Drive For Change Website
Last updated: 24/3/2006
The case studies showed that employee engagement helps both to improve public service delivery and to increase employees' job satisfaction and wellbeing. To establish a framework for staff involvement requires both parties to approach the issue with an open mind. The role of external facilitation in establishing the framework can be crucial in helping to break down barriers between the different stakeholders.
In developing a framework for staff involvement, it is important to ensure that all staff can participate in joint project activities. It can sometimes be difficult to release staff from their duties, so facility time and/or cover needs to be arranged. Also, remember to communicate with employees without access to the email and the intranet.
Birmingham's "Getting Better Together" project was set up to improve service delivery by increasing staff involvement by listening to the needs of staff in the workplace.
One of the first steps of the team working on the project was jointly to establish terms of reference for the project. A joint trade union and management forum, called the Reference Group, met to discuss the remit for the project, the rules of engagement and anticipated outcomes.
The next step entailed setting up four joint 'work streams' (or working groups), comprising volunteers line managers, union representatives and HR managers, to look at specific themes in greater depth and to report back with recommendations. The recommendations were then prioritised and incorporated within a report to the Corporate Management Team. In all, the project has actively involved around 300 staff and managers.
The example from Birmingham City Council demonstrated that addressing employee well-being issues can have a direct positive impact on service improvement. In social services, where the work is often emotionally challenging and pressurised, successful joint working has been seen to offer more effective solutions to such problems as sickness absence than more punitive measures. Maria Gavin said "the breakthrough with this project really came with the realisation that addressing staff wellbeing would impact positively on service improvement". She pointed out: "we are top of the metropolitan authorities on absence, so that wasn't the issue. We wanted to look at wellbeing and the impact this would have on recruitment and retention and quality of service. It's clear that some styles of working aren't attractive. Lack of flexibility is certainly damaging to people's personal and family lives. We need managers to acknowledge that this has an impact on recruitment and retention".
Project team members, from the management team and the trade unions, acknowledged early on that it would be necessary to challenge the organisational bureaucracy in order to make progress.
From a union perspective, breaking down bureaucratic barriers may be seen to conflict with democratic processes. However, in the cold light of day, joint working may support the development of more constructive union roles, rather than threaten autonomy and democracy. By the same token, managers willing to challenge existing internal decision making processes may allow joint working to thrive and organisational relationships to flourish.
The union representatives on the group obtained autonomy from their executive to make decisions in relation to the project. This allowed the project to be more creative and bypass the bureaucratic processes which may have delayed progress. "We were initially suspicious about working jointly on attendance and the union's credibility was on the line" said Caroline Johnson from Unison. "We had to put aside our dissatisfaction with the council's approach to absence management, take the decision to support the project and promote the use of more carrot and less stick."
The commitment to involve staff and unions needs to be given at the outset - clearly communicated by organisational leaders. It then needs to happen in reality. People will resent being told about new initiatives after they have been decided. Maria Gavin from the management team plans that future work around this project will involve the same project team members so that they can assess progress on the recommendations they made. She says this would provide both continuity and credibility.