Agenda item

Stuart Honeyball – HR Systems & Insight Manager, Wiltshire Council outlined the Quarterly Workforce Report April - June 2020 (contained in the agenda pack).

Points made included:

·         That the last three months covered by the report had seen exceptional circumstances due to the COVID-19 pandemic. There had been significant changes to the way that staff now work with staff working from home, being redeployed or furloughed. Through the many challenges there had been a willingness from staff, both frontline and back office, to be flexible and able to adapt to new ways of working which had resulted in the council being able to continue providing services and guidance to the community over this period.

·         In line with government guidance Wiltshire Council had been required to cease a number of services. To support these areas the council had used the Corona Virus Job Retention scheme (CJRS) to claim back up to 80% of salary costs (including employers National Insurance and pension contributions) for staff who were furloughed, i.e. unable to undertake their normal work duties or could not be redeployed. Use of the scheme had allowed the council to claim back approximately £1m for the period March to June 2020; the council’s claim to HMRC made in June under the CJRS included 631 individuals split across a number of services. Given the financial impact of COVID on the council, the money reclaimed through CJRS was a significant factor in supporting the budgets of the affected service areas. 

·         As part of the furloughing process under CJRS the council had been monitoring remaining staff capacity levels within services through daily ‘sit reps’, to identify and understand all of the different circumstances which may be affecting its ability to provide those services still permitted or able to operate. Areas of concern were highlighted to the HR business partners and the services to investigate if this was a significant risk to service delivery and how they could be supported.

·         The Council had been fortunate that it had only 37 people recorded by managers in SAP as having taken sickness absence due to suspected/confirmed cases of COVID-19, which amounted to 252.5 FTE days. This equated to just 4.2% of all sickness taken in this quarter. The low number of cases confirmed in the council workforce had meant that capacity to deliver services was not significantly affected as a direct result of COVID related absences.

·         Staffing capacity monitoring confirmed this, identifying that in mid April (during the height of lockdown) the council was running at around 86% workforce capacity (FTE), once those services that were closed and in which the majority of staff were furloughed were discounted. Further analysis as of the week ending 30th June, showed very little change, with the council’s non-furloughed workforce still working at around 86% capacity.

·         Around 135 staff had been redeployed between services to help deliver additional capacity within those services responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. This includes staffing critical services to help those most vulnerable in the community, including the wellbeing hub, the food distribution hub and supporting the community to claim the necessary government grants for residents and local businesses. HR had successfully supported the mobilisation of services with very little disruption or delay, utilising staff in services where demand had reduced or roles that were significantly limited by working from home to provide additional capacity in areas experiencing increased demand.

·         During this time, the wellbeing of our workforce was paramount. A wellbeing survey was distributed to our staff in May, with over 2,700 responses received (a 61% response rate); a very positive and representative response. During this unprecedented time it was important to note that the council witnessed increased employee engagement scores. The overriding response from staff were that there were not any significant challenges to working from home, some even cited the time gained from a lack of commute and the ability to spend more time with their family as positive to their wellbeing, and felt that, on the whole, the technology that had been implemented had worked.

·         However, not all responses were wholly positive; some of the challenges to working at home that staff cited were; social isolation, distractions in the home and a lack of physical workspace. 30% of all staff that were working from home did not have a dedicated workspace. Occupational Health had been providing IT equipment such as monitors, docking stations, and peripherals to try and create a more recognisable workstation at home. To help with wellbeing, staff Q&A sessions were being held on-line to answer any questions/concerns from the staff, supported by webinars with the Chief Executive. A follow up well being survey was due to take place in September, this would enable the council to gauge how the staff were now coping and whether this had changed. The next staff engagement survey is planned to take place in December.

·         The recent staff wellbeing survey responses indicated that 77.7% of council staff were working from home and socially isolating; it was therefore likely that this had a significant contribution to the reduction in short/medium term absences through reduced opportunities for the transmission of other viruses such as coughs/colds, and less manual labour meaning a reduction in muscular/skeletal related absences. Previous analysis had also shown that staff working from home were less likely to take sickness absence for minor illness (presenteeism).

·         Current advice to staff was to continue to work at home wherever possible and only to attend hubs and council premises where this was essential to work or wellbeing; HR and Facilities Management were working together to regularly monitor how council hubs were being accessed and used to ensure staff wellbeing was maintained and risks were minimised. This analysis would also contribute to work around the effective utilisation of buildings including highlighting any commercial or consolidation opportunities.

The Chairman thanked Stuart Honeyball for a very informative report.

Resolved

·         That the Committee noted the report

Michael Taylor – Workforce Insight Analyst, HR, Wiltshire Council outlined the June 2020 Wiltshire Council Employee Wellbeing Survey (contained in the agenda pack).

Points made included:

·         That the survey was carried out in response to the global pandemic which required Wiltshire Council to make quick decisions about ways that it worked, including changing work locations, supplying equipment and following government advice to protect and support our workforce. It understood that this may have had an impact on wellbeing, so it was important for the organisation to understand what it could do to support staff. The results of the survey would be a key source for measuring how it could support wellbeing and what areas it should focus on, as well as informing the decisions which would define what the ‘new normal’ would look like.

·         The total number of responses across the council was 2,726, representing around 60% of the workforce. This scale of response was similar to that of the 2018 employee engagement survey, validating the results and providing a significant indication of staff wellbeing during these challenging times.

·         The council’s response to these challenges had seen a significant and rapid shift in its usual ways of working. For the majority of staff this shift had resulted in a change of workplace, with the survey results showing that 77.7% of respondents were now working from home. The experience of employees in adapting to this major change to working arrangements had varied, with around a third of staff corporately indicating they had ‘no significant challenges’ to working from home; however, this process had not been without challenge for other staff, with social isolation, distractions in the home and lack of equipment being the major areas of concern.

·         It was anticipated that significant levels of home working were likely to stay in place for some time for many employees. It was therefore important that the council developed an awareness of how this may affect the ongoing wellbeing of staff. Several factors may influence this, including the effects of the pandemic on mental and physical health, feeling part of the organisation and the degree to which employees felt they could remain effective in their roles under the current circumstances.

The Chairman thanked Michael Taylor for his presentation.

Resolved

·         That the Committee noted the survey report