Skip the primary navigation if you do not want to read it as the next section.
Skip the main content if you do not want to read it as the next section.
Improvement in people management and staff development
A well established and successful young person’s service employing 30 staff and 40 volunteers initially became a client of Real People because their lack of familiarity with formal disciplinary processes had led to a situation whereby they faced the possibility of losing an ET claim of unfair dismissal on purely procedural grounds.
We worked with the client to pull the fat out of the fire and get the process back on track in terms of fair investigation, hearing and appeal. The employee did go to ET but lost the case. Recognising how easily this could have gone the other way without clear frameworks and professional advice, the Director of the service recognised the need for a more formal policy framework and processes for dealing with issues. She also wanted to take a proactive approach to improving staff recruitment, performance and engagement by introducing a competency framework – which she saw as potentially very empowering – and a performance and appraisal system.
Also with the support of Real People she identified a clear HR strategy and annual plans to plan and track progress in the improvement of people management and staff development. She introduced clear processes for training and development planning, a clear approach to managing attendance, and ways of improving staff consultation and involvement.
The changes within 12 months were already very obvious; some of the measurable results after 18 months quite staggering:
- Sick leave reduced dramatically saving them £22,000 per year.
- Increased employee engagement scores in staff survey.
- Improved scores in service user satisfaction survey.
- Reduction in grievance and disciplinary cases.
- Lower stress levels all around.
- Organisation achieved Investors in People accreditation for the first time.
Although the organisation now has greater structure and clarity around key processes, it has fully retained its unique energy and spirit as a very diverse, inclusive and client-centred organisation.
‘Organisational vision was already good but has improved in terms of there being less individual variants – so much more clarity about direction’.
‘Recruitment has been transformed – we use a competency framework and have developed our own assessment centre with role plays, etc’
‘I feel more confident – the policies give a sense of perspective’.
‘Engagement and teamwork have both always been quite good, but the improved communication means there is much more sense of “being part of something”. Teamwork has been helped by clear objectives at individual, team and organisational levels.’
‘It’s been life changing – clarity, confidence, maturity, empowerment – I feel I can address people not pulling their weight.’
Comments made by individuals during the evaluation phase.
