Issue - meetings

(a)       That the Committee endorses the progress made against the target set for completion of appraisals for Corporate Services, which was presented first as a model for future reporting;

(b)       A more detailed report including Service Portfolios will follow in October 2016; and

(b)       That the Committee accepts the timeline for completion of scheduled appraisals as 30 September 2016.

The Chief Executive introduced a report to provide an overview of completion levels of appraisals across the Corporate Services portfolios (Governance and People & Resources).  As an update to the report, it was noted that 81% of appraisals had now been completed in the Pensions team with the remainder scheduled for completion by the end of September.  Following a review of the methodology used for recording and reporting appraisal completion levels, a set of eligibility criteria had been agreed to ensure meaningful and consistent reporting across the organisation.  Further improvements to the process in managing changes to posts and scheduling appraisals on the iTrent system gave reassurance that eligible employees were receiving appraisals in line with the corporate policy.

The Senior Manager for HR & OD spoke about the introduction of ‘light touch’ appraisals for larger workgroups involving collective discussions on issues relevant to those roles, although this did not exclude the option to seek a private appraisal.  The data for Corporate Services had been shared with Internal Audit and work was now underway to carry out the same exercise for service portfolios to enable an update to be brought to the September meeting.  An additional field had been incorporated in the iTrent system to instigate a reminder of scheduled appraisals.  The Chief Executive advised that anonymous feedback would be sought on the quality of appraisals to give further reassurance.

Councillor Richard Jones felt that managers’ appraisals should stipulate the need to complete appraisals for team members.  He acknowledged the reasons for introducing ‘light touch’ appraisals but felt that these would not help to identify good or poor performance within teams.  It was explained that there were a number of core objectives applied to those with line management responsibilities.  The light touch appraisals did not affect the expectations of day-to-day supervision/management roles and would contain an element of ‘career conversation’ to raise awareness of expected competencies.

Councillor Peter Curtis stressed the importance of adequate appraisals in adding value to the organisation.  The Chief Executive, Senior Manager and Corporate Finance Manager described their personal approaches to conducting appraisals and the benefits gained from all perspectives.

In response to questions from the Chairman, the Chief Executive said that an annual appraisal was the minimum requirement.  The Senior Manager provided details of the range of support, above the guidance, given to managers to support the completion of appraisals.

In respect of the groups of employees not eligible for appraisals, Councillor Arnold Woolley sought clarification on those returning from long-term sickness absence.  The Senior Manager spoke about the robust process involving attendance reviews and individual discussions/monitoring, which was more detailed than appraisal process.  For employees whose managers were absent over a prolonged period, a trigger was in place to ensure that no-one was overlooked.

Councillor Paul Cunningham commented on the need for the Council’s duty of care to the workforce, particularly in changing times.

The Chief Executive gave his preference for the target for completing appraisals to be changed from 95% to 100%.  Councillor Jones said  ...  view the full minutes text for item 29