"JOBS FOR LIFE" - BIRMINGHAM COUNCIL'S VIEW

23-08-2007

The Stirrer recently reported that Birmingham Council staff have "jobs for life" - contradicting claims elsewhere that up to 1,000 workers will lose their jobs under a new Business Transformation Programme. Cllr Alan Rudge, the Cabinet Member responsible, sets the record straight.

Recent press coverage about the Customer First and Corporate Services business transformation programmes needs closer examination.

It's implied by some that transformation can only be achieved at the expense of staff. In this article I examine how the various initiatives in people management I have introduced complement and support the Council's drive to modernise and improve services.

The Council owes responsibility to both the people of Birmingham and the people who work for us. I am convinced that improving services goes hand in hand with supporting and developing our committed workforce through progressive people management.

You can't have one without the other and both citizens and staff benefit as a result.

Birmingham City Council is about people. The Council exists to provide services to the people who live, work and enjoy their leisure in the City. The money we spend to do this is public money. It comes from the Council taxpayer and the tax payer in general. My elected colleagues and I are responsible for spending this money wisely.

We must achieve value for money and provide the best possible services we can.

We must constantly look at how we work. Techniques and methods which were appropriate in the past become outdated, different priorities emerge and technology moves on. Like any customer-focussed organisation, we must make sure that we remain fit for purpose and move forward.

That's why we've embarked on an ambitious programme of business transformation - transformation that will ensure we continue to provide modern, high quality, cost-effective services.

Of course, the services we provide for people are provided by people; the team of dedicated, experienced and hardworking men and women who work for the City Council.

As a good employer, we take very seriously our responsibility to staff whose jobs are affected by business transformation.

As Cabinet Member for Equalities and HR, I want to retain the talented and committed people we have working for us. My policy is to avoid compulsory redundancy and we have spent considerable time, effort and money to ensure this end.

Business transformation is about improving our back of office processes so that we can deliver better frontline services. Through my Human Resources service I am supporting this process and the people whose job roles change, in a number of ways.

Meaningful consultation is held with the trades unions because they have something to offer, not just because the law says we have to. It's good to talk and we are ensuring that there is proper consultation with staff before any changes are made. They are the people who do the work and know best how it can be done better.

I have also set up the new 'Insource' service to help make our organisation more flexible and help people whose jobs have changed.

The service will help people identify current skills and develop new ones, so they can move into different jobs.

It will develop the new skills needed in the Council so that staff have the capacity to respond to changing service requirements. It does this through resource pools, enabling job ready individuals to change roles and through placements which enables people to develop the skills required to move into different roles and develop their careers.

In addition 'Insource' provides careers counselling and journey management to help people build successful careers. Also assessment centres and other tailored services are provided to help the Council manage demand for a changing workforce as necessary.

The introduction of Insource is part and parcel of an "employee bargain" when in exchange for flexibility staff are offered the support to develop skills and stay with the Council through rapidly changing times.

This is all part of the wider people management strategy I developed with my HR service, based on our key values of BEST, belief excellence success and trust.

I introduced the BEST programme to harness the hearts and minds of staff and empower them to take responsibility for improving services and achieve success.

In this way I am seeking a fundamental shift in culture and ways of working. BEST seeks to enable staff to take responsibility for achieving customer-focussed outcomes, to collaborate effectively across the Council and with partners to achieve improvement and to deliver new ways of working.

Working with the new 'Insource' team I am bringing together our training and development services so that we can more effectively provide staff with the training they need to respond to the challenges of the future and develop their careers. Training needs are being identified through a new performance development review appraisal scheme recently introduced across the Council.

Due to the organisational changes driven by transformation I have recently introduced an internal recruitment first policy but have also revamped our graduate development programme to ensure the City has an input of young talented people who will develop management capacity for the future.

To complement the modernisation of our working practices through transformation I am introducing a new pay and grading framework. The new framework simplifies the old system and corrects previous inequalities.

The intention is that the pay structure will enable the Council to retain its highly regarded staff and compete as necessary with other employers for new staff. It will reward staff who acquire new competencies and meet performance targets. It will help to develop a flexible and agile workforce motivated and committed to customer service improvement.

I want our staff and trade unions to come along with us on this journey even though I understand that for some people change is hard and challenging. To this end I have reinvigorated our formal consultation mechanisms with the trade unions and implemented a range of communications initiatives to seek the views of staff and keep them informed.

We have clear responsibilities to both the people of Birmingham and our staff. We exist to provide and improve services. We are a very large employer. We want to be a good employer which recognises and accepts its responsibilities towards its staff.

Some say there is a conflict here. There is not, they are complimentary responsibilities. Our services are only as good as our staff.

We owe it to both the people of Birmingham and the people who work for us to ensure staff are well motivated, paid, trained and equipped. We are striving to provide the best possible standards of service and the highest quality workforce. We will have both.

(To see The Stirrer's "Jobs For Life" story, click here)

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