Agenda, decisions and minutes

The agenda and reports associated with this minute can be viewed here.

Please note that if any changes are made to this minute at the point of approval, these will be outlined in the subsequent minute and this document will not be retrospectively altered.

There were no declarations of interest nor transparency statements made.

The Committee had before it the minute of its previous meeting of 13 November 2023 for approval.

The Committee resolved:-

to approve the minute as a correct record.

The Committee had before it the planner of Committee business as prepared by the Interim Chief Officer – Governance (Legal).

The Committee resolved:-

to note the planner.

The Committee had before it a report by the Director of Customer Services which presented the updated Managing Performance Policy for approval.  The report advised that feedback on the policy had been sought and had identified that the matters which required to be addressed related to the process and guidance which accompanied the policy, rather than the policy itself.  It was noted that work was underway with focus groups, including Trade Union colleagues, to update those documents, with work expected to be completed by the end of February 2024.

The report recommended:-

that the Committee –

(a)      approve the updated policy document;

(b)      instruct the Interim Chief Officer – People and Organisational Development to ensure that a full review be undertaken of the process and guidance in consultation with the Trade Unions and managers; and

(c)      instruct the Interim Chief Officer - People and Organisational Development to ensure that the Policy document and all supporting process and guidance documents were easily accessible to all staff and managers and that managers were supported in the fair and consistent application of the policy and process through appropriate training.

The Committee resolved:-

to approve the recommendations.

The Committee had before it a report by the Director of Customer Services which provided an update on progress and activity in relation to the Council’s approach to Internal Communications and Employee Engagement, including how this was applied to support employees through organisational change.

The report recommended:-

that the Committee note the continuing progress made on the Council’s approach to internal communications and employee engagement to support all employees through organisational change.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)       in respect of analysing the performance of current methods of internal communication to staff, to note that officers would report back to Committee on activity data from staff accessing Sharepoint and Open Forum, taking into consideration the recent public consultations which had also been promoted to staff; and

(ii)       to approve the recommendation.

The Committee had before it a report by the Director of Customer Services which provided an update on mental health and wellbeing across the organisation.

The report recommended:-

that the Committee –

(a)      note the data from the Employee Wellbeing Pulse Check and the support and initiatives currently available to staff;

(b)      instruct the Interim Chief Officer – People and Organisational Development to ensure that the Wellbeing Pulse Check was repeated in the Spring of 2024 to allow the impact of interventions to be assessed; and

(c)      note that a recommendation would be taken to the Extended Corporate Management Team (ECMT) on whether the Council should explore utilising the services of Salary Finance as an additional support for employees.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)       to note that officers had undertaken to review the graph axis in future reports to ensure that the data was clear;

(ii)       to note that officers would provide a gender breakdown of the data to Members outwith the meeting;

(iii)      to note that officers would liaise with Ms Thorpe outwith the meeting about the Education Support charity highlighted;

(iv)      to note that the outcomes of the Spring 2024 Wellbeing Pulse Check in relation to sustainability would be reviewed as part of the Staff Travel Plan report which was due to a future meeting of the appropriate Committee; and

(v)      to approve the recommendations.

The Convener advised that this was the last meeting of Staff Governance Committee to be attended by Kirsten Foley, Employee Relations and Wellbeing Manager, prior to her retirement at the end of March. 

The Convener, the Depute Provost and Councillors Boulton, Macdonald and McLeod all paid tribute to Mrs Foley, thanking her for her valuable assistance, advice and contributions over the years, noting that she would be missed greatly.

- COUNCILLOR NEIL COPLAND, Convener