Archived decisions

Hampshire Fire and Rescue Authority

Human Resources Committee Item 10

30th April 2009

Workforce Strategy 2009 - 2012

Report of the Chief Officer

Contact: Geoff Howsego; Human Resources (HR) Director, (02380 644000) [email protected]

1

Summary

1.1

The current Workforce Strategy was designed to run from April 2006 to April 2009. As we approach the end of that period and the life of this existing strategy, it is important that we give thought and consideration to how we continue to lead, manage and develop the people in the service and how what we do will help the organisation achieve its ambition of being the best Fire and Rescue Service in the country. The attached new draft Workforce Strategy aims to continue the good progress made so far and enable the organisation to take the next steps it needs to achieve improved results in the delivery of the services we provide to our communities.

2

Recommendations

2.1

That the HR Committee note that at the meeting on 11 February 2009 the Hampshire Fire and Rescue Authority (HFRA) approved the attached Workforce Strategy for the period 2009 - 2012 in principle, pending any comments and amendments made by the HR Committee.

2.2

That members support the Workforce Strategy by championing the principles and practices it contains and assist with it's positive promotion during the course of their activities within the Authority.

2.3

That the strategy be reviewed after 12 months and that the HR Committee receive a report of the findings.

3

Background

3.1

The strategic management of people is seen as the central issue to the success of the Service. In compiling the attached strategy we have drawn on a number of sources. Whilst we have drawn heavily on the knowledge, skills and experience of professional HR practitioners, our trade unions and our general and specialist management cadre, we have also reviewed some specific references. In particular the Audit Commissions `Tomorrows People'1 and the `Use of Resources - Consultation Draft' recently issued to the Authority2. The language used in the strategy reflects that being increasingly used in Audit Commission Reports. It is also likely to be adopted within the Comprehensive Area Assessment (CAA) process.

3.2

Research 3 has shown that the best public sector bodies in the country demonstrate shared ownership of workforce issues and that they manage this issue at a strategic level. Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service (HFRS) already takes this longer term view to managing the people in the Service and uses data, information and knowledge to support the delivery of its objectives. In particular, the people management aspects of organisational developments supporting service delivery improvements are consistently considered at a strategic level with both the HR Committee and the Senior Management Team (SMT) taking roles in scrutiny and leadership.

3.3

The new draft strategy lays out the key workforce related deliverables that will support the Services long term objectives and ambitions. It will further seek to address the new `Key Line of Enquiry' (KLOE) that will feature in the future performance assessment framework that will be introduced by the Audit Commission. Indeed the Commission has already indicated its intention to focus next year on "workforce planning" within the Organisational Assessment component of CAA We will therefore seek to demonstrate that through this strategy we `plan, organise and develop our workforce effectively to support the achievement of our strategic priorities'.3

4

Financial Resources

4.1

The strategy itself does not attract any specific financial resources as its management, monitoring and evaluation will be effected through existing managerial and organisational systems and processes and we will use existing levels of staff. However, there may well be financial implications associated with some of the sub-strands that will support the delivery of this strategy. These will be individually assessed and managed using existing financial management systems.

5

People Impact Assessment (PIA)

5.1

A people impact assessment has been completed. However, this is a particularly wide ranging strategy with significant impacts across all strands of the equality and diversity agenda. This will therefore remain an ongoing process, particularly as the Workforce Strategy implementation plans are developed and new ways of delivering our desired outcomes are explored.

6

Evaluation

6.1

In order to evaluate the success of the attached strategy we will provide clarity as to what the desired outcomes are. In summary these are as follows:

    · To work toward being the highest performing FRS in the country.

    · To consistently improve the delivery of services to all the communities we serve.

    · To become an employer of choice.

Our performance measures will be aligned to the KLOE for the performance assessment framework that will be introduced by the Audit Commission3. To support this we will utilise the Performance Improvement Network (PIN) model for evaluation. In particular we will utilise the `Key Questions' (detailed in `Tomorrow's People'2) and the framework used by the Audit Commission for assessing an organisations preparedness in dealing with workforce issues (Figure 12, Page 40, `Tomorrow's People'2).

The evaluation will seeking to demonstrate that the strategy supports the Services ability to plan, organise and develop the workforce effectively to support the achievement of our strategic priorities. Our assessment will align to the key criteria for effective workforce planning3. These are as follows:

    · A shared sense of the strategic importance of workforce issues across the organisation.

    · Workforce strategies linked to wider corporate and strategic objectives.

    · A focus on the major issues and the capacity to convert workforce challenges into action.

    · A long-term planning approach rather than firefighting and `short-termism'.

    · Effective use of data to plan for workforce needs.

    · A coordinated approach across partners, other organisations and different tiers of government.

7

Consultation

7.1

There has been extensive consultation to date with the following groups being invited to discuss, contribute to and review the new strategy:

Workforce Strategy Steering Group.

    Workforce Strategy Steering Group Sub Group (which was a cross organisational group that was set up specifically to work on the production of this Strategy).

    Direct discussion and consultation with RB's at the early stages of its construction and the formally through the Joint Trade Union (JTU) meeting.

    Early consultation with all staff with opportunities to provide feedback through an ideas board and via a dedicated email response account.

    The HR Policy Group, Local Diversity Group (LDG) and HR & Training Managers Groups.

    It was passed to the External Advisory Group for feedback.

A subsequent period of 6 weeks formal consultation will take place in accordance with our procedure for policy adoption before being formally accepted within the Service.

Background Information (Section 100D of Local Government Act 1972)

The following documents disclose the facts or matters on which this report, or an important part of it, is based and has been relied upon to a material extent in the preparation of the report:

1. Tomorrow's People. Building a local government workforce for the future. Local government National report, June 2009, Audit Commission.

2. Use of Resources - Consultation Draft. Hampshire Fire and Rescue, Audit 2007/08, November 2008.

3. Audit Commission, Use of Resources 2008/09, May 2008.

Note: The list excludes: (1) published works; and (2) documents that disclose exempt or confidential information defined in the Act.