the promotion of a unified and effective team environment. Empowerment Champion Award Celebrates the proactive empowerment of others and supports their growth and development. Community Appreciation Award Celebrates community recognition and appreciation for exceptional service and contributions. Work Styles/Flexibility 4.4.15 The Best Value Thematic Audit Report for Workforce Planning 2023-24 noted ‘The council has a well-established approach to hybrid and flexible working’. Monitoring the working environments continues to be a priority as employees are supported to work more flexibly, from various locations, whilst balancing service delivery, digital security and personal commitments. A recommendation from the Best Value audit report was to develop a new flexible/hybrid working policy or update its existing policy base and so the flexible working policy was updated to reflect hybrid arrangements and working styles the Council offers and ensure employees can apply for these under this policy framework. Ensuring work styles and patterns are considered as part of organisational transformation, service re-design and flexible working continues has been imperative to workforce planning for services. This is essential not only in supporting employee’s wellbeing but has been key to improving productivity, recruitment and retention.
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Policy 4.4.16 Over this year the Council’s employee policy base has seen updates in relation to the Organisation Change and Switch policies and Flexible Working Policy as outlined in 4.4.15. This policy also included new guidance of the ‘Right to disconnect’ for employees out of working hours. 4.4.17 The Council’s family leave policy base including Adoption, Fostering and surrogacy Leave, Paternity and Maternity Leave, Parental and Shared Parental Leave and Maternity leave schemes have also seen changes implemented as part of the new legislation to support families of Neo-Natal babies. 4.4.18 It has been recognised that with a change of Government this year there have been a number of significant proposals around implementation of new employment legislation. Efforts have been focused throughout the year in relation to monitoring these changes as they progress through development and consultations to ensure impacts are accessed and preparedness for implementation. This will continue into 2025/26 where most of the proposals, which if become legislation are likely to be implemented later in the year and into 2026/27. 4.4.19 Legislative changes in relation to sexual harassment also came into practice in October 24 with a duty for employers to prevent sexual harassment which include employees and 3rd parties. Efforts have therefore been concentrated on the development of a sexual harassment policy base and associated processes this year. Consideration is currently being given as to whether this sits as a stand-alone policy or within one of our current policy bases such as the Gender Based Violence or Respect at Work Policy. This will cover several legislative requirements including the following: • A sexual harassment policy base (currently being reviewed); • Engage with employees around the policy (planned on roll-out); • Assess and take actions to reduce risks in the workplace (advice to be sought from Health & Safety with a view to incorporate in risk assessments); • Reporting mechanisms for sexual harassment including clear procedures and the ability to do this anonymously. • Training in relation to sexual harassment for the workforce (currently delivered through Ilearn modules); • Monitor and evaluate actions implemented. 4.4.20 Significant progress has been made in relation to a Resolution Framework which will simplify the policy base for employees and managers who raise concerns with a focus on early intervention, informal (where appropriate) and effective resolution of concerns. Following employee, manager and trade union feedback the initial drafting of the Framework has commenced. This is taking core employment policies including discipline, grievance and respect at work and summarising these into a core policy base and processes for ease
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of reference and understanding. It has been recognised that there are standardised areas of each policy and processes which can be amalgamated. It is expected that several prototypes may be required before launch but once successful this template can be used for other policy frameworks. A list of proposed frameworks has also been developed for future consideration. 4.5 Priority 2. Recruitment & Retention: Current and predicted future workforce gaps are addressed and core skill sets retained Year 1 & 2 People First – Employee Life Cycle – Recruitment & Retention 4.5.1 The People First Strategy in relation to the employee life cycle remains on- going with the intention to create a positive inspiring, informative and seamless journey from application to appointment, attract the right candidates, aid retention and in turn support the workforce planning and equalities agenda. It has been recognised the bulk of the work required is concentrated in the earlier years of this plan. 4.5.2 Whilst there has been progress around this workstream a bid has been submitted to Scottish Government following the national workforce planning survey outlined in 4.3.9 to look at the re-branding of Scottish Local Authorities as an employer of choice at a national level to support attraction, recruitment and retention. Should this be successful it is thought this national campaign will mirror, and take lessons learned from a successful model deployed in England supporting this workstream and our needs. 4.5.3 As resources have been tight this year there has been a need to focus on a specific area to progress under the year 1 recruitment work stream whilst year 2, on boarding was progressed also. Efforts have been concentrated around the development of role profiles which reflect our SOM (Standard Operating Model) structures and People First Strategy workstreams including job evaluation, workforce and succession planning, skills development and equalities but also recruitment by providing a more engaging format, emphasising job quality. Work around this is still on-going with a roll-out planned for 2025/26. 4.5.4 Recruitment audit actions from the 2022/23 audit to improve the recruitment process and attracting diverse talent are still on-going with links to working 4U to provide better connections to current and potential talent pools. 4.5.5 Year 2 of the People First Strategy concentrates on onboarding. Onboarding is the process of integrating new employees into the organisation and preparing them for their new roles and work environment, from the point of being offered the post up to working in their new role for 1 year. 4.5.6 The review approach included Research, Analysis of Research, Designing Together and Development. Step 1 included user research with new employees, recruiting managers and linked services (who provide part of the onboarding service). Surveys were issued, interviews were conducted and
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focus groups held. Analysis of the research (step 2) showed that although there was no main challenge to solve for onboarding, line management support is key to a positive onboarding experience. In step 3, a variety of challenge questions were set and ideas generated which resulted in a central onboarding hub being developed in step 4 alongside a comprehensive manager’s onboarding checklist. This will be pushed out in 2025/26. Job Evaluation 4.5.7 This year has seen a significant number of job evaluations being progressed following the implementation of the new Job Evaluation Policy and Procedure and streamlining of processes including the on-line forms. Efforts have concentrated around ensuring evaluations are undertaken within timelines where possible including forward scheduling and the list of roles awaiting evaluation significantly reduced. Job evaluation has been a key activity this year in relation to progressing the service review processes and work around the Strategic Operating Model. The volume of roles for re-evaluation continues to exceed previous years. 4.5.8 Work continues to ensure all data relating to job evaluation is robust and fit for purpose which includes the archiving of historic role profiles and job evaluation information. Also, in relation to the Strategic Operating Model (SOM) providing structured governance moving forward to any proposed changes in line with the Workforce Plan as outlined in section 4.6.5. Career Pathways & Succession Planning 4.5.9 It is recognised that recruitment and retention remain challenging for certain roles within the Council which follows national trends. There have been a few service areas which have looked to address these issues with re-structures incorporating succession planning and looking to develop career pathways. 4.5.10 The succession planning guidance has been incorporated into the workforce planning toolkit. This will be implemented throughout the Council in phases during 2025 – 2027 commencing with Chief Officer roles and progressing in line with the SOM compliance work being undertaken. Chief Officer information packs have been circulated for Phase 1, and these will continue at key stages with manager workshops undertaken as required. People & Change Partner support is being offered to undertake succession planning alongside other workforce planning activities. 4.5.11 As part of this work critical roles will be identified and categorised with plans to ensure this data is part of the workforce planning console trend analysis with a view to identify role types, skills matrix’s (including potential cross skilling) and urgency around planning for critical roles. This will tie into the role profile work being undertaken by the Job Evaluation team. 4.5.12 The development and mapping of career’s pathways continues to outline the
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entry requirements for roles and routes into employment and development opportunities/supports for future progression through career structure. This template will be included in the Workforce Planning Toolkit to be utilised across the Council aiding the development of new talent pools and routes into Council employment at the same time facilitating cross service skilling and links into other career pathways. 4.6 Priority 3. Structure & Roles: Service structures and delivery model/s are stable, fit for purpose and future requirements Budget Savings 4.6.1 Following further announcement of budget savings over 2024/25, priority has continued to be directed to supporting services across the Council to make the relevant savings and ensure services are robust and fit for the future. Whilst services have been continuing to embed the changes made as part of the budget savings from previous years, they have also reviewed their workforce planning requirements and explored opportunities to deliver services differently and more effectively whilst making proposals for savings for 2024/25 and into 2025/26. The focus for workforce planning remains to stabilise the workforce and work priorities. With future budget gaps predicted, longer-term workforce planning remains difficult. 4.6.2 Services also, as part of their workforce planning activities, have horizon scanned potential future impacts on their teams and commenced re-structures accordingly. With reviewing how services can be automated/digitalised or delivered more efficiently. Accounting for succession planning this has led to a number of additional service reviews being commenced. 4.6.3 Strategic HR resources have been directed at supporting services with the application of the organisational change policy, re-modelling of their services in line with service needs and SOM compliance and consistent consultation including employee wellbeing. Improvements continue to be made to the Voluntary Severance and Voluntary Early Retirement processes which has seen applications increase by 290% from this year to last year impacting on workloads, internal process reviews in Strategic HR to manage and advice to services for on-going impacts on the teams and structures of releasing employees. 4.6.4 Affected services are currently entering a further formal consultation period, the effective use of the workforce console and data continues to be imperative to inform and fully understand the implications of proposals for service delivery, the workforce and ensure accurate notification of the potential impacts. Focus will continue around employee engagement supports with promotion of our current support mechanisms and use of PACE (Partnerships Action for Continuing Employment) support the Scottish Government’s initiative dedicated to helping people with advice and support when faced with the possibility of redundancy if required.
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SOM (Standard Operating Model) 4.6.5 Work continues to ensure that the spans of control and ratios of employees to managers is correct and fit for purpose, to ensure service delivery moving forward. This includes the SOM principles and a tier-by-tier approach with Chief Officers and Service Managers down to grade 11 being reviewed and actions planned/commenced to ensure compliance within re-structures and a consistent structure in place to deliver the services required in the future. Work has also commenced on Grades 9 and 10 and governance arrangements are ensuring role profiles are updated to reflect current responsibilities and duties. Fit for Future (FfF) Service reviews 4.6.6 FfF approach was reviewed and updated. FfF now focusses on working with a team/service to identify and implement improvements or modernisation. 4.6.7 This new approach was piloted within the Risk & Health and Safety service from January 2025. Members of the team identified their key focus areas for improvement as communications and processes. 4.6.8 Four key processes were reviewed: SMS11 – Management Workplace Inspections SMS02 – First Aid SMS10 – Display Screen Equipment SMS28 – Corporate Warning Marker System. 4.6.9 To improve communications an online form has been introduced to allow the team to gather feedback on their service, intranet pages have been updated and there are also plans to issue a regular bulletin for the team. 4.6.10 As part of the FfF exercise, M365 APPs and tools were demonstrated to allow the team to understand how these tools work and how they could be used to improve elements of their service. Information & Data 4.6.11 The workforce planning console continues to be the key source of workforce information for managers using real time data. Further developments have taken place in relation to this console including SSSC registration monitoring, Voluntary Early Retirement/Voluntary Severance analysis tool for Strategic HR use, improvements to Absence Reporting for pay dates and combined iLearn and LD21 reporting/Skills passport for managers to be able to see completed and outstanding training within their teams. Creation of a Finance Console for Finance Business partners has also been progressed.
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4.6.12 It is recognised that further developments of the Workforce Planning Console are required, and work has continued in relation to the scoping of possibilities and requirements around workforce projections, trends and the possibility of automation of workforce plans linked to data insights. Currently new Console screen layout is under development and further work being carried out around Allowances for Finance use. 4.6.13 Currently in development is a key influencer analysis tool/predictor for absence which is currently being researched which will provide more detailed analytics and trend analysis around the Councils absence. 4.6.14 Feedback from the survey and workforce planning sessions provided useful insights in relation to the use and understanding of the console. Based on this feedback, console information sessions specifically linked to workforce planning were developed and rolled out over 2024/25 which was welcomed by services across the Council. These sessions saw the use of the console for workforce planning purposes increase significantly and consistently over this year as per the table below. 4.6.15 Further developments in relation to succession planning and critical roles analysis are being planned for the console along with automated trend analysis to further inform workforce planning requirements. In prioritising the development of the console account has been taken the most used areas which is illustrated below. Console Usage 2024-25 Month Average No of users per day Apr-24 8.2 May-24 9.2 Jun-24 10.6 Jul-24 11.8 Aug-24 18.2 Sep-24 23.3 Oct-24 23.1 Nov-24 23.8 Dec-24 18.2 Jan-25 23.7 Feb-25 28 Mar-25 31
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4.6.16 Data and analytics continues to play a key role in considering future resource requirements and supported the People & Change function, leading to a review of the workload and support the team provides. 4.6.17 Surveys, self-evaluation, service design and quality improvement exercises and workshops continue to provide beneficial insight into areas for enhancement and have informed associated action plans. 4.7 Priority 4. Skills & Capabilities: Current and future skills gaps and capabilities are addressed. Learning & Development 4.7.1 The comprehensive in-house delivery programme continues to be well supported by managers and employees with many dates ‘selling out’ as soon as they are advertised. Feedback from delegates continues to be very positive across all programmes with an average rating of 4.6/5. Feedback from delegates reinforces that employees both enjoy the opportunity and can apply the learning in their own workplace context. 4.7.2 Usage of iLearn continues to rise with more employees engaging than ever before. Accessible on any device 24/7 iLearn provides flexibility to ensure that there is learning provision for all employees, regardless of their working hours or style. Usage compared over the last 3 years can be seen in Figure1 below: 2855 2812 2528 2197 1852 1815 1378 1314 1202 1022 0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 Number of hits Subject of information Hits
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Figure 1 4.7.3 The iLearn platform has been upgraded with additional functionality and improved layout and imaging. New reporting options have been introduced enabling individuals to access their own full training report and managers to generate reports for their teams. Both options pull together the online learning completion with ‘in-person’ training recorded via HR21. 4.7.4 The Trades Unions Learning Agreement continues to underpin working in partnership with the Trades Unions to deliver relevant and timely opportunities for everyone. 4.7.5 Service Design training continues to be offered most recently in February 2025. This training takes place over 2 days onsite and 12 attendees can be accommodated on each cohort. 4.7.6 Workforce planning tools, resources and support materials still continue to be developed for managers. A further survey carried out at the end of 2024/25 and feedback from workforce planning sessions at service level will inform future developments around resources and possible training requirements Digital Transformation & Skills 4.7.8 There were plans to relaunch the Digital Transformation Board as the People First Innovation Board but there was little appetite for this, and it was agreed further work was required before this commenced. Digital highlight reports continue to be provided to the Transformation and Visioning Board for each meeting. There are plans to highlight work in this area which involve, an executive visioning session, a senior manager network meeting around digital and the art of the possible with follow up and promotion around Digi Leads and Champs. 4.7.9 Work continues to support employees in the development of their digital skills, but engagement is slow. Over the past year the Change & Digital team have created and launched 3 interactive campaigns, taking employees on a digital
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learning journey. Each campaign ran over a 12-week period with a weekly release of a new chapter. The topic areas were: • Putting People First at the Digital Airport – this focused-on building basic digital skills • Turning Data into Diamonds on Data Island – this focused on increasing awareness, knowledge and confidence around data • Maximising Technology on the MicroSoSoSoftly Seas – this focused on increasing awareness, knowledge and confidence with M365. 4.7.10 The last 2023 digital skills survey ran from October to November 2023. The survey focused on awareness, digit champs, learning information and topics, skills ratings, barriers, opportunities to improve and what supports are required. It was promoted via newsfeed, emails and Trickle. Digital Skills remains a priority for the Council and PMRG have been asked to promote the Digi Champs(s) role within their service and nominate Digi Champs(s) where none are in place. Further work is planned around this in June 2025 where the Senior Management network (SMN) will focus on Digi-skills and mindsets. 4.8 The current workforce profile 4.8.1 The workforce profile as at 31/3/25 is attached in Appendix 2, with comparisons made against the previous year and commentary on trends. The main observations are detailed below. 4.8.2 There has been around a 2% decrease in Headcount and working hours. When compared to the same period last year, there has been a headcount reduction of 110 across the council. This change is mainly accounted for by the implementation of savings options and recruitment restrictions. This year has seen an increase in fixed term contracts again reflective of service re-structures taking place and the need for temporary arrangements whilst these are progressed and a decrease of 10 apprenticeships, mainly from Housing and Resources, with the casual/supply pool headcount increasing. The decrease in apprenticeships in these areas has been linked to Modern Apprenticeships qualifying and transitioning into permanent roles. Reviewing the comparison data the overall workforce has steadily declined with the bulk of the reductions in Housing & Employability and Resources and Roads & Neighbourhood increasing, due to the transfer of Working 4U team. 4.8.3 Whilst the percentage reductions have been across permanent contracts (2.5%) fixed term contracts have increased by 1%. Although both figures are lower than last year there is a clear correlation between the figures. This is likely due to services implementing budget savings and bridging gaps during this transition. In addition, the percentage of apprenticeships has declined this year by 10 however this is indicative of the trades moving through from phase 2 to 3 and qualifying in certain areas such as Building Services and Asset Management.
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4.8.4 Whilst the number of both full time and temporary contracts has reduced this year reflective of the headcount change. However, the percentage split of the overall sex profile continues to remain a static with an overall split of 26.4% male and 73.6.% female. 4.8.5 Whilst the age distribution has also remained static, it can be noted that there are very slight increases in the age categories above 50 which may indicate a future trend of a continuing aging workforce. The number of new starts contacts has reduced by 33 with 10 of these being attributed to Modern Apprenticeships. 4.8.6 Turnover has decreased this year from 15% in 2022/23, 13.2% in 2023/24 to 12.2% in 2024/25 with the highest turnover remaining in Citizen, Culture and facilities closely followed by Education. However, a number of services are experiencing a reduction in turnover numbers which may be a result of the uncertainty of the budget savings. This is also reflected amongst the HSCP teams apart from Finance & Resources where a small number of people leaving a small team can indicate a high impact. There has also been a decrease in Voluntary Severance and Voluntary Early Retirement (VS/VER) by 19 from 2023/24 from 48 last year to 29 this year. As the VS/VER process remains open and there are a number of applications still being considered the number of leavers for this reason may increase in the coming year. The number of employees taking early/flexible retirement from the age of 55 continues to increase. 4.8.7 The year has shown a decrease in the number of flexible retirement applications approved and after applications increasing since 2022 this year reflects the lower figure of 2022. This decrease could be reflective of the 2024 pension strain increase with less flexible retirements being released due to the cost. It is anticipated that Flexible Retirement will continue to be a popular option for employees who wish to work in a reduced capacity and access their pension whilst enabling the Council to retain their skills and experience, however the trend of a reduction in those released may continue due to the costs associated. 4.8.8 This year has seen an increase in the sickness absence to above 2022/23 figure (14.00 full time equivalent workdays lost per employee) to 14.3. in 2024/25. This has increased from 13.74 in 2023/24. Although the same reasons of minor illness, personal stress and acute medical conditions remain the highest with front line employees having the highest levels of sickness. Employee wellbeing and engagement supports will continue to be developed and deployed
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4.9 Workforce Planning Actions for 2025/26 4.9.1 The Corporate Workforce Plan for 2025/26 has been reviewed and updated. Key areas for progression and continued development are outlined in the sections below and build on many of the actions outlined for 2024/25. It is noted however that many of these areas are interdependent contributing to the People First Strategy as a whole. In addition, it is also recognised that as a result of resources being deployed to Council priorities a number of actions will be carried forward from 2023/24. 4.10 Priority 1. Our People (Workforce Profile): Ensure resilience and engagement of the workforce Equalities 4.10.1 With the undertaking of a recruitment and equal pay audit in previous years work will again focus on the outcomes and recommendations from this, alongside continued progression of the Equality Plan, demonstrating our commitment to ensure there are no barriers to entering our employment. 4.10.2 In line with the People 1st Strategy efforts will also be spent on monitoring the work undertaken at national level for ease of adoption for both equality and workforce planning purposes. Equality work streams will also be considered within the role profile work being undertaken and efforts concentrated on refreshing the equality plan for 2025 – 2029. 4.10.2 This year the Council’s Performance & Strategy team will lead on a ‘spot light’ on equality project expected to commence in the summer. This will consist of key actions around improving the Equality Impact Assessment system and template, improving access to services within the council such as translation and accessibility services and an equality landing page on the intranet providing space for ‘everything equalities’ in one easy to find place. Strategic HR plan to link with this project to progress key aspects of the equality plan including an equality data verification exercise, further embedding of the Equally Safe at Work accreditation and communication of the sexual harassment policy base. 4.10.3 This project is expected to also support the further promotion of current equality agenda’s such as the Disability Confident Scheme, Race at Work Charter, the Armed Forces Gold Award and monitoring/promotion of equality related training across the Council.
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Wellbeing 4.10.4 Continued promotion of employee supports and benefits will be crucial in 25/26 given the ongoing challenges faced by the workforce and the organisation. In order to better identify data trends arising from these challenges, further improvements are planned for the workforce planning console in relation to Wellbeing data to help managers ensure that policies are being applied appropriately and consistently. 4.10.5 The Employee Wellbeing Strategy continues to focus on priority areas, responding to the needs of the organisation. Regular progress reports to PMRG and JCF including monitoring the impact of the resulting actions continue along with a focus on supporting employee financial wellbeing. Employee Engagement 4.10.6 As the Council continues to face significant financial challenges it remains crucial; we continue to support employee engagement and ensure all employees have a platform where their voices can be heard and that they are fully aware of where supports can be accessed and in times of change feel supported and valued. Continued support of employees in a virtual environment using MS Teams, trickle, webinars, online training, surveys, employee forums and support to ensure that employees feel engaged, supported and valued continues. Peer support groups/communities have been developed to allow for collaboration and networking e.g. wellbeing advocates and MS Teams ambassadors, digital champions. Work will commence this year on ‘Back to the Floor’ framework to support two-way communication and leadership visibility. 4.10.7 The established communication frameworks for national and local messages to be shared remain along with further embedding the one-to-one/Be The Best Conversations in areas where we have feedback that these could be improved. Policy 4.10.8 Best practice and legislative changes will continue to influence the review of the Council’s employment policy base. This year will bring a keen focus on monitoring numerous proposed employment law changes and impacts with a view to prioritising any policy requirements as legislation is proposed, consulted and agreed. Progress of this legislation will influence our policy priorities and engagement of such with our Trade Unions, managers and employees. 4.10.9 Policy development in relation to sexual harassment will continue to roll out, and embedding ensuring joint working with other teams and services across the Council; such as health and safety for the assessment of risk.
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4.11 Priority 2. Recruitment & Retention: Current and predicted future workforce gaps are addressed and core skill sets retained Year 1 People First – Employee Life Cycle 4.11.1 The 5-year People First Plan will continue to focus on key improvements of the Employee Life Cycle with spotlights on the following: • Year 1 – Recruitment • Year 2 – On Boarding • Year 3 – Development • Year 4 – Retention • Year 5 – Recognition 4.11.2 Work will remain focused around progressing recruitment with consideration of the National proposal to re-brand local authority as an employer in Scotland. and is expected to support recruitment guidance, resources and the building of talent pools at a national and local level. 4.11.3 Commitment remains to bringing efficiencies around recruitment processes and work has significantly progressed this year in relation to analysis of data and processes around all aspects of ‘Onboarding’ for new employees entering the Council’s employment and implementation. A central onboarding hub is being developed alongside a comprehensive manager’s onboarding checklist. The onboarding hub will go live at the end of April 25 with user testing and feedback taken into account post launch (for a 6-month period) to evaluate the effectiveness in meeting employee’s needs by analysing feedback and inviting managers and new employees to test the resources. A review will also take place of the chatbot developed in terms of usage to determine any additional queries that could be incorporated. The scoping of Year 3 Employee Development will commence into 2025/26. Workforce Planning 4.11.4 Following the Council’s Best Value Audit further work is required around Succession Planning and critical roles which will have the focus for roll out over 2025/26 and onwards. This will be imperative to ensure services are able to meet the required skills gaps, in particular as services review their delivery models and structures. The implementation of this aligns with other core developments including the SOM review, role profile work and national workstreams as outlined. 4.11.5 The workforce planning tool kit will continue to be developed in line with core objectives to ensure managers have the skills to take these forward including a tool to outline the development of career pathways is planned. 4.11.6 The Council Best Value Audit report also outlined that the council recognises that digital transformation can help it deliver services more effectively and improve productivity and The council is working to improve the digital experience and accessibility for employees and promote a culture of digital
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awareness. Within the workforce planning context there remains a need to continue to develop the Workforce Planning Console as it is a core feature of workforce planning brining quality data on which to base workforce decisions. Development in this area will continue around developing trend analysis and forecasting to aid the development and possible automation of service workforce plans for managers. Job Evaluation 4.11.8 Training will continue to be promoted for Job Evaluation Training for the continued increase of Job Analysts including refresher sessions. 4.11.9 Efforts will also be concentrated around the job evaluation information on the intranet to provide information videos for accessibility and understanding of the job evaluation processes for managers and employees. 4.12 Priority 3. Structure & Roles: Service structures and delivery model/s are stable, fit for purpose and future requirements SOM 4.12.1 Progress in relation to the SOM will continue through the management structures on to levels 4,5 &6 have the correct spans of control and ratios required for future delivery. Manager sessions will be developed and rolled out ensuring the understanding and benefits of SOM to inform future service delivery models. Budget Savings 4.12.2 Priority will remain to supporting services into 2025/26 and beyond as the Council continues to face budgetary challenges to implement the required budget savings, review structures and service delivery requirements in line with the Organisational Change processes whilst continuing to support employee’s wellbeing and engagement during this time. 4.12.3 This will include Strategic HR this year as the teams are reviewed to accommodate budget savings and SOM compliance whilst adapting and reviewing our internal processes and continuous review of priorities to ensure the affective resourcing to support the Council’s Services. Data & Information 4.12.4 The Change & Digital team have supported ICT with the roll-out of SharePoint and OneDrive. For the initial pilot, the ICT and Risk & Health and Safety teams were the first 2 teams to get access to the new technology.
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4.12.5 A second pilot exercise is scheduled for March 2025. Three teams will be involved in this roll-out including Change & Digital, Facilities Management and Planning and Building Standards. 4.12.6 Continuous improvement initiatives, service design and leadership development will continue through the year ahead as core organisational deliverables. Services will continue to promote and engage in cross organisational working, and explore the opportunities this provides, including the potential for retraining of employees into other areas, this particularly relevant in supporting the Switch Policy. 4.13 Priority 4. Skills & Capabilities: Current and future skills gaps and capabilities are addressed. Learning and Development 4.13.1 The focus on digital literacy and skills will continue with Digital Skills building blocks the basis of the first quarterly digital theme (which commenced in April 2024). Further thought requires to be given also this year as to the building of digital mindsets across our management teams in preparation of building of digital skills and how this links to our service re-design processes. This will be the main focus for the June 2025 for Senior management at the SMN meeting. 4.13.2 The Council will also work closely with the SPDS Digital group to monitor and contribute to the National picture in relation to digital skills to include the review of various digital applications, development of a ‘playbook’ of best practice examples, support around development of policy and governance bases and skills development including attendance in planned workshops to develop ideas for local government of digital ways of working with suppliers such as Oracle and accessing digital literacy programmes where available and communicating these opportunities to relevant parts of the workforce. Membership has also extended to a subgroup for development of AI in Human Resources for which a work programme is being scoped for 2025/26. 5. People Implications 5.1 Integration of workforce planning within wider organisational planning processes ensures that workforce issues are effectively identified and addressed. This supports the Council’s commitment to its’ employees in relation to all aspects of their employment, ensuring that employees’ needs are met, and that efficient and modern services are effectively delivered both now and in the future.
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6. Financial and Procurement Implications 6.1 There are no additional financial or procurement implications associated with this report. There are funding streams associated with the initiatives mentioned in this report, but these are already secured. 7. Risk Analysis 7.1 A robust approach to workforce planning ensures that the Council identifies current and future needs and identifies potential risks to the council at an early stage. This proactive approach allows strategies and policies to be developed that ensure the continued delivery of best value services. A risk has been identified in relation to being sufficiently resourced to be able to undertake key workforce planning actions in the coming year and/or to be able to respond to workforce planning actions arising. 8. Equalities Impact Assessment (EIA) 8.1 A full EIA is not required in relation to the Council Workforce Plan as individual assessments will be undertaken in relation to each area of work referred to as it is progressed. 9. Consultation 9.1 The Strategic Leadership Group have been involved in the development of the plan through preparation of the Delivery Plans and this report and associated appendices have been provided to the relevant trade unions on 28th April 2025. 10. Strategic Assessment 10.1 The contents of this report and the workforce planning process supports the Council’s Priority 4, ‘Our Council’, Objective 10 ‘Our workforce is resilient and skilled where digital technology supports service delivery for our residents’ to make the best use of both financial and human resources resulting in a positive impact upon service provision. Victoria Rogers Chief Officer - People & Technology Date: 21st May 2025 Person to Contact: Lisa MacGregor, People and Change Partner 16 Church Street, Dumbarton Tel: 07949800801 Email: Lisa.MacGregor@west-dunbarton.gov.uk
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Appendices: Appendix 1 – Council Workforce Plan Progress update 2024/25 Appendix 2 – Workforce Profile and Monitoring 31st March 2025 Background Papers: Council Workforce Plan 2017-2022: Update & Annual Action Plan 2022/23 Strategic Lead Area Workforce Plans (as part of Service Delivery Plans) 2022-2027 The Workforce Planning Strategy and Framework 2022 – 2027 Wards Affected: None