Item 15 - Appendix 1
West Dunbartonshire Council · 24 May 2023
Back to Corporate Services Committee — 24 May 2023 and its agenda
Text extracted from the council's PDF. Layout and reading order may differ from the original.
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Appendix 1: Workforce Planning 22-23 Strategic Actions Overview 31st March 2023 1. Our People (Workforce Profile) Strategy Develop and implement wellbeing, employee engagement, equality and training plans to enable capabilities, improved resilience and promotion of a diverse workforce. Service Progress Key Actions Exceptions Citizens, Culture and Facilities – Amanda Graham, Chief Officer • 93 employee registered as Trickle Users, 3 Trickle Champions identified and 5 Wellbeing Advocates who represent the service; • Across the service team meetings are carried out as well as Be the Best 1-2-1 meetings to ensure employees feel supported. Education Learning and Attainment – Laura Mason, Chief Officer • Continue development of Career Long Professional Learning (CLPL) programme reflecting current needs of workforce post pandemic including digital learning and technologies, wellbeing and mental health supports. Programmes reviewed and updated to reflect needs identified and evaluations received. Diverse professional learning programme produced and being undertaken; • System of highlighting and sharing opportunities to engage and promote wellbeing initiatives is in place and used across the service. Housing & Employability – Peter Barry, Chief Officer • Communities Staff encouraged to continue their professional development including Community Learning and Development Leaders training; • Staff completed Equality Impact Assessment training in 2022 APPENDIX 1
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and relevant teams developing skills to support the inclusion of actions within their delivery plans in Working 4 You; • Staff encouraged to engage with the Trickle platform. 2 Trickle champions in Housing Operations and starting to do mood sense around team newsletter, initially to generate interest from teams with view to wider roll out on other subject areas; • Be The Best conversations linked to discussions around well- being in Housing; • Continued to improve and develop employee engagement – regular team meetings, with guest speakers for information on other services roles/ functions in Housing; • Development sessions held for 2022 and staff survey completed November 2022 to inform service development and key areas for teams. Further joint development sessions planned for spring 2023 with Housing Operations and Building Services to focus on repairs giving teams opportunity to jointly discuss challenges and ideas for service development; • Staff survey carried out to identify staff interested in complementing skills sets and place themselves in the position to deliver training in Working 4 You team; • Initial contact with trainers to provide relevant qualifications for multiple employability teams, identified employees who wish to undertake, contact with Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) for approval, sectors identified and relevant evidence gathered to present to SQA in the Working 4 You Team. Implementation training plan in place with staff identified who require upskilling to deliver future priority areas; • Support Implementation of Equally Safe at Work (Development Stage) programme working in partnership to
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gather evidence for accreditation for first submission in May 23. People & Technology – Victoria Rogers, Chief Officer • Expansion of Mental health first aider group training; • Further work underway to support employee financial planning. Additional Scottish Government monies received to support employee resilience with webinars planned for workforce; • Equality action plan re-prioritised in line with People First Strategy. Actions relating to data verification and Equally Safe at work have commenced. Plan linked to the People First Strategy year 1 work; Actions to develop the workforce planning console being scoped for development and roll-out. Regulatory & Regeneration, Alan Douglas, Chief Officer • Employee absence rates remain significantly lower than Council average at year-end; • Be-the-best conversations conducted regularly with information linking to improved employee engagement, recognition, personal and professional development. Resources, Laurence Slavin, Chief Officer • Across the service, regular team meetings and ‘Be-the Best conversations, have taken place throughout 2022/23 as has engagement for using the ‘Trickle’ Platform; • Resources Management Team meetings have been extended in terms of invited participants to extend employee engagement more widely; • Regular Workforce planning meetings to progress in 2023/24 to support the delivery of actions; • Staff consultation taken place ahead of major operational and/or process related changes. Roads & Neighbourhood, Gail McFarlane, Chief Officer • The service have developed and implemented a
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. communications strategy covering all levels of employee engagement. Employee meetings are in place and managers at varying levels regularly meet with Trade Union representatives and delegates across the service; • Toolbox talks and face to face meetings are in place for requests and actions to be taken forward; • Be the Best Discussions in place throughout service to ensure we are supporting, encouraging and challenging the service and identifying opportunities for training and upskilling; • Employees encouraged to attend training events run by external organisations such as SCOTS and share knowledge with wider team; • Fit for the future structural review underway identifying single points of failure in addition to the addressing the aging demographic and recruitment difficulties. This will shape actions required including reviewing the ‘growing our own’ strategy with the retention of apprentices in the service where possible. Supply Distribution & Property, Angela Wilson, Chief Officer • Service areas have regular 1-2-1 for teams and training requirements discussed. Statutory training needs are included in the annual training plan completed via the Councils’ iLearn platform or face to face; • Building Services is continuing to focus on employee wellbeing actions included setting challenging targets to reduce high absence levels; • Planning for 2023/24 and future years incorporates priority to progress actions to support the workforce demographics.
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Case Study: Roads & Neighbourhood Services – Waste Services Waste services implemented a communication strategy to cover all levels of engagement to ensure regular employee and management meetings which involve the sharing of information and a joint approach to discussing service issues and improvements that may arise throughout the normal operation of our service. Toolbox talks and face to face meetings are in place and requests for actions taken forward ensuring all information is passed on timeously. One of the areas that the service struggle with and which was recognised as an issue nationally is the shortage of Large Goods Vehicle (LGV) drivers, these are the drivers of our refuse collection vehicles and any shortage has the potential to impact on service delivery. Through our communication strategy and staff representatives it was identified that there was a willingness for some existing collection staff to undertake on training as LGV drivers to support succession planning and their progression within the service. Through discussion and engagement with the teams, the service then undertook to identify individuals to undertake this training, agreeing a set of criteria for the selection process with the staff involved. As a result a list of potential employees who would undertake the training was identified and funding found within the service to enable this. Staff were advised that the training would be paid for and time would be given to attend with agreement in place to clawback any funding should they leave the employment of West Dunbartonshire Council within a certain timescale. Although no additional payment would be made for anyone passing the course their skills can be called upon and they would be paid the appropriate rate while driving at that level and adding to their experience. This was communicated and accepted by all those that signed up. The scheme has proven popular and will be repeated to allow other staff the opportunity. Training commenced on a rota basis in 2022 and to date we now have 3 new drivers qualified with more to undertake training. Our key success factors are: • Ensures that we are able to provide continuity of services, meeting some of our resilience requirements; • Assists with succession planning with the development of a driver talent pool; • The use of the communication strategy implemented allowed us to demonstrate to staff that we listen and act when there is a solid business case for doing so.
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2. Recruitment & Retention Strategy Develop and implement employee life cycle plans in line with the People First Strategy to attract and retain the workforce Service Progress Key Actions Exceptions Citizens, Culture and Facilities – Amanda Graham, Chief Officer • Review of the working patterns of hard to fill vacancies within Facilities Management, including hours offered and flexible working is progressing to identify changes that will improve recruitment and retention. Changes required will be progressed in 2023/24. Education Learning and Attainment – Laura Mason, Chief Officer • Continue to support the engagement and involvement of the Early Years workforce through Early Years Implementation Group; • Continued roll out of opportunities for secondment and work experience in Additional Support Needs (ASN) and specialist settings. System now established to offer opportunities; • Proactive engagement with potential talent pools has taken place to increase profile of West Dunbartonshire as an employer of choice. A review and revision of assessment centres has taken place and leadership pathways have been aligned to ensure that opportunities for promotion are supported within the service Housing & Employability – Peter Barry, Chief Officer • Succession planning by expanding opportunities for job shadowing as part of staff development and future staff retention planning in Housing; • All advisors in Working for You are registered with Money Advice and regularly attend training on updates with MATRICS with a blended learning to update learning approaches and allow advisers to progress their training
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and development; • All staff are Debt Arrangement Scheme accredited. Any new staff would be qualified and offered relevant Continued Professional Development for their role in the Working 4 You Team; • Improving cancer journey ilearn module developed and launched. Employees encouraged to access McMillian learning zone; • Community Learning and Development (CLD) competences accreditation and promote registration with CLD Standards Council in Working 4 You Team; • Reinstated the joint Professional Learning and Development halted during COVID-19 pandemic, including Science, Technical, Engineering Mathematics (STEM) Personal Learning and Development; • CLD participating in the Winter Learning Festival as part of the West Alliance including offering STEM learning in relation to climate change with Staff, part time tutors and partners are encouraged to attend. People & Technology – Victoria Rogers, Chief Officer • Year 1 of employee life cycle plans in line with the People First Strategy to attract and retain the workforce plan has been started, priorities and lead officers agreed; • Progress has been made in relation to scoping of development needs and opportunities to bridge any gaps within the Human Resources Team building on a one team approach; • ICT are liaising with Working 4U to review apprenticeship opportunities with a view to attracting new employees; • ICT are working collaboratively with People & Change team to review and improve employee on-boarding by April 23.
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Regulatory & Regeneration, Alan Douglas, Chief Officer • Senior Democratic services Officer fully integrated into the Democratic Services Team successfully; • Officers previous in acting up positions successful in achieving promotion within the service ensuring resilience; • Continued full participation and leadership of Project Boards ensure that our employees’ skills are shared and benefit from the skills and experience of others. Resources, Laurence Slavin, Chief Officer • Across the service, the establishment has been considered as part of activity to deliver an effective service and identify efficiencies in order to deliver a balanced 2023/24 revenue budget. A review of the Finance structure has been put on hold due to a new Finance Manager being appointed and commenced in March 2023. The review has been rescheduled for 2023/24 to allow time to review current arrangements. Roads & Neighbourhood, Gail McFarlane, Chief Officer • Training and development offered where appropriate within the service, for example Driver HGV training in waste will increase resilience and opportunities not only in waste but potentially for winter gritting in future; • Health & Safety (H&S) training and development in Grounds has been shared across other service areas and simplified our response and approach to H&S; • Engagement with external services to ensure mechanics are trained in emerging technology. Reviewing services (led by Fit for Future ) and ensuring that the service is aligned to meet future service requirements (Route optimisation).
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Supply Distribution & Property, Angela Wilson, Chief Officer • Review of workforce is undertaken in consideration of current workload demands and gaps. Phase 1 of the review of building services is completed and phase 2 will be implemented within the next quarter. Role profiles are being reviewed and will be job evaluated. Case Study: People & Technology – Health and Safety It was recognised that the Health and Safety team had an average age demographic of 59 years with retirement of some employees being possible over the next 5-10 years. Previous recruitment exercises had also proven difficult with little response and suitable candidates with experience to fill the council’s requirement for a Health and Safety Officer (Grade 8). The demand for such roles during and following the Covid 19 Pandemic has increased which is also thought to have added to recruitment difficulties. The team had previously delivered the service by having expertise in lead areas but due to reductions and recruitment difficulties within the team, the team were having to move to covering all aspects of health and safety with a more generic approach to ensure service delivery. In order to secure future requirements around recruitment and retention in the service it was necessary to consider the development of a talent pool and succession planning for progression within the team. In order to ensure a future talent pool could be established a two year graduate training programme was created, initially recruiting two recent graduates at Grade 5. During the two year programme the graduates were exposed and trained in all aspects of health and safety including areas such as fire safety, noise and construction. The graduates were mentored by the experienced members of the team, by shadowing and being supported to undertake key aspects of role such as audits and accident investigation. Following this 2 year graduate programme some members of the team decided to retire as predicted and due to the development of this programme and creation of this talent pool the graduates were equipped with the experience and knowledge for successful appointment to fill the Grade 8 roles. This has been so successful we have moved into a further graduate training programme and currently have a new graduate being developed. Our success factors are: • Creation of future talent pool from which to recruit from; • Development of opportunities for graduates; • Succession planning of key skills and requirements; • Positive impact on age demographic of the team mitigating the risk of loss of experience and skills within future years.
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3. Structure & Roles Strategy Implement service review process including role design, use of new technology and new ways of working to add resilience, address gaps, and establish opportunities for efficiencies Service Progress Notes Exceptions Citizens, Culture and Facilities – Amanda Graham, Chief Officer • Action successfully completed. Review of Management structure in Facilities Management complete and implementation complete. Across the service reviews of processes are regularly carried out to identify efficiencies. Education Learning and Attainment – Laura Mason, Chief Officer • Continue Implementation of a range of leadership models to support the development and opportunities available to employees in Early Learning Centres. Support service redesign reflecting management adjustments and changes, further work to complete outreach team transferring and clerical review Housing & Employability – Peter Barry, Chief Officer • Communities’ team are adopting the Scottish Approach to Service design in key areas of their work. This will simplify work streams, allow for collaboration with partners and establish opportunities for efficiencies; • Advice Pro Management Information system continues to be developed in line with Community Learning and Development/HMIE audit requirements. This approach will continue during and post restructure with Working 4 You Youth Learning and the additional team requirement to support the Community Planning function for West Dunbartonshire; • New mobile app working group established and 4 Housing Officers undertaking pilot on 28 day estate work for
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testing to feedback any improvements/issues prior to wider roll; • Housing stock availability/turnover tool is in test environment, positive feedback obtained and in process of releasing tool to staff in order to support housing options discussions with tenants and applicants upon contact for assistance. Work underway to adapt tool to sit alongside online application form, which will support information for applicants at point of completing online housing application; • Development of online housing application form underway which will allow ability to upload verification documents at point of application linking to Integrated Housing Management System data; • Walk process reviews started for Arrears and Anti Social Behaviour (ASB) service for recommendations and improvements identified to be carried forward into new financial year; • Working groups to implement Fit for Future recommendations. Void dashboard now in place for Housing Operations and Building Services staff to use to monitor and progress voids. Caretaking/waste working group continues to review operational processes and address issues; • Establish funding requirements to maintain continuity of funded services - Detailed exercise carried out to establish service delivery needs and staffing requirements. Negotiated with Scottish and UK government and know scale of funding available and await grant award letters for Working 4 You;
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People & Technology – Victoria Rogers, Chief Officer • Fit for Future continues to support services and technology will be employed to support year 1 People First plans; • Microsoft 365 currently being deployed to service areas and will continue over the coming months with Centre of excellence will be setup to ensure maximise use and benefits of the 365 solution; • SOM project commenced to align HR and Finance digitally in one system will identify gaps and establish opportunities for improvement; • Fresh service system review undertaken and improvement put in place to improve the system. Plan to publish the system externally to allow easier reporting of incidents/requests; • Device Updates – review of technology to improve update process with remote feature implemented to allow employees to update devices from home; • Church Street ICT Performance – review of issues undertaken and various technology changes implemented. Plans underway to replace existing wireless hardware with new technology to ensure performance is fit for purpose; • ICT Structure changes – Supervisor layer extended to address gaps and provide development opportunities for existing employees; • Review of structure, roles and development opportunities to support recruitment and retention in ICT. Due to continuing sector recruitment challenges especially in public sector, ICT engaged with West Scotland College to discuss a new approach to recruitment, and to enable opportunity for computing graduates with little or no experience to apply for Grade 3 positions within WDC ICT service. The aim of this approach is to develop and equip
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graduates with the skills and experience required to deliver the role and also be ready to progress to 1st line analyst posts after a 2-year period. This exercise is being completed alongside a redesign of ICT structure and a review of resources to identify what skills and support model the ICT service requires moving forward, this is to ensure we can deliver new technology, support hybrid working and meet service demand and expectation; • P&T cross team working planned to increase collaboration across the service. Regulatory & Regeneration, Alan Douglas, Chief Officer • Planning & Building Standards Fit for Future review, actions in the Improvement Plan due in 2022/23 completed, including those to improve customer service and streamline electronic processes; • Involvement in Local and National development of Digital and Spatial Planning. Resources, Laurence Slavin, Chief Officer On Hold • Considered in all areas of Resources on an ongoing basis. A review of the Finance structure is currently on hold following the appointment of a new Finance Manager. Review rescheduled for 2023/24. Roads & Neighbourhood, Gail McFarlane, Chief Officer • Fit for Future review has identified opportunities and will lead to service improvements; • Data management and gathering has improved allowing more informed choices and the ability to identify areas of concern or those requiring support; • Service redesign facilitated by investment in Capital such as the Salt Dome will ensure resilience and improves our overall flexibility and responsiveness; • A structure review is underway to identify skills gaps,
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opportunities for upskilling, single point dependencies and training needs. This will be continued into 23/24 Supply Distribution & Property, Angela Wilson, Chief Officer • Housing Assets and Investment and Building Services - Continue to review service delivery and utilise flexible, remote/mobile work styles for service resilience, utilising IT equipment solutions. New technologies including the Integrated Housing Management System continue to be developed resulting in-service improvements. • A condensed working hours pilot will be carried out to improve efficiency, resilience and staff satisfaction levels. Case Study: People & Technology - ICT Due to an ageing workforce and IT sector recruitment challenges the ICT service has been analysing our workforce and planning the steps required to ensure we could meet current and future employee needs. This meant determining the most efficient and effective methods to recruit and retain new IT talent. This required us to develop and implement an action plan to ensure we were succession planning for the future and extending our talent pool to ensure we have the right people, with the right skills, in the right areas. Our initial analysis found that there was a gap in terms of skillset between the roles of Modern Apprentice and 1st line Support Analyst areas. This gap meant at the end of a 2 year modern apprenticeship we were losing our young apprentices (that we had trained and invested in) to other organisations. Therefore to solve this issue, bridge the gap and retain our young talent we introduced lower Grade 3 posts of Service Desk Assistant and ICT Support Administrator. These posts enabled our apprentices (following a recruitment exercise) to expand their knowledge and skills and equip them with the skillset and experience to prepare them for the next phase of their West Dunbartonshire Coucil IT journey. We have seen some excellent progress in this area with one modern apprentice progressing into a Grade 3 post and recently being successful in gaining a Grade 5 Analyst role following the 3 year development period. Although this solved the issue in terms of skillset gaps and progression opportunities, it did not solve the issue of recruitment challenges, which had worsened since the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, the second step was to review our approach to recruitment as we knew there was real talent in the market that were faced with lack of opportunities following completion of their IT college course. Our aim was to provide candidates who had an IT qualification but no experience, or some experience but no IT qualification an opportunity to work for us. We therefore entered into discussions with West College Scotland and formed a partnership to offer graduates a route into the IT sector and work for West Dunbartonshire’s largest employer. By reviewing vacant posts that we had been struggling to fill, and available staffing budget and decided to reduce
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the volume of available Grade 5 roles available to allow us to recruit at Grade 3 roles for graduates with those with no experience. This has been a successful with the recruitment of a graduate from West College Scotland who completed a Cyber Security course and has now been given a fantastic opportunity in the ICT security team. Initial discussions with the Working 4U team have taken place to discuss apprenticeships on offer to make them more current and attractive to young people and use upskilling funds to add a 3 year HNC option to the existing 2 year Modern Apprentice, receiving a base IT qualification of HNC minimum and hands on workplace experience. Attended Career Fayres across West Dunbartonshire education to show case the opportunities in our ICT and to get young people thinking about a career with the Council in IT has also taken place. Our success factors are: ▪ Opportunities to graduates with no IT experience; ▪ A full progression route in ICT from Modern Apprentice to Grade 12 Service Manager; ▪ Continuous monitoring, evaluating and revising our approach around succession planning will ensure we continue to attract and retain IT talent in West Dunbartonshire Council and develop a fit for future workforce. 4. Skills & Capabilities Strategy Develop and implement training plans and development opportunities to improve capabilities and resilience within the workforce. Service Progress Notes Exceptions Citizens, Culture and Facilities – Amanda Graham, Chief Officer • Digital Lead identified and 3 Digital champs also identified and taking part in support sessions. Additionally 3 Trickle Champions represent the service. Education Learning and Attainment – Laura Mason, Chief Officer • Continued implementation of leadership and management development framework in Early Years. The opportunity through the collaborative working is impacting the quality at our Early Learning Centres outcomes for children and improved skills of practitioners. Housing & Employability – Peter Barry, Chief Officer • Training matrix for Assistant Housing Officers (AHO’s)
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and Housing Officers completed and job shadowing underway in ward teams for AHOs for up-skilling; • Quarterly in house training for (ASB) Anti-Social Behaviour and Neighbourhood Teams covering all aspects of operational delivery and legislation; • External Maybel Training for ASB Teams completed as refresher for existing staff and essential training for new staff; • Ongoing online training for Caretaking teams progressing on identified essential courses for role; • Universal Credit/Rents training and MAPPA training provided for Housing Officers/Assistant Housing Officers; • Review participation in mandatory and elective learning, with emphasis on annual review of Equality, Diversity and Human Rights, Child and Adult Protection, Equality Impact Assessment, Data protection and Information Security; • Communities’ team will be involved in a review of the Community Learning and Development (CLD) competencies with Working 4 You colleagues. Registration of CLD standards council will be promoted. Working practice continues to be developed to ensure compliance with CLD/HMIE audit requirements. People & Technology – Victoria Rogers, Chief Officer • Corporate budget being focussed on supporting digital skills and M365 skills particularly on the supporting of the technical/security element; • Scoping of development opportunities to bridge any skills gaps with HR Team; • ICT teams across service also attending training in technical areas such as Telephony technology and Cyber
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Security to ensure skills gaps are filled, resilience built in and development opportunities provided. Continuous review of training is in place to ensure we are equipping employees with right skills to implement and support new technology; • Technical training for 365 has been undertaken and will continue in the coming months. ESI training platform from Microsoft promoted and employees registering for free accredited technical courses; • Microsoft partnership training carried out for Digital Team; • Internal ICT development opportunities created to improve resilience and ensure skillsets such as line and project management are developed. Regulatory & Regeneration, Alan Douglas, Chief Officer • The service demonstrates well developed leadership skills linked to succession planning and service delivery needs; collaborative and improved working practices; and participation in the 4D Quantum Programme. Resources, Laurence Slavin, Chief Officer • This is on-going in all areas of Resources with opportunities to reconsider the allocation of responsibilities across the Finance Team; • Focus on providing development opportunities, training and building resilience as we look further ahead at the workforce demographics acknowledging the possibility of multiple retirements in the next 3 to 5 years; • Workforce demographics will be further reviewed in 2023/24 now that the new Finance Manager is in post as part of the workforce planning process to support the delivery of this action. Roads & Neighbourhood, Gail McFarlane, Chief Officer • Training needs and future service requirements are identified through the ongoing dialogue and
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engagement with staff along with the services strategic objectives. There is limited scope in this area given the relative repetitive and manual nature of the works; • Training has been provided to increase resilience across the workforce, but opportunities exist to make this more fluid External and internal opportunities to upskill are encouraged such as attendance at Continued Professional Development events; • Mentoring and upskilling being implemented where appropriate. Supply Distribution & Property, Angela Wilson, Chief Officer • Housing Assets and investment and Building Standards undertaking statutory training as planned with discussions on training needs considered where appropriate; • Scheduled or cyclical training is carried out via iLearn portal or face to face; • Consultations are ongoing with Trade Unions and the workforce with a view of the introduction of general skilling and multi-skilling. Case Study: Housing and Employability – Housing Services Following the impact of Covid 19 Pandemic the Service aimed to work towards service recovery at pre-pandemic performance levels and also wished to address feedback from staff in relation to areas of improvement that could be made in terms of communication, staff involvement in service development and training to allow the continued development of staff. In order to address the on-going development of the team development sessions were introduced also as part of our commitment to engage with staff. These took place during summer 2022 along with involving them in service development areas. Initial development sessions were around engaging with staff on how we would move back to a generic housing service following our temporary service delivery model of specialist functions in response to Covid for better understanding and knowledge of how the service would work. The success of these has led to further Development session being arranged for May 2023 jointly with Housing Operations and Building Services to review how
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we can improve our service for tenants jointly, supporting cross functional working and developing the knowledge base. Further development sessions will be undertaken later in the year. In addition, a staff survey was undertaken for Housing Officers and Assistant Housing Officers in the autumn of 2022 which asked about key areas of learning and development needed. This included asking what was working and what improvements that could be made in terms of communication methods, service model and engagement with service development. From the outputs of this a Training matrix were designed for the roles and has been shared with staff and linked to Be The Best conversations to review individuals learning and development requirements against the skills matrix. These conversations are ongoing and also enhanced to incorporate focus on well-being and support. Job shadowing is part of the training matrix areas, tailored to meet individual needs. Our success factors are: • The establishment of development sessions for improved working practices and knowledge sharing which will become cross departmental; • Teams who are more engaged with service development, change and their own learning and development; • The establishment of a clear training matrix which allows for progression from Assistant Housing Officer to Housing Officer with the team being involved in their own and others development in terms of shadowing opportunities also support succession planning within the service.