Hampshire Fire and Rescue Authority

Human Resources Committee Item 7

30^th April 2009

Developing our People - Improving our Service

Report of the Chief Officer

Contact: Mark Rayner Tel : 02380 626845 Email : [email protected]

1

Summary

1.1

This paper provides an update to the HR Committee on the work to improve the existing succession planning arrangements in the service and considers the introduction of `talent management' in the future. This will ensure the service is developing suitable staff for the future, as well as developing and using the talent within the service to the benefit of both staff and our communities.

2

Recommendation(s)

2.1

HR Committee endorse the improvements to the succession planning arrangements

2.2

HR Committee endorse the proposals for developing and implementing initiatives for managing talent, developing a skills pool and improving resilience for posts that are business critical.

3

Introduction and Background

3.1

The ongoing success of the service in reducing risk in our communities requires development of a constant stream of people, with the right skills, abilities and motivation, to fill future positions. Whilst there is a large pool of existing staff, we also wish to attract high calibre people to the organisation as part of our efforts to build a workforce that better reflects the communities we serve.

3.2

To achieve this we will develop robust and integrated succession planning/talent management processes to enable the organisation to identify groups and individuals with the abilities to develop into the leaders of tomorrow. Linked to effective leadership and management development, this will prepare our staff and the organisation for the future demands the service will face.

3.3

The service has established procedures for the recruitment, assessment and appointment of staff that have been developed over a number of years. These have been modified to include the national initiatives such as the Personal Qualities and Attributes (PQAs) and the National Assessment and Development Centres (ADC's) for Grey Book Staff.

3.4

The introduction of the Personal Development Review System (PDRS) has provided greater development opportunities for all staff groups, and many development activities are now open to both Grey and Green Book staff in the service. The service now supports a wide range of academic, vocational and professional qualifications across all staff groups which is developing the capacity of the service to succeed in the future. These, and many other activities contributed to our achievement of Investors in People. The changes laid out within this report will support our future reaccreditation and achievement of the next level of the Investors in People Award.

3.5

Whilst the areas highlighted above have had a positive effect on staff and the service, further work is required to modernise and improve our processes and develop them to ensure they are fit for purpose in the future, and integrate them more effectively. The following four priority areas have been identified as critical in terms of improving our opportunities to develop our staff and the organisation These areas are:

· Succession Planning

· Managing Talent

· Development of a `skills pool'

· Posts that are `Critical Business Needs'

This paper explains proposals to update current arrangements and to develop new practises and procedures to achieve these 4 areas.

4

Contribution to Corporate Aims and Objectives

4.1

Investing in the future development of our workforce will ensure we are able to deliver our current corporate aims and will provide the foundation for meeting future demands on the service as we develop new initiatives and are faced with new challenges. Improving the use of our people's skills and abilities; and improving the resilience of business critical positions will contribute to delivery of our services now and in the future.

5

Succession Planning

5.1

To maintain the quality of our service it is essential to have robust plans in place to ensure that vacant positions can be filled with suitable people at the right time. Existing arrangements within the service for managing the progression of Grey Book staff are well established and follow national guidance. Whilst the national processes have been effective to a point, some of them are cumbersome and there are concerns as to their suitability to better meet the needs of HFRS.

5.2

The majority of job moves within the service are Grey Book (operational) members of staff and the progression model at Appendix A shows how the current process will be updated to meet the of the service. A supporting matrix (Appendix B) identifies where all or part of the model may apply to different staff groups applying to join the Grey Book part of the service, depending on the requirements of the service and the nature of the position/s it applies to.

5.3

The main developments to the progression model are:

· Removal of the Initial Test of Potential (ITOP) from the process

· Line manager input in initial assessment for progression

· Introduction of an operational knowledge assessment

· Introduction of psychometric tools to identify future talent as Middle Manager

and Strategic Manager Assessment and Development Centres (ADC)

· Introduction of a new selection process

· Improved feedback throughout the process

· Improved access to development opportunities

· Revision of Supervisory and Middle Manager Appointment, Transfer and

Promotion (ATP) Decision Criteria to support talent management

5.4

The model at Appendix B applies for managerial progression and some elements can be applied to Green Book positions depending on the level of the role, the number of potential applicants and the needs of the service.

5.5

An Operational/FDS progression process has been developed to enable the service to separate managerial and operational roles at officer level. Appendix C identifies the experience/assessment needs of individuals as they move between operational roles. This will enable the service to identify development needs for individuals and to ensure the service has the correct level and numbers of officers to meet the operational requirements, whilst minimising salary cost.

6

Managing Talent

6.1

To prepare individuals and pools of people for the future requires active management of talent. This ensures that people are identified at the right time and the opportunities to develop are maximised through appointments and work-based development opportunities. This requires the service to develop and introduce systems that will identify the talent and to create policies that will enable people to be moved through certain posts/activities to maximise their development.

6.2

This proactive approach will present challenges to the service. Whilst it is reasonable for people to argue that everyone has equal access to opportunity, to maximise the impact of development roles and opportunities, the service will have to make decisions that favour some people based on their future potential.

In the future we will:

· Use psychometric tools at Middle Manager and Strategic Manager ADC to identify

potential future talent.

· Identify individual/pools of talent for appointment

· Increased management of appointment, transfer and promotion process

· Introduce a Career and Personal Development Profile (Appendix D)

· Develop visible career paths for all staff groups

7

Skills Pool

7.1

In an organisation of 1900 people, we have individuals and groups with skills and knowledge that we do not tap into. This reduces our effectiveness and also ignores opportunity for individuals to bring their expertise and experience to the service.

7.2

As we develop further into partnership working, with different skills and abilities required to be successful, we must identify this untapped pool and seek to engage with people more readily.

In the future we will:

· Gather information on skills/knowledge

· Use the information we gather as knowledge bank

· Use peoples skills and knowledge in future projects/work

8

Critical Business Need

8.1

Within the service there are a number of posts that may be considered high risk in terms of service continuity. The posts that present the highest risk are not necessarily those that are the highest profile and Service Management Team (SMT) will be required to contribute to the identification of these posts.

8.2

To support our future requirements we will:

· Identify `risk critical' posts and agree these at SMT

· Develop contingency arrangements for the identified posts

· Develop skills/knowledge for resilience

Appropriate planning of our establishment will enable the service to maintain it's resilience and be better prepared for the future. Whilst in some cases development of an individual for a future role is appropriate, this does not deliver as much resilience as having a pool of people who are able to step up, or have in place alternative arrangements to cover high risk posts.

9

Personal Development Review System (PPDRS)

9.1

PDRS is now well established within the service and it will remain central to our work around developing people. A number of additional sections will be added to the PDRS to support the succession planning and talent management proposals and we will continue to review and improve the PDRS in the future.

10

Risk Analysis

10.1

Maintaining and developing the workforce to deliver our services is essential to reduce risk to them within their roles and to the organisation. This strategy will ensure we continue to invest in our people to meet the future challenges the service provides and to make lives safer.

11

Resource Implications

11.1

Human Resources

All aspects of this work will be managed within existing resources

11.2

Physical Resources

No additional physical resource implications

11.3

Information and Communications Technology Resources

There will be a need to develop some additional functionality within the HR IT system to support the proposals in this paper. Where possible this will be included within the current project to develop our HR IT system.

11.4

Financial Implications

The proposals within this paper do not present any additional financial implications beyond existing budgets.

12

People Impact Assessment

12.1

A People Impact Assessment has been carried out and is at Appendix F

12.2

The proposals within this report are considered compatible with the provisions of the European Convention on Human Rights, the Human Rights Act 1998 and the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000.

13

Consultation

13.1

The proposals in this paper have been presented to the representative bodies and formal consultation will commence in February 2009.

14

Conclusion

14.1

Ensuring we have the right people, with the right skills in the right post is critical to the service continuing to deliver a high quality of service to our communities. The proposals within this paper will improve existing arrangements and introduce new practices that will ensure we continue to develop our workforce to meet the future demands of 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:

None

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

Management Progression Matrix

Qualifying Criteria

Development Centre

Selection Process

Appointment Process

Appendix B

Development Programme

Supervisory

Manager

Competent in role

Self Assessment (PQAs)

Line Manager Assessment against top 5 PQAs

Situational Judgement Test

Role Plays

Psychometric tools for `talent' spotting

Green/Amber/Red

Structured Feedback

Structured interview against PQAs and requirements of next role

SM ATP

Grey Book

CM Development Programme

Supervisory Managers Programme

Agreed development with Line Manager through PDRS

Green Book

Supervisory Managers Programme Agreed development with Line Manager through PDRS

CM to WM

Competent in role

Self Assessment (PQAs)

Line Manager Assessment against top 5 PQAs

Structured interview against PQAs and requirements of next role

SM ATP

WM Development Programme

Agreed development with Line Manager through PDRS

Middle Manager

Competent in role

Self Assessment (PQAs)

Line Manager Assessment against top 5 PQAs

Situational Judgement Test

Role Plays

Psychometric tools for `talent' spotting

Green/Amber/Red

Structured Feedback

Structured interview against PQAs and requirements of next role

MM ATP

Grey Book

SM Development Programme

Middle Managers Programme

Agreed development with Line Manager through PDRS

SM to GM

Competent in role

Self Assessment (PQAs)

Line Manager Assessment against top 5 PQAs

Structured interview against PQAs and requirements of next role

MM ATP

GM Development Programme

Agreed development with Line Manager through PDRS

Strategic Manager

Competent in role

Self Assessment (PQAs)

Line Manager Assessment against top 5 PQAs

Situational Judgement Test

Role Plays

In Basket Exercises

Green/Amber/Red

Structured Feedback

Final selection process to meet role. May include operational assessment, interview etc.

Directors

Grey Book

AM Development Programme

Agreed development with Line Manager through PDRS

Brigade Manager

Assessment against PQAs

Psychometric tools Structured Feedback

Final selection process to meet role. May include operational assessment, interview etc.

HFRA/Directors

Agreed development with Line Manager through PDRS

Green Book

Application form against essential/desirable criteria

Role based Tests (if applicable)

Structured Interview against PQAs and requirements of next role

References

Medical

Direct Entrants to Grey Book

Application form (role based)

Self assessment against PQAs

Situational Judgement Test

Role Plays

Psychometric tools for `talent' spotting

Green/Amber/Red

Structured Feedback

Structured interview against PQAs and requirements of next role

SMATP / MMATP

References

Medical

Development Programme (relevant to role)

Agreed development with Line Manager through PDRS

Qualifying Criteria

Development Centre

Selection Process

Appointment Process

Development Programme

FF to CM

Competent in current role (FF)

Ops Knowledge Assessment for next role (CM)

N/A

N/A

SM ATP

CM Development Programme

CMMI

Level 1 ICS

Agreed development with Line Manager through PDRS

CM to WM

Competent in current role

CMMI

Level 1 ICS

Ops Knowledge Assessment for next role

N/A

N/A

SM ATP

WM Development Programme

Agreed development with Line Manager through PDRS

WM to SM

Internal

Competent in current role

Level 1 ICS

Ops Knowledge Assessment for next role

External (Non FRS) - Nil

N/A

N/A

MM ATP

Level 2 ICS

SMMI

FDS Course

SM Development Programme

Agreed development with Line Manager through PDRS

SM to GM

Internal

Competent in current role

SMMI

FDS Course

Level 2 ICS

Ops Knowledge Assessment for next role

External (Non FRS) - Nil

N/A

N/A

MM ATP

Level 3 ICS

FDS Course

Direct Entrant Dev Programme

GM Development Programme

Agreed development with Line Manager through PDRS

GM to AM

Internal

Competent in current role

Level 3 ICS

Ops Knowledge Assessment for next role

External (Non FRS) - Nil

N/A

N/A

Directors

Level 4 ICS

AM Development Programme

Agreed development with Line Manager through PDRS

AM to BM

Internal

Competent in current role

Level 4 ICS

External (Non FRS) - Nil

HFRA/Directors

Gold Command Training

Agreed development with Line Manager through PDRS

Name:

Current Line Manager:

Current Post:

Date of appointment :

Career Summary:

(Most current first)

Role:

Dates:

Location:

Skills, Knowledge, Strengths and Development Needs

Outcome of last Development Centre:

(Scores/Appointments/Development opportunities)

Specialist Knowledge

and Skills:

(Fire Service and non Fire Service)

Key Strengths:

(Self Identified)

Key Development Needs:

(Self Identified)

Career Progression (Line Manager to complete)

Career Aspirations:

Desired Next Move:

Desired Location:

Critical development activities to support next career move:

Updated By:

Date of Update: